Article Reports on RFID Chip Implants and Possible Cancer Link

(The following story was report on Sept. 10 by DailyTech at www.dailytech.com. The online magazine’s Editor In Chief, Kristopher Kubicki, has been involved in the PC industry in one form or another for more than a decade.)

Numerous studies linking RFID implants to cancer in animals, are gaining significant attention

Last week, Dailytech reported that California’s State senate had blocked employers from requiring their employees to get “chipped”—implanted with an RFID chip that would allow for radio identification and tracking. Now, in addition to the privacy concerns, a new report by the Associate Press has brought to light serious doubts on RFID implants’ medical safety.

The report details how numerous studies on RFID implants in animal test subjects, starting in the mid-1990s, revealed that the implants led to a significant increase in malignant tumor growth.

Keith Johnson—a retired toxological pathologist who led one of these studies in 1996 at Dow Chemical Co.—when interviewed in the report stated that he had no doubts about whether RFID was to blame for the increased incidence of cancer. He is quoted as clearly stating, “The transponders were the cause of the tumors.”

The findings were reviewed by top cancer specialists, who found the results disturbing. They cautioned people that these tests were performed on animals, so that they were not necessarily applicable in humans. However, most felt additional research was a necessity. Some went as far to say that they would not allow family members to receive implants.

Currently about 2,000 people worldwide have received RFID chips implants, according to VeriChip, the leading manufacturer of FDA-approved RFID implants, including a couple who were ordered to do so by their employer. Verichip commented that they were “not aware of any studies that have resulted in malignant tumors in laboratory rats, mice and certainly not dogs or cats.” The company also sells RFID chips for animals.