Tag: fear

5G and 6G risks to human health – high frequency radio waves

Data from studies for biomedical use are insufficient and incomparable for determining risk to health from 5G and 6G communications is what I have found. Some studies show these radio waves alter the structural components of DNA but there is yet to be determined a threshold level of detrimental dose in the context of communications.

Some of this is now published on the Parliament website as Submission No. 9 Parliamentary Inquiry into 5G in Australia October 2019.

 

Why I looked into 5G and 6G effects

Last year I underwent life saving photon radiation treatment. Scary as it was, once I researched how it works and how it relates to the physics of the Atom bombs I felt more at ease. So a few days ago I discovered that a mobile phone tower located a few hundred meters from my residence, is assigned to transmit 5G radio waves through my house as it falls in direct line of the next transmission tower. We already have high tensile power lines running along our road but I told myself about those when they were erected, “you can’t worry about everything”. To alleviate my concerns and my curiosity, I did some digging and this is what I found so far. So you know, I don’t claim to be an expert on this topic but I do have a background in medical research which I have found helpful.

 

What I have learnt about radiation

Radiation is energy radiated in the form of rays, waves or particles. It is either ionizing radiation or non ionizing or indirect ionizing. Ionizing is strong enough to remove electrons from orbiting an atom leaving the atom charged or ionized. Indirectly ionizing radiation from neutral particles deposits energy into the medium through a two step process. Either, a charged particle is released into the medium by liberating atomic electrons or generating positrons, neutrons release protons or heavier ions; or the released charged particles deposit energy to the medium through direct Coulumb interactions. A Coulumb interaction is the force between two stationary charged particles.

Ionizing, indirect ionizing and non ionizing radiation cause damage to DNA. 5G is a form of high frequency radio wave, 6G is even higher frequency and both are described as non ionizing radiation. An example of indirect ionising radiation is photons. Photons are light energy that is an indirect ionizing radiation that pass through medium and do not linger and have a half life like ionizing radiation. Photons and other indirect ionizing radiation cause damage to DNA with radiation damaging different types of macromolecules. Either way, a classification of indirect ionizing or non ionizing radiation is perhaps only relevant in terms of mode of damage to cells but not to whether or not damage occurs. Non ionizing radiation such as Ultra Violet radiation causes DNA damage by initiating a reaction between thymine molecules that are structural components of DNA. The start of cancer cell proliferation is often caused by DNA damage.

What is known about various ionization radiation types is the response of particular tissue to the damaging effect of radiation. This is called the effective dose and it incorporates a tissue weighting factor which is a measure of absorption. Unfortunately, according to the American Federal Communications Commission there is currently no radio frequency RF exposure standard. However the SAR or specific absorption rate expressed as units of watts per kg whole body absorption of RF energy by a standing human adult has shown to occur at a maximum rate when the frequency if 80 MHz (0.08 GHz) to 100 MHz (0.1 GHz) (OET Bulletin 1999 Cleveland & Ulcek). This report written in 1999, well before current technologies exist describes the SAR and the potential for harm and states;

“Because of this ‘resonance’ phenomenon, RF safety standards have taken account of this frequency dependence of whole-body human absorption, and the most restrictive limits on exposure are found to be in this frequency range (the very high frequency of “VHF” frequency range.”.

 

5G

The bandwidth that 5G is between (30000 MHz) 30 GHz and (300000 MHz) 300GHz (millimeter band)  which is super high to extreme high frequencies, presumably well above the maximum SAR absorption rate for harm to the human body.  To put this in perspective household wireless device and appliance are within the range 3kHz to 6GHz (to 6000 MHz) very low to super high frequencies. See Table 1.

Table 1 Frequency Spectrum

 

Source: University of Notra Dame

In terms of SAR (Specific Absorption Rate), gonads and eyes have the highest tissue rating factor and thus the highest absorption rate and are most vulnerable to radiation damage. The ratings for tissue types with highest to lowest are:

0.2    gonads

0.12  colon, stomach, bone marrow, lung

0.05   chest, liver, bladder, thyroid, oesophagus, adrenals, brain, small intestine, kidney, muscle,       pancreas, spleen, thymus, uterus

0.01   skin and bone surface

(ICRP 100   2007).

 

What I want to know.

What is the detriment from radiation of this super to extreme high radio frequency level that 5G and 6G uses? Detriment is a term used to measure of the total harm that will result after exposure to radiation. What is the threshold dose for biological damage from the 30 to 300GHz bandwidth of radio frequency radiation? The document that the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency referred me to when I made enquiries to them is An Opinion on Potential health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks on 2015. I looked at the 14 studies in the 30-300GHz range cited in this report and have listed these, added their abstracts and commented on my interpretation further down in this article.

I did a brief literature search and found one study (Baste 2008) of military men (10,497 respondents) in the Norwegian Navy exposed to radio frequency fields that disturbingly found

“In all age groups there were significant linear trends with higher prevalence of involuntary childlessness with higher self-reported exposure to radio frequency fields”

There are studies that suggest significant harm from radio frequency radiation from mobile phone towers, phone and other communications but there is an absence of research into very high radio frequency waves, especially how these affect tissue when emitted across vast space such is how 5G and 6G operates.

 

Level of Detriment

My main concern is there are no existing studies to enable us to know the threshold level or the level of detriment to the human body, especially one that is radio-sensitive from photon therapy as mine is now. (Radiotherapy has made my body more susceptible to all radiation exposure including UV radiation damage). Also, there is no knowledge of the level of detriment to host related factors that alter the susceptibility to radiation injury such as age, smoking and co-morbidities such as infections, malignancy, collagen vascular disease, diabetes and hypertension.

There is no knowledge on the level of detriment to those individuals with rare genetic conditions such as Bloom’s Syndrome, Fanconi’s anaemia and ataxia telangiectasia. These people have advanced cellular radiosensitivity due to mutations in their repair genes. Until rigorous studies investigating the risk to human health of this specific radiation proposed for the 5G and 6G communications, I am concerned for myself, my family’s  and my community’s short and long-term health. Our government has a duty of care to its people and we expect as a democratic society for this to be upheld.

My Comments on studies in the 30-300 GHz range cited in

Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Risks Opinion on Potential health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) 2015

In summary, nearly all of these studies (14) show detriment to health of exposure in the 30-300GHz range. The ones that do not, either have limitations in methodology or do not seem relatable to the mechanics of 5G and 6G wave length usage. In the latter, this is most likely because the context of these studies is not for investigating the detrimental effects of radio waves but rather aimed at investigating the effects of radio waves for therapeutic biomedical use. This results in incomparable data. The data is relevant for the field of biomedicine but not the field of communications.

