BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK ACADEM1Y OF MEDICINE
VOL. 55, No. 11
DECEMBER 1979
OPENING REMARKS* NORMAN SIMON, M.D. Chairman
Subcommittee on Public Health Aspects of Energy The New York Academy of Medicine Clinical Professor of Radiotherapy for Environmental Medicine The Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York New York, New York
THIS is the second of a series of conferences on energy sponsored by the C Committee on Public Health of the New York Academy of Medicine. The biological effects of modem energy sources have become important factors in decisions which affect the very nature of our society. Environmental pollution by sulfur oxides and particulates was considered by this committee in a conference on March 23 and 24, 1978, and published proceedings of this conference are available. Conferences on the biological effects of auto emissions, coal, oil, and nuclear energy are in planning stages by the New York Academy of Medicine. We organized these symposia to educate physicians on the state of the art of the biological effects of the various sources of energy. The subject of sulfur oxides was first because of urgent interest in revising standards for this noxious pollutant. By the time we had finished our *Presented as part of a Symposium on Health Aspects of Nonionizing Radiation sponsored by the Subcommittee on Public Health Aspects of Energy of the Committee on Public Health of the New York Academy of Medicine and held at the Academy April 9 and 10, 1979.
974
N. SIMON
symposium, evidence of the hazard to New York City of its sulfur oxides levels was less certain and, indeed, we dug deep to show significant biological effects of ambient levels of these noxious agents. We fortunately had Dr. Herbert Pollack, advisor to the State Department, at that meeting, and he brought to the attention of our Subcommittee on the Public Health Aspects of Energy the importance of a meeting on the biological effects of microwave radiation. We accepted the challenge to develop a symposium on the subject, and are grateful to him for spearheading the selection of our program committee, our speakers, and our audience. Had we been prescient enough to realize how involved we all are today in the Three Mile Island reactor accident we might have regarded the hazards of ionizing radiation as a more urgent topic. However, perhaps it is all for the good that we now focus on the temporarily less sensationalized problem of nonionizing radiation so that our deliberations need not be hurried or influenced by the frenzy of the media, as now evident at the site of the reactor accident. Microwaves are now an urgent issue because of basic conflicts concerning appropriate standards for exposure of the public. We are in a biosphere bathed in ionizing radiation-cosmic, terrestrial, and man-made. We are also now bathed in microwaves and radiowaves from radar, television, citizen band radios, and even from the kitchen. The all-pervasive radiofrequency and microwave beam on adobe huts along the Nile and penthouses beside the Empire State building, on the beach at Cape Cod, and the embassy in Moscow, on short-order cooks and long-distance pilots, on radio hams and highway cops, on cancer patients and charlie horses. And there are imaginative projects which would involve microwave transmission of solar energy to the earth. Further, some surveillance uses of microwaves have been cloaked in secrecy, and it is hoped that we will obtain some insight into their significance. Is there significant biological effect from such radiation? The sources of microwave radiation, their measurement, and their biological effects are not clearly understood by the lay public, and certainly not sufficiently by physicians. A patient asks for the advice of a doctor, and this- conference is aimed at providing the physician with the state-of-the-art knowledge in the field. It is fitting that such an issue as the biological effects of microwave radiation be presented to physicians. Physicians are used to considering benefits and risks as they prescribe and advise treatment for their patients. Bull. N.Y. Acad. Med.
OPENING REMARKS
l~~~~~~~PNN
REARS
975
At times such decisions are based on less than ideal information, but conflicting viewpoints must be evaluated when medical action is required. Similarly, the public must decide on issues concerning benefits and risks of energy sources. As an example, there is little doubt that coal would be our unquestioned substitute for oil if there were not the risks of pollution, hazards of mining, and disadvantages to the environment as risk factors. As we develop a society in which we have more television sets than bathtubs, and this year more microwave ovens are sold than conventional ranges, the questions and problems concerning the safety of nonionizing radiation naturally proliferate. Concerning the effects of microwave radiation, there is no doubt that, at doses sufficient to create heat in the human body, definite biological changes occur. But what about the amount of microwave radiation below the level of creating heat? Are there significant nonthermal effects? This is a poignant question whose answer and comments will be of great interest. The Subcommittee on Public Health Aspects of Energy of the Committee on Public Health of the New York Academy of Medicine is indebted to its Program Committee on microwaves, and special thanks are extended to its memebers: Dr. Merril Eisenbud, H. Janet Healer, Dr. John M. Osepchuk, Dr. Herbert Pollack, Dr. Leonard Solon, and George M. Wilkening.
