The investigation of a possible cancer cluster in the Literature Building continued last month with a second report that further narrowed possibilities of cause and solution. Meanwhile, in response to concerns over transparency from department staff, faculty and graduate students, UCSD’s Office of Environment, Health and Safety is working to disseminate information to the public in a timelier fashion.
The unusually high incidence of breast cancer in the Literature Building has been subject to scientific investigation since early 2007. UCSD professor and epidemiologist Cedric Garland conducted the initial study, concluding a year later that the likely contributor to cancer among residents was a high level of electromagnetic-frequency exposure associated with the building’s elevator system.
‘Some epidemiological studies and laboratory studies have linked exposure to residential levels of electromagnetic fields from high electrical configurations, such as … step-down electric power transformers, to breast or other cancers,’ Garland said in his report, which was presented to the literature department in November.
Following a subsequent department meeting, a committee of staff, faculty and graduate students formed with the task of representing the department’s interests throughout all further investigation.
‘We want this report to have some repercussions on the way we live on this campus and work on this campus,’ committee chair Oumelbanine Zhiri said. ‘We not only feel terrible about our health and our colleagues’ health, but it does put us in a terrible ethical and maybe even legal situation.’
Field Management Services, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in EMF solutions, was contracted by EHS to take measurements in the Literature Building on Dec. 22, 2008. According to Zhiri, the department was never informed of this effort, which took place over winter break.
‘This is your basic bureaucratic nightmare, but there is more than regular bureaucracy here,’ he said. ‘The lack of communication makes everything worse. We feel frustrated and demoralized.’
Later, in a Jan. 24 report, Field Management Services noted that the building was scarcely occupied during the investigation and that its data may reflect lower levels of EMF than would have appeared during normal hours of operation.
However, the new report still showed that electrical box and transform
er configurations contributed to high levels of EMF exposure ‘shy;’mdash; though limited to distances of a few feet within their electrical source. Especially high EMF levels were recorded in room 123, vacated since the study began, and in room 223, a graduate student office. Both are adjacent to high-current electrical equipment.
While their report recommended installing specialized EMF shielding in both rooms to minimize exposure, Field Management Services said that it would make ‘no attempt to attribute value to either side of the question regarding risk to human health.’
A confidentiality agreement between Field Management Services and UCSD prevented the report’s author, Field Management Services Vice President Jon W. Munderloh, from commenting on issues relating to the survey, such as health and safety.
Department Chair Don Wayne said he was surprised by the failure of EHS to inform them of the survey beforehand.
‘I think it is really important that they keep in contact with me and with other departments,’ Wayne said. ‘If I knew measurements were being taken, I would have made it a point to be here … [but] I think it was a miscommunication rather than an attempt to keep anyone out.’
According to EHS Director Stephen Benedict, the oversight was unintentional. He has since arranged weekly meetings with Wayne and Zhiri to address concerns, and said every effort is being made to ensure maximum transparency, including a forthcoming Web site dedicated to the investigation.
‘There is so much information and so many people are interested, it’s hard for us to be transparent,’ Benedict said. ‘We’re trying to do everything we can to put the information out there for everyone who wants it.’
‘I am assuming that [EMF] shielding will go in,’ Benedict said. ‘Once we get the shielding in, we will take more measurements to make sure we’re getting it at a time that it’s normal occupancy.’
Additionally, Benedict has contracted Leeka Kheifets, a UCLA professor and expert in EMF and health issues, to review Garland’s report and the Field Management Services data survey.
‘Dr. Garland’s investigation was very broad … He spent just a part of his time focusing on EMF,’ Benedict said. ‘I would expect Dr. Kheifets to be more specific. She will be studying just EMF and breast cancer. Hers will be the more detailed investigation.’
The author’ of several studies on the connection between EMF and cancer, Kheifets worked with the World Health Organization on its international EMF project from 2001 to 2003 and the WHO International Environmental Health Criteria Task Group in evaluating potential health risks associated with EMF in 2005.
Kheifets will hold a meeting on campus Feb. 10 to discuss her role in the investigation with staff, faculty and students, beginning at 7 p.m. in the first-floor conference room of the Literature Building.
Readers can contact David Harvey at [email protected].