The positive side of the biomedical studies is that there is potential for this particular radiation like other radiation types (once the physical parameters are fully understood and described) to have a useful biomedical role. However, until threshold levels of detriment (especially to DNA) in the context of 5G and 6G use are known in the context of communications, I remain concerned with the short and long effect of the terahertz radio waves on human health and also other biological organisms.

 Study 1

Beneduci A (2009). Evaluation of the potential in vitro antiproliferative effects of

millimeter waves at some therapeutic frequencies on RPMI 7932 human skin malignant

melanoma cells. Cell biochemistry and biophysics, 55, 25-32.

 

 

Abstract

The potential antiproliferative effects of low power millimeter waves (MMWs) at 42.20 and 53.57 GHz on RPMI 7932 human skin melanoma cells were evaluated in vitro in order to ascertain if these two frequencies, comprised in the range of frequency used in millimeter wave therapy, would have a similar effect when applied in vivo to malignant melanoma tumours. Cells were exposed for 1 h exposure/day and to repeated exposure up to a total of four treatments. Plane wave incident power densities <1 mW/cm(2) were used in the MMWs-exposure experiments so that the radiations did not cause significant thermal effects. Numerical simulations of Petri dish reflectivity were made using the equations for the reflection coefficient of a multilayered system. Such analysis showed that the power densities transmitted into the aqueous samples were < or = 0.3 mW/cm(2). Two very important and general biological endpoints were evaluated in order to study the response of melanoma cells to these radiations, i.e. cell proliferation and cell cycle. Herein, we show that neither cell doubling time nor the cell cycle of RPMI 7932 cells was affected by the frequency of the GHz radiation and duration of the exposure, in the conditions above reported.

Limitations of Study

This study found that very high frequency radiation doesn’t increase proliferation of cancer cells in vivo which is not surprising as it is the microenvironment of the host that effects growth of cancer cells and the risk from radiation is in causing DNA damage that begins the proliferation process.

 

Study 2

Clothier RH and Bourne N (2003). Effects of THz exposure on human primary

keratinocyte differentiation and viability. Journal of Biological Physics, 29, 179–85.

 

Abstract

Primary human keratinocytes can be driven, in vitro, to differentiate, via activation of transglutaminases, by raising the culture medium calcium concentration above 1 mM. This results intransglutaminase regulated cross linking of specific amino acids with resultant cornified envelope formation. The differentiation was monitored via the incorporation of fluorescein cadaverine into the cornified envelops. This differentiation assay was combined with assessment of reductive capacity ofresazurin, as a measure of cellactivity/viability. One primary aim is to assess the effects of THz radiation on human skin, since medical imaging of the body through the skin is envisaged. Human keratinocytes, at passage 2 from isolation, were grown to confluence, and transported in a buffered salt solution at22 °C. The exposure to the THz source was for 10, 20 or 30 minutes at room temperature. No donor specific inhibition or stimulation of cell activity, compared with non-exposed cells, was noted following exposure in the range 1 to 3 THz, at up to 0.45J/cm2.The differentiation also occurred in a normal way, for exposed and non-exposed cells, with the FC incorporation increasing between day 3 and day 8, as previously noted.

 

Limitations of Study

  1. There are only three donors used when assessing THz radiation on the differentiation of skin cells. Three is perhaps not a large enough sample size to draw conclusions from. What race were these people? There is not enough methodology information to evaluate this further.
  2. This study was funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSR) which states on their website their strategic focus is

 

“This research area is expected to contribute significantly to the full realisation of 5G and to advances in telecommunications further into the future.”

 

Study 3

Hintzsche H, Jastrow C, Kleine-Ostmann T, Stopper H, Schmid E, Schrader T (2011).

Terahertz radiation induces spindle disturbances in human-hamster hybrid cells, Radiat

Res, 175(5), 569-74.

 

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate and quantify the production of spindle disturbances in A(L) cells, a human-hamster hybrid cell line, by 0.106 THz radiation (continuous wave). Monolayer cultures in petri dishes were exposed for 0.5 h to 0.106 THz radiation with power densities ranging from 0.043 mW/cm(2) to 4.3 mW/cm(2) or were kept under sham conditions (negative control) for the same period. As a positive control, 100 µg/ml of the insecticide trichlorfon, which is an aneuploidy-inducing agent, was used for an exposure period of 6 h. During exposure, the sample containers were kept at defined environmental conditions in a modified incubator as required by the cells. Based on a total of 6,365 analyzed mitotic cells, the results of two replicate experiments suggest that 0.106 THz radiation is a spindle-acting agent as predominately indicated by the appearance of spindle disturbances at the anaphase and telophase (especially lagging and non-disjunction of single chromosomes) of cell divisions. The findings in the present study do not necessarily imply disease or injury but may be important for evaluating possible underlying mechanisms.

Detrimental health effects found

This study found significant DNA damage by THz radiation.

 

“Based on a total of 6,365 analyzed mitotic cells, the results of two replicate experiments suggest that 0.106 THz radiation is a spindle-acting agent as predominately indicated by the appearance of spindle disturbances at the anaphase and telophase (especially lagging and non-disjunction of single chromosomes) of cell divisions”.

 

Study 4

Hintzsche H, Jastrow C, Kleine-Ostmann T, Kärst U, Schrader T, Stopper H (2012).

Terahertz electromagnetic fields (0.106 THz) do not induce manifest genomic damage in

vitro, PLoS One, 7(9), e46397.

 

Abstract

Terahertz electromagnetic fields are non-ionizing electromagnetic fields in the frequency range from 0.1 to 10 THz. Potential applications of these electromagnetic fields include the whole body scanners, which currently apply millimeter waves just below the terahertz range, but future scanners will use higher frequencies in the terahertz range. These and other applications will bring along human exposure to these fields. Up to now, only a limited number of investigations on biological effects of terahertz electromagnetic fields have been performed. Therefore, research is strongly needed to enable reliable risk assessment.Cells were exposed for 2 h, 8 h, and 24 h with different power intensities ranging from 0.04 mW/cm2 to 2 mW/cm2, representing levels below, at, and above current safety limits. Genomic damage on the chromosomal level was measured as micronucleus formation. DNA strand breaks and alkali-labile sites were quantified with the comet assay. No DNA strand breaks or alkali-labile sites were observed as a consequence of exposure to terahertz electromagnetic fields in the comet assay. The fields did not cause chromosomal damage in the form of micronucleus induction.

Comments

Although not significant this study did find that after the long exposure, the DNA in the tail region was increased in comparison to the sham-exposed sample. They conclude that “No induction of DNA strand breaks or chromosomal damage was observed. Very small alterations might not have been detectable because the cells showed considerable background level of DNA damage”.

