DOES GSM 1800 MHz AFFECT THE PUBLIC HEALTH IN SWEDEN? Örjan Hallberg, M.Sc. E.E. Polkavägen 14B, Trångsund Sweden Olle Johansson, Assoc. Professor Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden

The purpose of the study zTo see if changes in health characteristics fit the roll-out of GSM 1800 in Sweden y- Does it fit in time? y- Does it fit geographically?

How much do we talk by the mobile phone each year?

What is the average output pulse power from the phones?

A GSM coverage model was tuned to the data from Telia/Ericsson

Sick-days statistics from 1981 looks different...

But the sick-days statistics from 2002 fits very well

So, the sickness in Sweden seems to relate to the GSM coverage

And, funny enough, so it does also in Denmark and Norway

Some drugs sell like hell… e.g. Antidepressives

Pain killers on the rise...

The mortality trend for the age group years was broken in 1997

The number of sick-registered started to increase in 1997

The trend-break is noticed all over Sweden...

For each county a specific break point was identified.

Increasing sickness since 1997

Company health statistics got worse in 1997

Traffic injuries in Stockholm are increasing

Both handheld and hands-free phones increase the reaction time while driving

Work-load related injuries are increasing

And it takes longer time to recover from a work related sickness or accident in the high power counties!

It also takes longer time to recover from a surgery operation in sparsely populated regions

The mortality due to external causes is higher in the countryside

Nerve system mortality

The number of deaths per year in Alzheimer’s disease is accelerating!

And especially so in high power counties

This is not the case for a completely different neuralgic disease, ALS.

And ALS shows no trendbreak

Prostate cancer has been increasing in Stockholm since 1997

But it has nothing to do with mobile phone output power!

So, if we look at leukemia, is there any trend-break? No - not at all!

Does the incidence increase by mobile output power? No!

So, to summarize zWhich health characteristics do fit with GSM1800? zAnd which ones don’t?

Can the mobile system possibly be accountable for all these problems?

Conclusions zThe data shows that the health of the whole Swedish population is threatened zSparsely populated counties are worse off zThe responsible authorities must seriously consider possible health implications from the GSM 1800 MHz system

Download graphs at:

Sick-days and cancer incidence in Sweden

The problem we see zHealth care costs are booming zThe mortality improvement among young people has come to an end zSparsely populated areas are unhealthy zIllness recovery times are increasing zAccidents happen more frequently z...

So, sick-days seem to relate to the output power from the mobile phone

Two questions regarding GSM zWhen did the mobile phone use really take off? zWhere in the country do mobile phones radiate the highest average output power?

Let’s now look at some health related facts zDrug sales zMortality zSickness

And so it does for all of Sweden

So, the sickness trend-break fits with GSM 1800 ramp up zWhat about the different counties in Sweden?

Exact when? August 1997 (?)

The average handset output power and sickness varies over the country

The sickness break-points and GSM 1800 roll-out zSickness break-points: Oct-97 to Jan-98 zGSM 1800 roll-out: Autumn -97 to Jan-98

The number of injured drivers in Sweden is increasing

What about work related injuries and sickness? zIs there a trend break? zIs it worse in counties with low population density?

The sickness varies among the counties in Sweden