by John Weigel

(DUBLIN) An eminent Swedish professor at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm is being blocked from completing replication experiments aimed at seeking a definitive answer to the effects of electromagnetic frequencies on the human body.

 Prof. Olle Johansson

Prof. Olle Johansson

Prof. Olle Johansson, a long-time critic of wireless communications technology based on his research, has been informed that his offices and lab are required for other purposes, effectively blocking privatelysupported experiments scheduled for August and September. Johansson is associate professor and head of department at the Experimental Dermatology Unit in the institute’s Department of Neuroscience in Stockholm. He is also a professor with the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology.

Johansson first came to the attention of the public when his work led to improved computer screens to protect office workers from what he found as the adverse effects of radiation emitted from monitors.

Next month’s planned experiments are intended to replicate the experiments of Dr. Magda Havas of Trent U University, Canada whose work led to the cancellation of wi-fi in San Francisco and the recent new law requiring warning labels on mobile phones. San Francisco has yet to address the issue of radiation from mobile phone and other telecommunications masts.

Observers claim the current controversy at the Karolinska Institute follows Johansson’s efforts to assist activists in Ireland opposed to the proliferation of telecommunications masts to protect children who absorb up to 75 percent of this type of radiation into their brains. During a visit to Ireland he was quoted as saying “No level of radiation is safe.” The cash-strapped Irish government through the communications regulatory body, ComReg, has introduced what it calls “Test and Trial”, a program where companies are invited to test their wireless equipment in a live environment.

Most recently, Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications giant conducted tests in the 2.3GHz band at speeds of up to 80MBits/sec using a license issued under ComReg’s Test and Trial licensing program. The experiment used TD-LTE, originally promoted by China Mobile using paired spectrum with separated channels as a competitior to Intel’s Wimax, signal. The TD-LTE technology provides high-speed broadband services which can be used to support services such as high-definition TV, video conferencing and many others”  without the need for new devices. Ericsson has two Irish addresses: one in Dublin and its Software Campus at Athlone, Co. Westmeath, the company’s first R&D lab outside Sweden.

The test was conducted using a “large black box” broadcasting from a taxi. No mention of public safety of the test was made by Ericsson.

Two weeks ago, the city of San Francisco passed the first law in the US requiring retailers to display the amount of radiation given off by mobile phones. In retaliation after the vote, the CTIA wireless trade group called off its Autumn show, set for San Francisco. The city stands to lose $80 million in economic activity generated by the 3-day Enterprise and Applications Show, attended by 68,000 visitors. The show has been staged In San Francisco five of the last seven years

Last week U.S. President Barack Obama signed a memorandum doubling the number of frequencies available for wireless devices. The move is intended to create jobs and boost investment in the $153 billion wireless market over the next 10 years. The availability of a bigger chunk of wireless spectrum would allow faster delivery of data and video onto smart phones and other next-generation devices. Digital television is generally regarded as particularly dangerous by the physics community due to the large volume of information incorporated into the carrier waves.

Obama’s memo jump-starts an effort to make available over the next 10 years 500 megahertz of government and commercial spectrum, which reflects a recommendation by the Federal Communications Commission in its National Broadband Plan released in March. In the nation's largest cities, local TV stations use about 150 megahertz, according to the National Broadband Plan.

Researchers such as Dr. George Carlo, of the Science and Public Policy Institute at the Institute for Healthful Adaptation in Washington, D.C. assert that it is not the microwaves but microwaves which carry information that are the cause of the drastic increase in a number of diseases. In Ireland, for example, in a request for funding infection-free examination rooms for cancer patients, the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (RCPI) predicted last week that by the year 2025, half the population will suffer from some form of cancer.

In April, The European Academy for Environmental Medicine issued the Wuerzberg Appeal, outlining the increasing prevalence of chronic multisystem illnesses such as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FMS) as well as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, neurodegenerative diseases, auto immune diseases and cancer. These multisystem diseases are considered chronic inflammatory processes influenced by environmental factors including chemical pollutants, biological infectious agents and electromagnetic field (EMF) triggers.