 

[They used an assay known as a Comet Assay. Definition of tail moment: term incorporates a measure of both the smallest detectable size of migrating DNA (reflected in the tail length) and the number of relaxed/broken pieces (represented by the intensity of DNA in the tail. The tail moment indicates the degree of the genotoxic effect on the DNA.]

 

Study 5

Hwang Y, Ahn J Mun J Bae S Uk Jeong Y,Vinokurov NA and Kim P. In vivo analysis of THz

wave irradiation induced acute inflammatory response in skin by laser scanning confocal

microscopy. Optic Express 2014, 22 (10), 11465.

 

Abstract

The recent development of THz sources in a wide range of THz frequencies and power levels has led to greatly increased interest in potential biomedical applications such as cancer and burn wound diagnosis. However, despite its importance in realizing THz wave based applications, our knowledge of how THz wave irradiation can affect a live tissue at the cellular level is very limited. In this study, an acute inflammatory response caused by pulsed THz wave irradiation on the skin of a live mouse was analyzed at the cellular level using intravital laser-scanning confocal microscopy. Pulsed THz wave (2.7 THz, 4 μs pulsewidth, 61.4 μJ per pulse, 3Hz repetition), generated using compact FEL, was used to irradiate an anesthetized mouse’s ear skin with an average power of 260 mW/cm(2) for 30 minutes using a high-precision focused THz wave irradiation setup. In contrast to in vitro analysis using cultured cells at similar power levels of CW THz wave irradiation, no temperature change at the surface of the ear skin was observed when skin was examined with an IR camera. To monitor any potential inflammatory response, resident neutrophils in the same area of ear skin were repeatedly visualized before and after THz wave irradiation using a custom-built laser-scanning confocal microscopy system optimized for in vivo visualization. While non-irradiated control skin area showed no changes in the number of resident neutrophils, a massive recruitment of newly infiltrated neutrophils was observed in the THz wave irradiated skin area after 6 hours, which suggests an induction of acute inflammatory response by the pulsed THz wave irradiation on the skin via a non-thermal process.

Detrimental health effects found

“ a massive recruitment of newly infiltrated neutrophils was observed in the THz wave irradiated skin area after 6 hours, which suggests an induction of acute inflammatory response by the pulsed THz wave irradiation on the skin via a non-thermal process”.

 

Study 6

Kirichuk VF, EfimovaN, Andronov E (2009). Effect of High Power Terahertz Irradiation on

Platelet Aggregation and Behavioral Reactions of Albino Rats. Bull Exp Biol Med, 48(5),

746–9.

 

Abstract

Intensive terahertz irradiation at the nitric oxide emission and absorption spectrum frequencies (150.176-150.664 GHz) applied for 60 min to male albino rats subjected to acute immobilization stress enhanced platelet aggregation and induced signs of depression.

Detrimental health effects found

This study on behavioral reactions and aggregation activity found enhanced platelet aggregation and induced signs of depression.

 

Study 7

Kirichuk VF, Tsymbal AA (2009). Use of Terahertz Electromagnetic Waves for Correcting

Hemostasis Functions. Biomedical Engineering, 44(1), 11–14.

 

Abstract

The influence of terahertz range waves at 129.0 GHz (frequency of the molecular spectrum of radiation and absorption of atmospheric oxygen) on faulty coagulation hemostasis and its fibrinolysis potential was studied under conditions of experimental stress. Considerable hypercoagulation and the suppression of fibrinolysis of blood were observed in experimental animals exposed to experimental stress. The influence of 129.0 GHz radiation was studied in animals under conditions of immobilizing stress. No considerable changes in the faulty indicators of hemostasis and fibrinolysis were observed for 5-min exposure duration. In case of 15-min exposure, partial normalization of indicators characterizing the coagulation cascade and fibrinolysis was observed. The influence of terahertz radiation on the specified frequencies within 30 min caused full normalization of hemocoagulation and fibrinolysis as the studied indicators of a coagulation link of the system of hemostasis and fibrinolysis. Thus, on the basis of the presented data it is possible to draw a conclusion about positive effect of terahertz radiation at the frequency of the molecular spectrum of radiation and absorption of atmospheric oxygen (129.0 GHz) on the coagulation properties and fibrinolysis of blood in animals under conditions of immobilizing stress. A 30-min exposure proved to be especially effective for restoration of the indicators of hemocoagulation and fibrinolysis activity of blood.

Comments

This study found Terahertz range waves alters hemocoagulation and fibrinolysis activity of blood. My intpretation of this finding is that shows detriment to health however the authors conclude that this is a positive effect under conditions of stress.

 

Study 8

Le Quement C, Nicolaz CN, Zhadobov M, Desmots F, Sauleau R, Aubry M, Michel D, Le

Drean Y (2012). Whole-Genome Expression Analysis in Primary Human Keratinocyte Cell

Cultures Exposed to 60 GHz Radiation. Bioelectromagnetics, 33, 147-58.

 

Abstract

Human corneal epithelial (HCE-T) and human lens epithelial (SRA01/04) cells derived from the human eye were exposed to 60 gigahertz (GHz) millimeter-wavelength radiation for 24 h. There was no statistically significant increase in the micronucleus (MN) frequency in cells exposed to 60 GHz millimeter-wavelength radiation at 1 mW/cm2 compared with sham-exposed controls and incubator controls. The MN frequency of cells treated with bleomycin for 1 h provided positive controls. The comet assay, used to detect DNA strand breaks, and heat shock protein (Hsp) expression also showed no statistically significant effects of exposure. These results indicate that exposure to millimeter-wavelength radiation has no effect on genotoxicity in human eye cells.

Comments 

This provides promising results of no detriment to eyes from 60 HGz radiation.

Limitations of study

The authors describe the limitations;

“Overall, it appears that exposure to millimeter-wavelength radiation has no genotoxicity effect, and does not alter Hsp expression in the absence of thermal effects. However, our study was performed on specific conditions. It has been shown that the effects of microwaves including millimeter-wavelength radiation strongly depend on a number of physical parameters such as frequency, modulation, polarization, background extremely low-frequency and static magnetic fields. We have to be more careful in comparing the data which were performed at different conditions. In addition, we have to consider rigid statistical calculations which we might be missing. In this study, we obtained high statistical power in the MN test; however, we could not obtain enough statistical power in the comet assay. We should be carefully aware of these statistical issues.”

 

Study 9

Nicolaz CN, Zhadobov M, Desmots F, Ansart A, Sauleau R, Thouroude D, Michel D, Le

Drean Y (2009). Study of narrow band millimeter-wave potential interactions with

endoplasmic reticulum stress sensor genes. Bioelectromagnetics, 30(5), 365-73.

