The health effects of AM towers are getting new attention this week thanks to a pending study, reported in Wired magazine.
"Korean scientists have found that regions near AM radio broadcasting towers had 70 percent more leukemia deaths than those without," Wired reports, while also noting a number of qualifications. Researchers in the study are careful to note they don't have a direct link between AM transmitters and cancer, but believe further investigation is warranted.
The study will appear in the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. According to the magazine, the study also found that cancer deaths were 29% higher near such transmitters.
"Two years ago an Italian study found death rates from leukemia increased dramatically for residents living within two miles of Vatican Radio's powerful array of transmitters in Rome."
According to Wired, the new study involved 10 regions with AM sites using 100 kW or more. "The substantially higher cancer mortality in those who lived within two kilometers of the towers led researchers to conclude that more investigation was needed."
The full story is at www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,64579,00.html