Dr. David Carpenter Debunked

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David McCarthy
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Dr. David Carpenter Debunked

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Since Dr. David Carpenter is speaking in Yelm this week I think it’s appropriate to post an article
that debunks DR. Carpenters claims that (EMF) Electro Magnetic Frequency causes harmful health effects ranging from dizziness and headaches to cancer.
What the bet he's invited for tea and biscuits at the Chateau? :roll:

David
* New Article from website The Last Word on Nothing: Dirty, dirty electricity
Dr. Samuel Milham and "Dirty Electricity"

Dr. Samuel Milham is a well known alarmist. He has established a web site and written a book to promote the "dangers" of so called "dirty electricity". He is an MD with an MPH degree (Master of Public Health). He worked for the public health department of the state of Washington for more than 20 years.

His supporters tout the fact that Milham has received the Ramazinni prize for his work purporting to show an increased risk of cancer from exposures to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). The Ramazinni Institute is notorious as the source of discredited claims that the artificial sweetener aspartame is a dangerous carcinogen. These studies have been widely criticized for serious flaws in methodology in the scientific community, and are not accepted. Its in house publication, the European Journal of Oncology, has one of the lowest rankings of any journal. See our critique of a deeply flawed study on EMF and heart rate that was published in this journal.

Late in his career Milham became an activist claiming that EMF causes adverse health effects. He has done a number of "studies" that purport to show that exposure to 60 Hz fields and the "dirty electricity" carried on electrical wiring cause a variety of health effects ranging from EHS symptoms to cancer. None of his "studies" are accepted by the mainstream scientific community.

So called "dirty electricity" has been a recurrent theme with other EMF alarmists such as Dr. Magda Havas. Havas has conducted a number of flawed studies which purport to show that dirty electricity causes the non-specific symptoms of electrohypersensitivity (EHS). We have pointed out the serious flaws in some of her "studies", one of which was published in the Ramazinni journal.

Dr. Milham goes much further in alleging that "dirty electricity" is associated with an elevated risk of cancer. He has heavily promoted one particular "study" that he conducted at the La Quinta Middle School (LQMS) in California. This study is one of the showcase pieces in his book "Dirty Electricity" and on his web site. This study purports to find a strong correlation between cancer risk and exposure to so called "dirty electricity" in the electrical wiring of the school. Among the 137 teachers in the school, Milham alleges that a total of 18 cancer cases were diagnosed over the study period. This was 2.78 times more cancer cases than "expected". The study purports to show that those teachers who were diagnosed with cancer had been working in classrooms with abnormally high levels of "dirty electricity". The conclusion is that "dirty electricity" caused these cancers.

What Milham and his supporters fail to mention, is that there were major flaws in his study. Dr. John Morgan the head of the California Cancer Registry (CCR) investigated the sensational claims in Milham's study (Note: a different Lloyd Morgan is co-author of Milham's "study"). The serious flaws he uncovered indicate a total lack of scientific rigor, and may cross the line of scientific misconduct. Dr. Morgan's criticism and exposure of these flaws were published in a letter to the editor in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. This is the same journal that had published Milham's paper. The following quotes are taken from Morgan's letter and are self explanatory. Despite these devastating flaws, Milham continues to shamelessly promote his "study". This is typical behavior for alarmists who promote poorly conducted studies that have been discredited.

Note we are prevented from reproducing this letter in its entirety due to copyright restrictions of the journal.

"Contrary to the assertion made by Milham [2008], the CCR did not verify the purported cancer cases among teachers in LQMS claimed by the authors and identified significant inaccuracies in the data that are evident in the published findings"

"Inaccuracies in the author's findings when compared to CCR data and to DSUSD (Desert Sands Unified School District) employment records include unconfirmed cancer diagnoses, invalid date that cancer was diagnosed, misnamed cancer type, and inclusion of cancer for which the date of diagnosis precedes the date employment began in LQMS".

'These systematic errors each contribute to an underestimate of the expected number of new cancer cases among LQMS teachers. Together with the over count of new cancers, this collection of biases produce the exaggerated estimates of the ratios of observed to expected new cancer cases presented by the authors [2008]".
EMF&Health Samuel Milham
https://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2012/ ... ectricity/
But he has nothing on at all, cried at last the whole people....
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