 

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to study potential biological effects of low-power millimeter waves (MMWs) on endoplasmic reticulum (ER), an organelle sensitive to a wide variety of environmental insults and involved in a number of pathologies. We considered exposure frequencies around 60 GHz in the context of their near-future applications in wireless communication systems. Radiations within this frequency range are strongly absorbed by oxygen molecules, and biological species have never been exposed to such radiations in natural environmental conditions. A set of five discrete frequencies has been selected; three of them coincide with oxygen spectral lines (59.16, 60.43, and 61.15 GHz) and two frequencies correspond to the spectral line overlap regions (59.87 and 60.83 GHz). Moreover, we used a microwave spectroscopy approach to select eight frequencies corresponding to the spectral lines of various molecular groups within 59-61 GHz frequency range. The human glial cell line, U-251 MG, was exposed or sham-exposed for 24 h with a peak incident power density of 0.14 mW/cm(2). The average specific absorption rate (SAR) within the cell monolayer ranges from 2.64 +/- 0.08 to 3.3 +/- 0.1 W/kg depending on the location of the exposed well. We analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) the level of expression of two endogenous ER-stress biomarkers, namely, the chaperones BiP/GRP78 and ORP150/GRP170. It was found that exposure to low-power MMW does not significantly modify the mRNA levels of these stress-sensitive genes suggesting that ER homeostasis is not altered by low-power MMW at the considered frequencies.

Comments

They state results of the effect of low power waves on homeostasis of cells. I do not know how relevant low power is in mimicking the mechanics of 5G power waves.

 

Study 10

Ostrovskiy NV, et al. (2005) Application of the terahertz waves in therapy of burn

wounds. in Infrared and Millimeter Waves and 13th International Conference on

Terahertz Electronics, IRMMW-THz 2005.

 

Comments

This relates to using terahertz waves as a biomedical imaging tool. Like other radiation types, under controlled conditions development of terahertz waves may have a beneficial role in medicine.

 

Study 11

Swanson ES (2011). Modeling DNA response to THz radiation, Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin

Soft Matter Phys, 83(4 Pt 1), 040901.

 

Abstract

Collective response of DNA to terahertz electric fields is studied in a simple pair bond model. We confirm, with some caveats, a previous observation of destabilizing DNA breather modes and explore the parameter dependence of these modes. It is shown that breather modes are eliminated under reasonable physical conditions and that thermal effects are significant.

Comments

DNA “breathing” is defined as a thermally driven process in which base-paired DNA sequences transiently adopt local conformations that depart from their most stable structures.

From my inexpert understanding of this study, I interpret the results to indicate the modeled response of DNA to terahertz electric fields is to alter DNA pair bonds. This suggests detriment to health but it is limited as it is reliant on a model.

 

Study 13

Titova LV, Ayesheshim AK, Golubov A, Fogen D, Rodriguez-Juarez R, Hegmann FA,

Kovalchuk O. (2013a). Intense THz pulses cause H2AX phosphorylation and activate DNA

damage response in human skin tissue. Biomed Opt Express, 4(4), 559-68.

 

Abstract

Recent emergence and growing use of terahertz (THz) radiation for medical imaging and public security screening raise questions on reasonable levels of exposure and health consequences of this form of electromagnetic radiation. In particular, picosecond-duration THz pulses have shown promise for novel diagnostic imaging techniques. However, the effects of THz pulses on human cells and tissues thus far remain largely unknown. We report on the investigation of the biological effects of pulsed THz radiation on artificial human skin tissues. We observe that exposure to intense THz pulses for ten minutes leads to a significant induction of H2AX phosphorylation, indicating that THz pulse irradiation may cause DNA damage in exposed skin tissue. At the same time, we find a THz-pulse-induced increase in the levels of several proteins responsible for cell-cycle regulation and tumor suppression, suggesting that DNA damage repair mechanisms are quickly activated. Furthermore, we find that the cellular response to pulsed THz radiation is significantly different from that induced by exposure to UVA (400 nm).

Detriment to health found

Authors state; “we have observed that exposure to intense THz pulses induces phosphorylation of H2AX, indicative of the formation of DNA double strand breaks, and at the same time profoundly activates DNA damage response in artificial human skin tissues.

They also found “Simultaneous upregulation of multiple important tumor suppressor proteins in the exposed skin”.

They found DNA damage and then repair.

 

Study 14

Zeni O, Gallerano GP, Perrotta A, Romanò M, Sannino A, Sarti M, D’Arienzo M, Doria A,

Giovenale E, Lai A, Messina G, Scarfì MR (2007). Cytogenetic observations in human

peripheral blood leukocytes following in vitro exposure to THz radiation: a pilot study.

Health Phys, 92(4), 349-57.

 

Abstract

Emerging technologies are considering the possible use of Terahertz radiation in different fields ranging from telecommunications to biology and biomedicine. The study of the potential effects of Terahertz radiation on biological systems is therefore an important issue in order to safely develop a variety of applications. This paper describes a pilot study devoted to determine if Terahertz radiation could induce genotoxic effects in human peripheral blood leukocytes. For this purpose, human whole blood samples from healthy donors were exposed for 20 min to Terahertz radiation. Since, to our knowledge, this is the first study devoted to the evaluation of possible genotoxic effects of such radiation, different electromagnetic conditions were considered. In particular, the frequencies of 120 and 130 GHz were chosen: the first one was tested at a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 0.4 mW g-1, while the second one was tested at SAR levels of 0.24, 1.4, and 2 mW g-1. Chromosomal damage was evaluated by means of the cytokinesis block micronucleus technique, which also gives information on cell cycle kinetics. Moreover, human whole blood samples exposed to 130 GHz at SAR levels of 1.4 and 2 mW g-1 were also tested for primary DNA damage by applying the alkaline comet assay immediately after exposure. The results obtained indicate that THz exposure, in the explored electromagnetic conditions, is not able to induce either genotoxicity or alteration of cell cycle kinetics in human blood cells from healthy subjects.

Comments

The authors note some alteration to DNA; “a slight increase in comet parameters appears in some cases in exposed samples with respect to sham-exposed ones; however, this difference was not statistically significant.”

 

Limitations of Study

The authors describe limitations; “several critical points have to be considered, and among them the amplitude modulation and the irradiation modulation condition deserve particular attention”.

 

References

Baste, V., Riise, T. & Moen, B.E. Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields; male infertility and sex ratio of offspring. Eur J Epidemiol (2008) 23: 369.

Cleveland, R.F. and Ulcek, J.L (1999) Questions and answers about biological effects and potential hazards of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. OET Bulletin 56 Fourth Edition, Office of Engineering and Technology, Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C.

