THE ANTI-THEFT security tagging systems now widely used in shops could be
exposing children to excessive electromagnetic fields, according to a computer
model developed by researchers at the University of Utah
(13 October 2001, p 7).
Somewhat horrified at this claim, I asked junior health minister Lord Hunt of
Kings Heath if the Department of Health had any views on it. Hunt replied that
the National Radiological Protection Board advises the department on such
matters. The NRPB says that the Utah research underscores the need for all
surveillance equipment to conform to national and international guidelines.
Hunt also said that the European Electrotechnical Standardisation body
CENELEC has developed standards for assessing the exposure to surveillance
equipment. Moreover, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation
Protection is preparing a report for the European Commission on the health
impact of using such equipment. And the NRPB has its own computer models for
investigating potential radiation exposure from surveillance equipment. It has
measured magnetic field strengths close to a number of systems, and the minister
says that the equipment it has so far checked complies with the ICNIRP鈥檚 basic
restrictions.
As surveillance equipment becomes commonplace, safety testing is a priority
for the NRPB. The manufacturers must ensure all the equipment they produce
complies with guidelines.
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SOME physicists, it seems, now fear that the elusive Higgs boson does not
exist and that they will never find it. This led 快猫短视频 to
assert 鈥淭here may be no God particle but the adventure is just beginning鈥�
(8 December 2001, p 3).
The Higgs is an elusive particle which many physicists
still hope will provide the keystone to their explanation of why particles have
mass and why there are stars, planets and even people. The controversy over its
existence prompted me to ask Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, whether this
would affect funding at CERN, the centre for particle physics research near
Geneva. I was delighted with his unambiguous assurance.
Sainsbury said that the government鈥檚 support for CERN and the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC), also at CERN, is undiminished. CERN remains the priority for
Britain鈥檚 investment in particle physics, since there is excellent science to be
done with the LHC鈥攚hether or not the Higgs exists. In fact, he said,
physicists think it will be even more exciting if the Higgs does not exist.
The minister went on to add that research using the LHC presents an
enormously valuable scientific and technical challenge. However, he conceded
that although CERN is a fantastic scientific institution, there have been
management weaknesses which need to be addressed. 鈥淢y officials and those from
the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council are working with CERN on
迟丑颈蝉.鈥�
I understand that other governments contributing to CERN have also become
concerned by these problems. Clearly they need to be ironed out, and soon.