Johansson’s difficulties began last year when he was approached by Staffan Cullheim, head of the neuroscience department, who informed the professor he was to vacate his premises immediately because they were to be used as an “animal house for ferrets”.

Johansson refused point blank and the issue was dropped. The professor became ill and required surgery. Still convalescing, he returned to work and was again confronted by Cullheim, this time with plans to use his office and lab for an imaging facility.

Commenting on the Karolinska Institute’s attempted closure of Johansson’s research facilities, Dr. Carlo, said, "Olle Johansson's lab is one of the few remaining places in the world where independent, non-industry funded research on EMR health effects is being

done. It would be a tragedy if he were to be suppressed from carrying on his work."

The Karolinska Institute has a long history of intellectual scientific rigor as well as honours. Each year the Nobel Assembly of 50 Karolinska professors collates the nominees for the world famous Nobel awards in the fields physiology or medicine.

Prof. Harriet Walberg-Henriksson, president of the Karolinska Institute, and Prof. Bernd Huber, chairman of the League of European Research Universities, have not responded to queries regarding Johansson’s status, research or the timing of the proposed closure of his lab.

 

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Sources

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0604/1224271808931.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/16/san-francisco-mobile-phone-radiation

Contacts

Prof. Olle Johansson, Assoc. Prof., The Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of

Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; Professor, The Royal

Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden. "Olle Johansson"

<This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>,

Prof. Bernd Huber, Chairman, League of European Research Universities,

<This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

Prof. Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, President, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm,

Sweden, <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

Prof. Staffan Cullheim, Head of the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, 171

77 Stockholm, Sweden, <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

Alex Swinkels, Netherlands, International EMF Alliance, <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

Publications by Prof. Johansson

1. Electrohypersensitivity: state-of-the-art of a functional impairmentOlle Johansson

Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, The Experimental Dermatology Unit,

Stockholm, Sweden Electromagn Biol Med 25:245-58

2. Increased nerve growth factor- and tyrosine kinase A-like immunoreactivities in prurigo

nodularis skin -- an exploration of the cause of neurohyperplasiaOlle Johansson

Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, 171 77

Stockholm, Sweden Arch Dermatol Res 293:614-9

3. Psoriasis and somatostatin in serumBenedikte Geisner Acta Derm Venereol 87:538-9

4. Personal digital assistant (PDA) cell phone units produce elevated extremely-low frequency

electromagnetic field emissionsCindy Sage 1396 Danielson Road, Santa Barbara, California

93108, USA Bioelectromagnetics 28:386-92

5. Light and electron microscopic study of the thyroid gland in rats exposed to powerfrequency

electromagnetic fieldsVesna Rajkovic Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty

of Sciences, Trg Dositeja Obradovica 2, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro J Exp

Biol 209:3322-8

6. Increased nerve growth factor and its receptors in atopic dermatitis: an

immunohistochemical studyYing Chun Dou Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of

Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden Arch Dermatol Res

298:31-7

7. The effect of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields on skin and thyroid amineand

peptide-containing cells in rats: an immunohistochemical and morphometrical

studyVesna Rajkovic Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Trg Dositeja Obradovica 2,

Novi Sad 21000, Serbia and Montenegro Environ Res 99:369-77

8. Histological characteristics of cutaneous and thyroid mast cell populations in male rats

exposed to power-frequency electromagnetic fieldsVesna Rajkovic Department of Biology,

Faculty of Sciences, Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro Int J Radiat Biol 81:491-9

9. Oestrogen receptor beta is present in both muscle fibres and endothelial cells within human

skeletal muscle tissueAnna Wiik Division of Clinical Physiology, Department of Laboratory

Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden Histochem Cell Biol 124:161-5

10. 1997--A curious year in Sweden Orjan Hallberg Eur J Cancer Prev 13:535-8