International Commission on Radiological Protection (2007) Human alimentary tract model for radiological protection. ICRP Publication 100. (Ed.CH Clement) Elsevier.

Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks SCENIHR (2015) Opinion on Potential health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF)

 

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Story 4 Sourcing Strength from Radiation

My initial thought of going through radiotherapy to treat my breast cancer was “yeah I’m so not looking forward to grappling with the conflict of allowing my body to be bombarded with radiation”. The word radiation glowed luminous green in my head, and although I hoped that it would kill any remaining rogue cancer cells, I knew that radiation kills people. I’ve seen the extreme photos of Hiroshima where everything turned to ash. The imagery in my head was of my body slowly turning into tiny grey fragments and disintegrating like those Japanese people. Or would my body remain intact until I fell apart one random month into the future?  These thoughts crowded my head but I suppressed them. 

I didn’t know how I’d cope with a daily schedule of turning up every single day, five days a week for five weeks, whilst being pleasant to everyone… everyday. The effects of the chemotherapy hadn’t worn off and I still felt crappy. What I came to realize during those weeks is that besides the most obvious gain – an increase in the odds of living – there were unexpected bonuses that I could take home from the whole experience.

For my cancer type, radiotherapy increases my overall chance of survival by about 10%. I needed to know this before I commenced the treatment. My radiotherapy doctor spent plenty of time in our consultation showing me the results of studies with and without radiotherapy for my type of breast cancer. Perfect! I told him I needed that to help me feel good about the whole thing. For my cancer, this radiotherapy has better outcomes than the chemotherapy I’d just finished. Type of radiation for me? Photons. Photons are light particles so I tried to think of it as light therapy. Light as in life, and NOT that going up to the heavenly light thing.

So the next thing I had to grapple with was whether my heart would be damaged by the radiation because my tumour sat right above my heart, and the therapy involves focusing the radiation on the tumour. Well two things saved my heart from damage. Firstly, the physicist, who designed my ‘more complex’ treatment plan algorithm with the configuration of directions and angles of all the beams across my upper body, did an excellent job by bypassing my heart. I saw the images of my CT scan and the intricate beam patterns over layering the top. He said that I’m not the usual patient (yes I keep hearing that) as no one has ever asked to talk to the physicist before. It’s not that I don’t trust people’s words, it is just that I understand better when things are more tangible and then I feel like I get it then. I wished to see what they are talking about not just hear it from their mouths. He went through the plan report in detail explaining the acronyms and jargon terms for me.  And I had questions that only he could answer. Serious questions about radiation that had been bugging me the whole time but I was too scared to know the truth till I was near the end of treatment in case I backed out and didn’t complete it. I’ll get to that soon.

The beam configuration over my left chest wall and shoulder.

The second heart saving measure relied on remaining perfectly still. I had to hold my breath to push my chest cavity out and drop my heart away from the deadly beams. Perfecting this technique became my goal. Thanks to the staff who reassured me all the way through the process, I began to look forward to holding my breath twelve times each day for the 80 second period it took to radiate me. These long breaths could have been broken into 40 seconds instead but that meant more time taken up. At first I tried to imagine that I was surfing. I envisioned taking a breath before enduring a massive underwater hold down but this backfired because the reality of a surfing hold down is that if you panic you can drown. That scenario was too confronting. Instead, I imagined I was diving down to a deep coral reef on snorkel, which stretched time into 80 seconds. In my mind I could see the anemone fish close by, and high above, the Barracudas circling backlit against the sun. There was also a cheeky green moray eel but not wanting to involve sharks, I soon ran out of new things with this adventure. I then developed a whole string of different walks that I knew well, adding in as much detail as I could. (One of these is a childhood walk or rather run you can read about in my memoir story Freedom Creek). Using this visual imagery relaxed me, and kept my heart rate down, and allowed me to hold my breath for the duration of the walk, sometimes with air to spare. Later, practiced this in the spa at home, and made sure I used my method of taking up the air slowly and ‘locking the chest’ compartment while I held onto the bottom of the pool. I then practiced this while body surfing and then when my skin became strong again, I could do it whilst surfing. I even taught me daughter my technique so she has more confidence surfing. I wasn’t expecting that!

On the radiation bed

Another bonus I didn’t expect was becoming comfy in my own skin…without boobs…fast. I thought I had come to terms with losing the ‘girls’ but actually I hadn’t. My mind was still catching up with the reality of the surgery that removed a part of my femininity. At the time all I could  think was that the boobs were bombs implanted inside me which needed defusing by removal before they exploded and sent me to oblivion.  Due to my skin feeling too sensitive during the radiotherapy treatment I couldn’t wear any restrictive clothing like bras or synthetic materials. At first I felt resentful that I couldn’t wear my padded bras and feel normal after all I had been through. My boobs had come off nine months earlier and I no longer had any cleavage, I had a flat pre-prepubescent chest. I ended up wearing skimpy tops like halter necks with no padded bra for boobs. It was summer and it was hot. Before long I felt normal and attractive again in my attire thanks to being forced to go without the fake boobs day in and day out during the treatment. I worked out that if I chose the right top such as a gathered style at the front, then I looked sexier than some of my old outfits with the padded bra. Now six months on I remain equally comfortable wearing or not wearing cleavage. Without undergoing the radiotherapy I doubt I could have reached this mindset so fast.

As it turned out, in the end I didn’t have to worry about coping with the daily radiotherapy treatment session. I looked forward to seeing the staff who looked after me, and I enjoyed great conversations with everyone from the manager to the radiologists to the nurses, the other patients, and even their partners. One time my daughter came with me and the ladies were happy to show her everything and let her check out what they did with the machine behind the window. I asked if she could take a photo of the screen on the machine, which was great because only then could I actually see my heart dropped back in the cavity with my breath holding technique in action. These people are a special type to care for us when we are at our most vulnerable and I am so grateful to them for their warmth and the humanness that they gave me.

A photo my daughter took

Towards the end of the five week treatment, I was walking past the wooden book swap cupboard in our neighborhood, and as I peered in I found the book ‘Shockwave Countdown to Hiroshima’ by Stephen Walker. I took it but I couldn’t start reading it for a while. Then I couldn’t put it down. Some of the assumptions I had about Hiroshima were wrong. Hundreds of thousands of people perished, but miraculously, some survived. The author interviewed a handful of Hiroshima survivors who were healthy, even though they were relatively close to the T-shaped target Aioi bridge where the bomb known as ‘Little Boy’ landed two hundred meters away. The bridge itself survived.  Not everyone who survived suffered a long term decline from radiation sickness. Today, radiation is being used to save lives. My body and my life may have been saved thanks to a technological breakthrough that wreaked horror in 1945.

