CHD Files FOIA Requests: Why Did Government Shut Down Studies on Cellphone Radiation and Cancer?
The requests are for key communications and research documents related to studies that were underway and the factors that led the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences to discontinue
By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.
Children’s Health Defense (CHD) today filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for documents and communications related to the agency’s decision to discontinue studies on the potential health effects of cellphone radiofrequency radiation (RFR) — even after a 10-year, $30-million study, completed in 2018, found evidence of cancer and DNA damage.
“We think it is important to understand what led to this decision, because we know too often big industry interests play a significant role” in shutting down this type of research, said Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia, director of CHD’s Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless program.
Eckenfels-Garcia told The Defender it’s “truly astonishing that the government has decided to stop research into the health effects of wireless radiation instead of deepening it, in light of ever-growing evidence of harm.”
CHD sent two requests to the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences (NIEHS), a subagency of NIH, whose scientists had been studying wireless radiation.
The requests are for key communications and study documents that could shed light on the research government scientists were conducting when before it was shut down, and what factors led to the shut-down.
“By working together at the outset,” CHD staff attorney Risa Evans wrote in the FOIA letters, “we can decrease the likelihood of costly and time-consuming litigation in the future.”
Why stop studying wireless radiation now?
As The Defender reported, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in January announced via an updated fact sheet that it has no plans to further study the effects of cellphone RFR on human health.
This was after the program’s 10-year study, published in 2018, found “clear evidence” that RFR exposure was linked to malignant heart tumors, “some evidence” linking it to malignant brain tumors, and “some evidence” linking it to both malignant and benign adrenal gland tumors and DNA damage in rats.
NTP is an “interagency partnership” of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the NIEHS.
After publishing the study, government scientists conducted follow-up studies on the impact of RFR exposure on behavior and stress — especially stress on the heart, according to the NTP’s cellphone RFR website.
The follow-up studies also sought to “evaluate further” the 2018 study finding that RFR exposure caused DNA damage.
The research was “technically challenging and more resource intensive than expected” and “no further work” is planned, according to NTP’s RFR website.
According to the NTP website, the program “strives to remain at the cutting edge of scientific research and the development and application of new technologies for modern toxicology and molecular biology” and “provides the scientific basis for programs, activities, and policies that promote health or lead to the prevention of disease.”
“So why would its scientists stop studying wireless radiation?” asked Eckenfels-Garcia. “We want to know.”
‘I thought that was the right next step’
Brian Berridge, DVM, Ph.D., NTP’s scientific director until January 2023, confirmed that the follow-up studies were underway during his tenure and that the decision to no longer study RFR happened after he stepped down.
“The work was being done while I was there — with my blessing,” he told The Defender. “I thought that was the right next step.”
Large studies like the one the NTP did in 2018, Berridge said, raise questions that “ultimately take additional studies” to understand better.
For example, the follow-up studies were looking at whether the negative health outcomes the 2018 study saw in rats — cancerous tumors and DNA damage — could rightly be attributed to RFR or to some other aspect of the experimental conditions, such as living 24/7 in a small metal chamber.
CHD’s first FOIA request seeks more details about what the follow-up studies entailed.
The request asked agency officials to hand over “all protocols, standard operating procedures, and other records describing the methods, procedures, and/or study goals of every study planned or conducted by DTT [Division of Translational Toxicology] to follow up on the rodent studies previously conducted by the National Toxicology Program.”
Go paid at the $5 a month level, and we will send you both the PDF and e-Pub versions of “Government” - The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! and a coupon code for 10% off anything in the Government-Scam.com/Store.
Go paid at the $50 a year level, and we will send you a free paperback edition of Etienne’s book “Government” - The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! OR a 64GB Liberator flash drive if you live in the US. If you are international, we will give you a $10 credit towards shipping if you agree to pay the remainder.
Support us at the $250 Founding Member Level and get a signed high-resolution hardcover of “Government” + Liberator flash drive + Larken Rose’s The Most Dangerous Superstition + Art of Liberty Foundation Stickers delivered anywhere in the world. Our only option for signed copies besides catching Etienne @ an event.