Vol. 55, No. 11, December 1979
VOL. 55, No. 11
DECEMBER 1979
OPENING REMARKS* NORMAN SIMON, M.D. Chairman
Subcommittee on Public Health Aspects of Energy The New York Academy of Medicine Clinical Professor of Radiotherapy for Environmental Medicine The Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York New York, New York
THIS is the second of a series of conferences on energy sponsored by the C Committee on Public Health of the New York Academy of Medicine. The biological effects of modem energy sources have become important factors in decisions which affect the very nature of our society. Environmental pollution by sulfur oxides and particulates was considered by this committee in a conference on March 23 and 24, 1978, and published proceedings of this conference are available. Conferences on the biological effects of auto emissions, coal, oil, and nuclear energy are in planning stages by the New York Academy of Medicine. We organized these symposia to educate physicians on the state of the art of the biological effects of the various sources of energy. The subject of sulfur oxides was first because of urgent interest in revising standards for this noxious pollutant. By the time we had finished our *Presented as part of a Symposium on Health Aspects of Nonionizing Radiation sponsored by the Subcommittee on Public Health Aspects of Energy of the Committee on Public Health of the New York Academy of Medicine and held at the Academy April 9 and 10, 1979.
974
N. SIMON
symposium, evidence of the hazard to New York City of its sulfur oxides levels was less certain and, indeed, we dug deep to show significant biological effects of ambient levels of these noxious agents. We fortunately had Dr. Herbert Pollack, advisor to the State Department, at that meeting, and he brought to the attention of our Subcommittee on the Public Health Aspects of Energy the importance of a meeting on the biological effects of microwave radiation. We accepted the challenge to develop a symposium on the subject, and are grateful to him for spearheading the selection of our program committee, our speakers, and our audience. Had we been prescient enough to realize how involved we all are today in the Three Mile Island reactor accident we might have regarded the hazards of ionizing radiation as a more urgent topic. However, perhaps it is all for the good that we now focus on the temporarily less sensationalized problem of nonionizing radiation so that our deliberations need not be hurried or influenced by the frenzy of the media, as now evident at the site of the reactor accident. Microwaves are now an urgent issue because of basic conflicts concerning appropriate standards for exposure of the public. We are in a biosphere bathed in ionizing radiation-cosmic, terrestrial, and man-made. We are also now bathed in microwaves and radiowaves from radar, television, citizen band radios, and even from the kitchen. The all-pervasive radiofrequency and microwave beam on adobe huts along the Nile and penthouses beside the Empire State building, on the beach at Cape Cod, and the embassy in Moscow, on short-order cooks and long-distance pilots, on radio hams and highway cops, on cancer patients and charlie horses. And there are imaginative projects which would involve microwave transmission of solar energy to the earth. Further, some surveillance uses of microwaves have been cloaked in secrecy, and it is hoped that we will obtain some insight into their significance. Is there significant biological effect from such radiation? The sources of microwave radiation, their measurement, and their biological effects are not clearly understood by the lay public, and certainly not sufficiently by physicians. A patient asks for the advice of a doctor, and this- conference is aimed at providing the physician with the state-of-the-art knowledge in the field. It is fitting that such an issue as the biological effects of microwave radiation be presented to physicians. Physicians are used to considering benefits and risks as they prescribe and advise treatment for their patients. Bull. N.Y. Acad. Med.
OPENING REMARKS
l~~~~~~~PNN
REARS
975
At times such decisions are based on less than ideal information, but conflicting viewpoints must be evaluated when medical action is required. Similarly, the public must decide on issues concerning benefits and risks of energy sources. As an example, there is little doubt that coal would be our unquestioned substitute for oil if there were not the risks of pollution, hazards of mining, and disadvantages to the environment as risk factors. As we develop a society in which we have more television sets than bathtubs, and this year more microwave ovens are sold than conventional ranges, the questions and problems concerning the safety of nonionizing radiation naturally proliferate. Concerning the effects of microwave radiation, there is no doubt that, at doses sufficient to create heat in the human body, definite biological changes occur. But what about the amount of microwave radiation below the level of creating heat? Are there significant nonthermal effects? This is a poignant question whose answer and comments will be of great interest. The Subcommittee on Public Health Aspects of Energy of the Committee on Public Health of the New York Academy of Medicine is indebted to its Program Committee on microwaves, and special thanks are extended to its memebers: Dr. Merril Eisenbud, H. Janet Healer, Dr. John M. Osepchuk, Dr. Herbert Pollack, Dr. Leonard Solon, and George M. Wilkening.
Vol. 55, No. 11, December 1979