Now to that serious question for the Physicist. Yes the physicist not the physican. How does the photon ray bombardment compare with the rays that victims experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What I really wanted to know is if the long term side effects would be the same. Photons used in radiotherapy treatment are non-ionizing radiation and have less energy than ionizing nuclear reaction radiation. The rays passed right through my body rather than linger. On the back of my shoulder there is a dark patch of skin where the rays exited my body away from my organs and bones. This is amazing technology. My bones should be quite intact and my heart has been protected. I wondered about my circulating blood being irradiated but I suppose as it keeps moving, and cells keep turning over then it should be fine too.

Exit point of radiation can be seen as the red circular area on my upper back

So I have no regrets about going through this treatment. My concerns and fear were replaced with good things. I’m glad I asked the questions about the treatment, but I should not have been such a chicken and asked them way earlier.

Ringing the bell at the end of all the treatment

*****   ***   *****

An abridged version of this story is published on the Icon Cancer Centre website.

If you wish to read other stories of sourcing strength, have a look at Story 1 How my ancestors gave me strength  and Story 2 The Summit Run  and Story 3 The Summit Run, closing the loop.

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Feel free to let me know what you think of this post in the comment box below.

 

Story 7 MY SCARY SPIDER FAN CLUB – 8min read

For some weird reason, the scary spiders seem to be attracted to me. I wish I knew why because I am not especially attracted to them, although I do find the small ones cute. Luckily for me I don’t have a phobia about spiders like I once was had with snakes otherwise I’d be a quivering mess by now.

Black headed python wrapped around my neck

My big four fans are the dark and handsome lethal Funnel Web spider, the monstrous Giant (lizard-eating) Wood spiders, The Redbacks and my other endless stalker, the oversized Huntsman.

The Dark and Handsomes

Funnel web spider in attack position

Funnel Web spiders have repeatedly popped up in my life. My first encounters were innocuous enough. As a kid, I’d scoop them out of the bottom of the pool with a net. They’d be sitting in their own bubble of air seemingly waiting for me to rescue them, just like the bees that I’d find paddling around on the top. I would extend the pole with the net down to the bottom and carefully catch them and tip them onto the lawn. Then I’d sit there in awe staring at their black furry scariness. I once found one in the street gutter one night out the front of the house. Well my dog found it. All I saw at first was soft fur and not realizing what it was I tried to pat it with my finger. Yes dumb act I know. Anyway, I backed it into the concrete wall of the gutter with my finger and it wouldn’t move. I thought whatever the hell it was it should move so when it didn’t, I went into the house and grabbed a torch, came back and hello, it was a big fat female Funnel Web that I just had patted. She was not so happy with the tickle and reared back in the attack mode, fangs exposed. Close call really.

Numerous times I unwittingly carried the spiders with me, in my luggage or backpack. They had crept in too close to me.  Once I traveled from home in Sydney to Canberra with a friend and we stayed at her parent’s house. I dumped my stuff in the spare room and later, my friend’s dad found a Funnel Web spider on the floor. When we were about to leave to go home to Sydney, he said,

“You can come and stay again as long as you don’t bring any more spiders with you!”

Righto.

Another time as a teenager, I was bush walking in the high country with a group of others while on a holiday camp and we pitched our tents at Lake Albina near the foot of Mt Kosciuszko. Next day, we walked out and stayed in accommodation for the night. Who should emerge from my pack but my furry friend the Funnel Web. Everyone freaked out because we’d just heard the story of the bush walking lady who had been bitten on the boob and died. A few years later I very nearly sat my butt on one at Blue Lake while tying up my boot laces. I’d been camping there with a group during a 7 day overland walk and we all saw a few of the Funnel Web spiders while we brushed our teeth the night before.

The deadly Funnel Web spider

The hairiest encounter I’d have to say was a potentially lethal blunder I made while catching Funnel Webs in the Blue Mountains. These ones sport oversized purple abdomens to go with their furry legs and head. My boyfriend (now husband) and I were catching some to feed some hungry spider-eating common scalyfoots (a type of legless lizard), which we were being temporarily held in captivity. They were the subject of an animal behavior assignment I had as an undergraduate at university. To collect the spiders, Jonno would carefully lift an old log, find the silvery white web sock like structure, (spidy’s home) and using long barbeque tongs, try and pull the sock with spider within carefully out and then place it into the small specimen vile I’d have open ready for him. I had a system. One empty vial in left thigh pocket ready with lid off. One full vial in right thigh pocket with lid screwed on, tight as, ready to go in the bag. Then, I stuffed up. One log housed two spiders. I unscrewed the empty vial. First spider went in there.

“There’s another one, hang on” Jonno said.

I focused on this next spider and placed the first vial, containing a Funnel Web, back in my left pocket without screwing on the lid. We didn’t manage to catch that second spider so we moved on. No luck for ages, walking walking walking. Nothing. Oh well. We went back to the hut we stayed in, for lunch. Before sitting down, I pulled out the open lidded vial from my pocket and to my shock saw the Funnel Web in the web still waiting there in the sock. But if that’s not enough, the night we arrived home, somehow one of these dark and handsomes made a bold move in the bedroom. I still don’t know how but, when I went to get into bed, there was one just sitting blatantly smack in the middle of the bed. Pushy or what!

Giant Lizard-eating Spiders

A giant (lizard eating) Wood Spider of Kakadu

        Now I suspect that what I am about to tell you now could

        be the subject of your very worst arachnid horrors.

For one not too averse to spiders, this had me on the verge of panic a few times.  In 1996 I was scheduled to meet up with Ian Morris, a local naturalist of the Top End at Nourlangie Rock in Kakadu. He was going to show me the known habitat of the elusive Black Wallaroo. He couldn’t make it that hot and sunny day so I went for a wander by myself. Away from the track and up a gully I went. The rock filled gully turned into a chasm and quickly narrowed with steep tall sandstone walls rising tall on both sides. The light disappeared and the whole place cooled down under the dark shadows. I arrived at a tight section probably around 15 meters across in width. All sound left the dry creek bed I was now climbing up. I saw the first striking white spider web. (This was a mini one). I noticed the ample web size and admired and was a little stunned by a very large neat looking and colourful spider in the centre of the web, not realizing what was to come. This spider was way bigger than my hand span. Very quickly I realized that there were more and more spiders in the webs. Around the corner there were more webs, some with spiders and some not. Where were the spiders? I needed to know where the spider owner for each web were. I used a stick to carefully pull aside the webs so I could move my small body through the opening. This made for very slow traveling. I stalled. I looked around to take it all in.

