Low frequency electromagnetic fields and public health. Foreign trip report, April 30-May 8, 1988.

摘要

The traveler participated in the IARC-sponsored workshop entitled ''Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) and Public Health'' where he delivered the keynote address. This address set the stage for deliberations among the EMF public health professionals regarding strategies for international collaborative work on this topic. Strong emphasis was placed in explicit exposure monitoring. The traveler also participated in the Tenth Yves Biraud Seminar on rare-event surveillance as a sentinel system for detection potential environmental hazards. He presented an invited paper describing a means for making rapid, preliminary decisions regarding potential health impacts due to contamination of the environment around point sources of toxic substances. He served as the symposium's expert on numerical techniques on the use of spatial and temporal aggregation of rare health events. There is considerable variation among countries in emphasis on application of sentinel systems and application of sentinel systems and data gathering. France has a highly automated, statistically-sophisticated system involving individual physician reporting of specific reportable infectious diseases to a central location. The European Common Market nations are sold on this concept and are supporting the development of an internationally coordinated system.