Childhood cancer in the vicinity of the Sutro Tower, San Francisco.

Abstract

The Sutro Tower is a prominent structure on an elevated site in San Francisco. Since 1973 it has provided radio and TV signals for the San Francisco Bay region. There have been long-standing concerns about the health effects of this high-powered transmitter located in the centre of a large urban population. The a priori hypothesis is that RF/MW radiation is a Ubiquitous Universal Genotoxic Carcinogen. This is based on a number of occupational studies and previous studies that have shown elevated cancer rates in residential populations living in the vicinity of radar and RF/MW broadcast towers. It is supported by many laboratory studies showing that ELF and RF/MW signals damage DNA. Thus it is predicted that at residential levels of RF/MW exposure cancer rates will increase in the vicinity of the Sutro Tower. This is tested by using the childhood cancer data-set from 1973-1988 with residential locations analysed to see if there is elevation of cancer and possible dose-response relationships. All of the analyses support and together confirm the hypothesis, and the radial patterns eliminate potential confounding factors.