    Over near the chasm wall was a web with a massive dead eyeless mummified skink hanging in it like a serial killer’s trophy.

The webs crisscrossed the chasm from one side to the other. The gully had narrowed to 7 meters, and the spiders’ sticky nets could capture everything climbing or flying up and down the creek bed. With their overlapping intricate configurations they could also catch creatures moving sideways from one wall to the other. I moved on and up the gully, covered with balls of sticky goo from the spider webs.  I was becoming tired. I lost my concentration and looked where my feet where going and not where my head was placed. I copped the dreaded sticky mess smack across my face and I knew that that the web contained a very large freaky carnivorous spider in it somewhere. Squealing, I threw my backpack to the ground and hopped around trying to pat my body all over to flick off the monster. Had it sped down my shirt to bite me on the boob? Or was it going for my bum crack to settle in my undies? Aahhh! Eventually I had to stop the antics grateful that no one was there to witness me in meltdown. I cursed Ian for rescheduling. I was confident that this was not the way he would have led me. No spider to be found or felt so I moved on but now I was a bit more reckless with the stick I hate to admit, in parting my path through the labyrinth.

I copped another web on my face, so repeated my

panicky dance before moving on, but faster.

The panic was taking over a bit and I really wanted to get the hell out of there. Finally I reached the end of the chasm and hauled myself out of the Kingdom of the Giant Spiders. I breathed again. Scrambling on and up onto the top of the sandstone plateau I sat down and let my heart rate drop down and looked out onto the impressive wide open savanna landscape far below me. More relaxed now, I quietly moved off, explored the top and was lucky enough to spy a shy big male Black Wallaroo who disappeared almost the moment we saw each other. Later, I found another route down, devoid of the spiders larger than a man’s hand.

The Redbacks

The highly venomous Redback spider

The poisonous Red back spiders travelled around in my five favourite glazed pottery pots that housed my native figs. Each house we moved to in the last few decades always had these striking fellows stuck somewhere to my pots. It took me a while to realize I moved them with me. Perhaps from our stuff we transported some into our newly constructed shed near Coffs Harbour. We would visit our acre block and stay in the shed during holidays but one year we arrived and The Redbacks had taken over. They had completely over run the shed in their hundreds, possibly thousands – they were everywhere. It was simply too dangerous to stay in the shed so we found a motel nearby and we had no choice but to eradicate them all the next day.

The Stalking Huntsmen

Very large Huntsman spider
Huntsman spider

Stalking Huntsmen are forever entering the house and following me on my trips in the car. If they are not adept one day to enter the cabin of the car then they’ll obsessively hang on the outside. The usual  stakeout spot is the side mirrors.

There they will wait till I’m on a stretch of road that’s exceptionally chaotic, to then pull a fast one across the windscreen and stop and stare at me, face to face as I’m trying to see the road beyond them.

The stop and stare lasts only a moment but is a bit annoying and distracting I have to say. It’s like they need me to see them. Yes I see you. Stalker! But you will not defeat me and make me feel fear! Bad luck to you!

Then I am forever evicting them from the house. I use a tea towel to pick them up super carefully and I try to have their beady eyes uncovered so I know exactly where their fangs are. I open the front door, take a few steps and gently shake them out making sure I see where they go saying “be free be free” you stalkery thing you.

This technique doesn’t always work to plan especially when they are monster sized and have planted themselves to the wall. The worse behaved Huntsman I went to evict and capture with a tea towel, spanned a man’s hand like the Giant lizard-eating Spiders. He had all legs spread wide displaying himself grandly on the bedroom wall. He was way oversized for a huntsman and began to get upset. He started skitting erratically all over the wall until he came to a stop just in reaching distance at head height. As I reached up to cover him over, he somehow did very fast a 180 degree flip midair and landed smack on my face. Aaaahhhh. I screamed, stumbled backwards and landed on the bed. I don’t remember much else with him but I probably then used my backup method, the broom. The spiders scurry onto the brush and I can take them out of the house with plenty of time even if they make a break up the pole towards me. So now when the larger stalkers are on the wall, I persuade them to go onto the floor so they can’t do their worst to me.

Beware if you ever become skilled at spider evictions then that might become your job in your house. I arrived home the other day to a huntsmen waiting to greet me from the kitchen sink. My kids and husband had quietly left him there all day leaving it to me to take him outside. I have to say I can’t complain, the hubster handles the visiting snakes.

I’m not sure when I’ll encounter The Redbacks, the Giant lizard-eating spiders or the Dark and Handsomes again but I have accepted the repeated advances of the Stalking Huntsmen, even though they sometimes overstep the boundaries with their long spidery legs and demand togetherness in the car.

***     *****     ***

You can read more stories in my series about Encounters with Wild Animals such as a Great White Shark, horses, snakes, whales, rock possums and a bull buffalo

And you can read stories on how I Source Strength

If you’d like to have my next post sent directly to you, just pop your email address in the subscription box.

Feel free to let me know what your think of this post in the comment box below.

 

Story 1 How my ancestors gave me strength – Sourcing Strength 2 min read

Last month I knew I had to do something. May 1st was on its way. That day I would be doing something I truly feared. The fear is from not knowing if I am doing the right thing. I knew that if I went through with it then I alone would be responsible for the consequences.  If I choose this I would allow my body and brain to cop a heavy hit of cell-destroying drugs. These drugs have a low probability of working on my rare subtype of breast cancer but maybe, just maybe they will save my life. The drugs may have irreversible side effects including serious cognitive impairment. This scares me the most. I know that these drugs may prevent secondary cancer that I may not even have right now, or later on in the future.  I feel like there is nothing rogue left in me. No bad cells anywhere. Do I put my body through this and come out the other side a zombie? Or do I not go through with it and maybe regret my decision because I die young from a cancer that spread?  So this is the fear.

I cannot reconcile my fear in my head. Usually I am good at doing that but for this I can’t, not yet. I needed something additional to give me some strength. Already I have been overwhelmed by support from friends, family, acquaintances and strangers but I am greedy. I reached beyond the living to the dead. I gathered up strength from my ancestors to go through the third nasty infusion of chemotherapy drugs. Two weeks before the horrible day, I asked my mum for her father’s old Masonic ring. The next week she gave it me.

I never knew this man but everyone is strong in their way and that’s what I wanted from him, a little piece of his strength.

Same goes for my other ancestors. I wished to suck up some of their strength.

On May 1st 2018, I dressed and slipped onto my fingers, my grandfather’s ring from my mum’s side of the family and my grandmother’s ring from my dad’s side who, with her husband I never knew. I wore my wedding ring and gained my husband’s strength and I wore a ring from his grandmother who I was very close to. I also wore a ring I had made at school for myself to remind me not to forget my own inner strength. None of these rings are full of jewels and they are not valuable in terms of money but to me they are priceless. To touch and handle items my ancestors wore, particularly those I never met, helps makes these people real and tangible to me.

