Japan EMF Information Center
Rapid Response Group*
Chair: Professor Michael H. Repacholi**
Public Review 20 December 2020
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Paper: An assessment of illness in U.S. government employees and their families at overseas
embassies.
Authors: Relman DA and Pavin JA (editors)
Citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. An assessment of
illness in U.S. government employees and their families at overseas embassies. Washington, DC:
The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25889
Introduction: A standing committee of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and
Medicine was convened to advise the Department of State (DOS) on unexplained health effects
among US Government employees and their families at overseas embassies. Embassy staff in a
number of different countries, including Cuba and China, have reported various symptoms that
were not common to all employees, and included headaches, nausea, dizziness, loud sounds, feeling
of severe pain and intense pressure on the face, as well as cognitive dysfunction.
Similar health complaints were reported by staff at the US embassy in Moscow in the early 1960s to
mid 1970s. This was thoroughly investigated by a group from Johns Hopkins University and by the
US Food and Drug Administration’s Bureau of Radiological Health, who conducted an exhaustive
comparison of the health status of State Department employees who served in Moscow, with the
health status of US employees working in other Eastern European posts during the same period.
These investigations concluded there was no convincing evidence to implicate the exposure to
microwaves at the Moscow embassy in the causation of any adverse health effects. However, over
50 years later, radio frequency (RF) fields, including microwave technologies, have made rapid
advances, so claims of health effects from embassy staff in overseas locations should be
investigated.
This review only addresses the standing committee’s conclusion that "...considering the
information available to it and a set of possible mechanisms, the committee felt that many of the
distinctive and acute signs, symptoms, and observations reported by DOS employees are consistent
with the effects of directed, pulsed radio frequency (RF) energy."
Methods: The 19-member committee collected health information and investigated possible causes
of these non-specific, clinical signs and symptoms to determine whether they could be caused by
infectious disease, chemical exposure, psychological issues or physical stimulation. While experts
on microwaves provided reviews of the committee report, it appears from the standing committee
membership there were no experts on the health effects of microwaves, specifically as microwave
exposure relates to the symptoms reported by embassy staff.
While the committee was able to conduct direct discussions with many of the embassy staff
involved, they had no measurement data to work with, and could only make an analysis of the
reported symptoms to suggest a cause, thus precluding being able to make definitive conclusions
about the causes and origins of the health effects. The committee was not in a position to assess or
comment on how these DOS cases arose, such as a possible source of directed, pulsed RF energy
and the exact circumstances of any exposures. 2Results and discussion: In assessing the clinical symptoms reported by embassy staff, the
committee summarised them as follows: "A distinct set of unusual clinical manifestations occurred
abruptly in some individuals at the onset of their illness, and the illness became chronic and
debilitating for some, but not for all. The most distinctive clinical aspects of the illnesses were the
nature of the onset and the initial features: the sudden onset of a perceived loud sound, a sensation
of intense pressure or vibration in the head, and pain in the ear or more diffusely in the head. Most
individuals reported that the sound or these other sensations seemed to originate from a particular
direction and were perceived only when the individual was in a specific physical location. Some
also reported sudden onset of tinnitus, hearing loss, dizziness, unsteady gait, and visual
disturbances."
Following an analysis of possible causes of embassy staff symptoms, the committee finally
suggested the most plausible mechanism was directed, pulsed RF energy. Members felt this was
consistent with the unusual presentation of acute, directional or location-specific early phase signs,
symptoms and observations that staff reported. The committee sought evidence for this mechanism
from the scientific literature, which is substantial and the quality of the studies is highly variable.
Scientific support for the committee’s probable mechanism include conclusions from studies that
have not been replicated or were of inadequate quality. A better approach would have been to cite
"blue ribbon" committees that have conducted comprehensive reviews of all relevant studies, and
drawn conclusions that could be established from quality science, such as those of the European
Commission or the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection that recently
published their updated RF standards, and specifically addresses this topic.
Human studies: The committee’s statement that symptoms such as dizziness, headache,
fatigue, nausea, anxiety, cognitive deficits and memory loss are "consistent with known RF effects"
is inconsistent with the results of dozens of high-quality, double-blind experiments conducted with
human volunteers. Systematic reviews of these studies have not provided evidence for a relation
between the RF exposures and the symptoms or physiological responses that might explain embassy
staff symptoms. Similarly, no relationship has been found for long term exposures from
observational studies.
