An Evaluation of the U.S. Navy's Extremely Low Frequency Submarine Communications Ecological Monitoring Program (1997) / Chapter Skim
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5: Overall Conclusions and Recommendations
5: Overall Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 138-147
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From page 138... ...
The total operation of the antennas seemed to have no major detrimental effect on upland flora beyond background environmental fluctuations. No experimental data indicated a statistically significant effect of ELF EMFs on the movement of dragon fly larvae, the colonization of leaf 138
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From page 139... ...
The environmental differences between treatment and control sites contributed to observed differences and might well have explained more of the variance in biologic responses than the ELF EMFs did. The inconsistency in litter~ecomposition data from year to year illustrates the difficulty.
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From page 140... ...
X Stomatal resistance X Slime molds X Wisconsin and Michigan birdsC Bird populations X Small vertebrates: Embryo X Fecundity X Homing X Aerobic metabolism X Litter decomposition and microflora: Decomposition X Microflora X Upland flora X Aquatic ecosystems: Algae (chlorophyll-ate) X Insects X Fish X Pollinating insects (increased mortalityb)
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From page 141... ...
. The mortality of bees overwintering at a treatment site was found to be greater than that of bees at the control site, but the investigators argued without sufficient evidence that the observed effects are unlikely to have been caused by the ELF EMFs.
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From page 142... ...
This commitment appeared to give assurance that the monitoring program, which would generate extensive data from a wide variety of projects, would be closely supervised and that researchers in the future would be able to look at the results to understand how ecosystems in the upper lake states might respond to external perturbations. In its review of individual study reports, as well as of the overall program of monitoring for possible effects of the ELF antennas, the committee discovered weaknesses in some aspects of IITRI management of the program.
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From page 143... ...
The following recommendation and next steps suggested in the subsequent section reflect the committee's understanding of such difficulties but also indicate the committee's concern for bringing this ecological monitoring program to an appropriate and fruitful conclusion. DO NOT REPEAT THE MONITORING STUDIES Despite the weakness of the monitoring studies, the committee does not recommend that the field studies be repeated because the extensive studies conducted to date have provided no evidence that exposure to ELF EMFs had obvious adverse ecological effects.
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From page 144... ...
Such an approach would require, however, that the monitoring studies differentiate between the effects due to construction of the external agent and operation of the agent. If future monitoring studies of similar external influences on ecosystem components or processes are planned by the Navy or other entity, hypothesis development should consider an approach used in ecotoxicology: The "null hypothesis" is designated a measurable response (i.e., positive finding)
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From page 145... ...
The reassessment and reanalysis should be performed in close collaboration with biostatisticians familiar with this type of EMF-exposure assessment and engineers knowledgeable about field ELF-EMF exposure measurements. if reanalysis reveals statistically significant or suggestive responses of ecological variables to ELF EMFs, these responses could be considered for further controlled study (as discussed below)
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From page 146... ...
Such information might guide researchers in deciding which organisms and response variables are most likely to exhibit effects, if any, of the ELF antenna. ANY REANALYSIS OR LABORATORY STUDIES SHOWED BE REVIEWED INDEPENDENTLY Reanalysis of exposure assessments might or might not identify some effects of ELF-EMF exposure on ecological variables not previously observed, and laboratory tests might or might not confirm them.
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From page 147... ...
Any studies of such possible effects could be pursued under controlled laboratory conditions and combined with theoretical studies designed to elucidate possible mechanisms. if these strategies are pursued and data reanalysis and laboratory studies are completed, the results of the entire program should be evaluated independently and the results of the evaluation should be made publicly available.
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