As I settled into the passenger seat of mum’s car to go to the hospital, mum presented me with her mother’s beautiful Dux award from school. She told me she would wear this around her neck with a piece of string during exams for good luck. This took me by surprise. It made me feel complete. I loved my Nan and now I had something from her. I thanked mum and told her I didn’t need to wear jewelry she had given me because I had what was better and that is the real thing, her, by my side. I now had all my families with me now and I felt ready to face my fears.

They all took a piece of that fear and dread away and they all gave me a piece of their strength.

I feel lucky to have strong ancestors.

***     *****     ***

Other stories in this series of Sourcing Strength are; The Summit Run and The Summit Run, Closing the Loop.

You can read more stories in my series about Encounters with Wild Animals such as a Great White Shark, horses, snakes, whales, rock possums, bull buffalo and spiders

If you’d like to have my next post sent directly to you, just pop your email address into the subscription box.

Feel free to let me know what your think of this post in the comment box below.

Story 3 RESPECT THE SNAKE – A series of memoir stories about My Encounters with Wild Animals 6 min read

Eastern Brown Snake Attacking

Snakes will not hesitate to hunt you down, chase you so they can bite you. That’s what I thought. I believed this so much that I only had to see a photo of one and then I’d dream of snakes all night. And these dreams were not fun. As a kid, I was often in the bush stepping across creeks, walking around swamps, over sunny logs, through the long grass. I wandered among all the favorite lairs snakes would be waiting and lurking. Mum always warned me of them, maybe a little too much. One particular snaky experience instilled the wretched phobic fear into me.

Walking around a dam on my parents’ remote 150 acre property, I looked at the dirty brown water. A bare soil patch extended up the hill from the water’s edge. Turning my head from the water, I sensed something to my left. Looking there, I saw a huge Brown snake with its head level with mine, opening and shutting its mouth.

Two thirds of its big body came at me through the air fast whilst only a foot or so of its tail anchored it to the soil.

I probably screamed but I know I ran. I ran past it fast.  That snake’s face said it was angry and it was going to bite me. A bite from that monster could have killed me because we were situated hours away from any hospital. Mum saw the whole thing and said the snake was taller than me. Because this snake aggressively chased me whilst rearing up impressively on its tail it looked extra tall. Because the ground where it launched from was higher than where I was, it looked even larger. This, coupled with my young and impressionable age, led me to believe that all snakes all did that. Later I discovered only male Eastern Brown snakes become more aggressive in spring when they are fighting other males; most snakes just try and avoid people. Other species will even pretend to bite you if you hurt them by accidently stepping on them. They might strike your leg but many do this with their mouth firmly shut; it serves as a warning.

One time I heard a tale from my older brother who I thought for a while must be some crazy man. He sat down by this little creek one summer with the cicadas blaring and fell asleep in some shade. In fact, he lay across the footpath or slither path of the snakes. They weirdly slid their way alongside the creek next to the water. A big venomous blacksnake mistook Peter’s lower legs as logs or general forest paraphernalia.  Gripping onto Pete’s skin with its multitude of little scales, it slithered up and over him tongue flicking and tasting the air as it went. My brother awoke, looked down, saw the snake and stayed as still as a tree trunk. Absorbed in its own rhythm of the moment, the snake meandered on along the creek and out of sight, apparently oblivious of the live legs it had encountered.  Over time I realized this is the personality of the snake. I had them all wrong.

The game changer for me was my gradual mental deconstruction that all snakes behaved like the Flying Big Brown and that some are quite exquisitely beautiful.

On a walk I discovered that Northern Green Tree snakes were iridescent with an electric blue covering their sleek body and fluorescent yellow highlighting their head. Handling the cool smooth bodies of the non venomous species made me realize that snakes are no different to all the other beautiful wildlife I am lucky to encounter. Snakes are not out to get me. One cranky Olive python did manage to sink its sharp teeth into my thigh one time. It even left a tooth in me and gave me four purple bruises. It wasn’t happy with me lifting it off a road where it could have been run over. For a wild snake, it would probably feel strange and scary to be picked up and held off the ground by a human.

Death Adder – Artist: Obed Wurrkidj

Death adders came into my life in a large way while I spent my nights in the tropical bush observing rock possums for my Doctoral studies. My main study site in Kakadu has a soft sandy substrate and heaps of leaf litter. As I walked between my possum groups through the bush, I had to be wary of every step I took. These adders are sit-and-wait predators so they usually would remain absolutely still in total contrast to the Flying Big Brown and many times I nearly stepped on their sausage bodies. One time I stepped out into the night in complete darkness barefoot. As my foot came down I somehow sensed something and managed to do an awkward stride. Looking back with a light, there was a big death adder lying inert on this concrete paver.. It was strikingly beautiful golden markings. The fangs on these snakes are very long, and their bite is deadly. Another time I heard a rustling on the path in front of me and it was an adder thrashing it’s body from side to side to let me know it was lying there and not to tread on it. Later, my boy friend started research on the floodplain type of Death adder. These are larger and duller patterned than my sandstone ones. For a while, all thirty of his study animals lived at home with us in purpose built snake boxes and when we moved house, so did all of the snakes. I do remember a few times at night when I’d seen the slithering dark form of a snake either on the bedroom floor, on the bed or hanging off the ceiling fan and I’d wake up Jonno and tell him ‘There’s a snake’. I’d be standing on the bed and somehow reach the light switch to find of course yes, zero snakes.

Death Adder painting – Artist: Abraham Dakgalawuy

A few more incidents happened more recently that signaled to me that I was over the worst of my illogical serpentine fear. One night I was walking and spotlighting around a beautiful limestone rock wall in the remote Kimberley region known as the Ningbins. This area is an important and significant indigenous burial place that I had accidently stumbled into.

As I turned a corner, a large Red Tree snake dropped from the sky, and landed in a large loop onto my neck before entwining me like a necklace.

As I stopped and stepped backwards, it flopped to earth and sidled away. Tree snakes are arboreal and it isn’t surprising that one above me in a tree or a rock ledge should drop down occasionally. That is the logical, rational thought, but instead of thinking that or feeling fear, I felt a calm understanding that that red tree snake was actively protecting a sacred site and that it was time to leave.

Yes, I respect the snake.

***     *****     ***

You can now read more stories in my series about Encounters with Wild Animals such as a Eaten Alive, El Toro and Cujo-The Attack in my new book WILD Life death encounters with wild animals.

And you can read stories on how I Source Strength