Sound perception and microwave hearing: The perceived loud sound and its directional
dependence described by embassy staff were reasons why pulsed RF exposure might be a focus,
since "microwave hearing" is a well-documented phenomenon. However, the induced sound by
pulsed microwaves is very weak, even with the head exposed next to the antenna, and can only be
heard in a very quiet environment. The committee noted most individuals reported the sound or
other sensations seemed to originate from a particular direction. This does not support the cause of
embassy staff symptoms being exposure to pulsed RF causing microwave hearing, since the
location of the perceived sound was a short distance behind the head and at the same location
regardless of the body’s orientation to the pulsed beam.
In summary to elicit auditory sensations, individuals must be exposed to intense but brief
(microsecond) pulses of microwave energy. The pulses are only sufficient to heat brain tissue by a
few microdegrees in a few microseconds, and the resulting thermal expansion launches an acoustic
wave in the brain that the subject perceives as sound. The acoustic pressures are many orders of
magnitude too weak to cause tissue damage. People elicit audible sensations only because of the
exquisite sensitivity of the human auditory system.
When US personnel in Cuba released a recording of the high-pitched sound they heard, it was
analysed by a team of biologists, who identified it as the calling song of a short-tail cricket. Another
suggestion of the origin of the sound perceived by embassy staff could be the by-product of
ultrasonic listening devices. 3Electromagnetic interference: The committee noted that when embassy staff symptoms
occurred there was no reported interference with any electrical device. Electronic equipment should
have been interfered with or even disrupted by RF fields at the level where microwave hearing
would elicit the sensation of "a loud sound". Further, the RF fields from cell phone base stations are
much less than the exposure level for microwave hearing. Interferences with existing
telecommunications would reasonably have been expected if such intense microwaves were used.
Mass psychogenic illness: While the committee was not able to reach any conclusion about
mass psychogenic illness as a possible cause of the unusual pattern of symptoms, it is a common
cause of symptoms that are attributed to a hazardous exposure. It is characterised by subjective
symptoms in the absence of any known causes of disease or any identifiable physical exposure.
Symptoms are often triggered by an initiating event that is interpreted as threatening, particularly if
it coincides with someone else who has a high social status displaying or reporting symptoms. In
such incidents, the belief that an exposure is harmful can lead people to experience symptoms,
regardless of the nature of the exposure itself. This has previously been demonstrated for RF fields.
Conclusions: Science can never prove that something does not happen. The best science can do is
produce high quality studies that provide convincing evidence that an agent does or does not cause
an effect. The committee could not rule out other possible mechanisms and considered it likely that
a multiplicity of factors explains some cases and the differences between others. However, a more
thorough job at reviewing the quality scientific literature should have been done before reaching
their conclusion that "the unusual presentation of acute, directional or location-specific early phase
signs, symptoms and observations reported by DOS employees [is] consistent with the effects of
directed, pulsed radio frequency (RF) energy".
Factors that decrease the likelihood that the sounds perceived by embassy staff were due microwave
hearing include:
Huge peak and average microwave power densities would be needed to elicit the sensation
of "a loud sound". This would require large microwave generating equipment, such as
military radars used close to the target.
Embassy staff did not report any thermal sensation or feeling of warmth that results from
exposure to high power microwaves.
There were no reports of electromagnetic interference that would certainly result from
exposure to high power microwaves.
The reported directional nature of the sound does not fit the description of the microwave
hearing effect.
Finally it would be technically challenging to produce RF equipment that could produce loud
sounds. The committee produced no convincing evidence that pulsed RF at high or low power can
produce the symptoms reported by US embassy personnel in Havana and China. Mass psychogenic
illness and related psychological mechanisms remain a plausible explanation for the symptoms.
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Annotation from JEIC:
* Rapid Response Group (RRG): The RRG provides a rapid response on the analysis of newly
published scientific studies that JEIC considers important and in need of expert scientific review to
provide information for all stakeholders. The RRG is composed of a coordinator and experts in all
areas of science appropriate for reviewing and assessing scientific studies. Prof. M. H. Repacholi
has served as the coordinator from the time of launch of RRG in 2010.
** Professor Michael H. Repacholi: Former Team Leader of the Radiation and Environmental
Health Unit, World Health Organization (WHO); Department of Information Engineering,
Electronics and Telecommunications, "La Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy.