In These New Times

Katie Singer

EMR Policy

December, 2010

 

 

Suppose you learned that if certain corporations want to do business, a federal

law mandates that your town cannot refuse based on the potential for these corporations

to do environmental harm. You can only refuse business if you don’t like how a

company’s equipment looks or if the equipment’s appearance decreases property

values.

Further, these corporations can sue your city if you take too much time to

process their applications to install equipment or if they believe that you took health into

account when denying them a permit.

 

Would you wonder why an industry would lobby for such a law?

 

Where would you go for proof about the safety of its equipment?

 

In 1996, Congress passed The Telecommunications Act (TCA), our federal statute for

telecom services. Section 704 outlines the provisions stated above. Fifteen years later, most of us

use cell phones and WiFi. We live, work and go to school near antennas. The Federal

Communications Commission (FCC) bases its safety standards for radiation emitted by telecom

equipment on engineering needs, not human biology. A national broadband plan grants telecom

companies billions of dollars to install more equipment.

No government agency studies the health or environmental impacts of radiation

emitted by telecom equipment. No government agency has determined the maximum

daily amount of this radiation that babies, children or adults can receive before their

health becomes compromised.

 

Mike, 42: My store’s landlord has just contracted with a telecom company to install a 55-

foot cell tower in my parking lot. I entered the building’s address at

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http://www.antennasearch.com  and learned that there are already 250 antennas within a four-

mile radius.

Isn’t this enough?

When I asked around about the safety of these antennas, I learned about the

Telecom Act. Frankly, it shocks me.

I don’t know if I can give up my cell phone or WiFi. I don’t know how my business

will be affected by this antenna. But I’m ready to look at how telecom equipment affects

human health and the environment, even if my landlord and my government are not.

 

Call me responsible. I’m ready to learn.

 

When did electronics become part of our lives?

Starting in the 1890s and into the 1920s, power lines were installed around the country

to provide electricity for lights. Soon, we also had electrically-powered refrigerators,

ovens, washing machines, radios, televisions, typewriters and blankets. Computers

became common in the 1980s.

From 2005 to 2007, the number of cell phone subscribers in the U.S. increased

from 34 million (13% of the population) to 225 million (84% of the population).

Worldwide, 4.5 billion people now have mobile service.

While electronics have become essential to every aspect of modern civilization,

epidemiologist Samuel Milham, MD, MPH, has observed a connection between

electrification and modern diseases – diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

 

What is electricity?

Lightning is a visible form of electricity. Two hundred years ago, two Italian scientists

produced the first human-made electric current, paving the way for electricity to power

machines. Electricity can also produce signals that carry information.

Usually, electricity is invisible. Behind walls, cables carry electric current that

provides energy for appliances at the flick of a switch. With wireless devices like mobile

phones, electromagnetic energy is not confined within cables.

 

What kind of information do electromagnetic signals carry?

Every organ in the human body gets information about how to function from

electromagnetic signals. Your brain, heart, blood, muscles, nerves, kidneys and

digestive organs communicate to each other by electromagnetic signals. So do bees,

birds, cows, fish, plants and trees.

Electronic devices also require electromagnetic signals to function and to carry

data. To operate a mobile phone for example, electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) send

an encoding of a person’s voice from the phone to a cell phone antenna, through a

network, and then to the phone that receives the call. Corded landlines convert the voice

to signals that travel through cables that are designed to confine the electromagnetic

energy.

 

How are electromagnetic frequencies measured?

EMFs are measured in Hertz (Hz). In an electric current, one hertz is a cycle of

vibrations that takes place in one second. The more electromagnetic vibrations that

occur in one second, the more data can be transmitted. One million vibrations in one

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second is called a megahertz (MHz). A gigahertz (GHz) is one billion vibrations per

second.

 

What is a microwave?

Electromagnetic frequencies above 300 million cycles per second (300 MHz) and below

300 billion Hertz (300 GHz).

 

At what frequency do electronic devices operate?

• AM radio uses about 1 MHz to transmit music or talk.

• FM radio uses 88 MHz to 108 MHz.

• Early TV broadcasts used “very high frequency” (VHF) waves, up to 216 MHz.

Later, “ultra-high frequency” (UHF) channels used up to 800 MHz.

• Most wireless internet connections and many digital mobile phones use 2.4GHz

or higher.

• Current model cordless “DECT” phones use 5.8 or 6.0 GHz. New body scanners

at airports operate at frequencies above 300 GHz.

 

Paula, 22: In school, I learned that the mind is most restful when it cycles seven times

per second. The Earth vibrates at 7.83 Hz, almost eight cycles per second. This field is

called the Schumann Resonance. It makes sense that a restful mind vibrates in sync

with the Earth. But now we’re surrounded by devices that vibrate from fifty or sixty to six

billion times per second. How do I deal with this if my goal is a restful mind?

 

What is electromagnetic radiation?

When an electrical charge is accelerated, energy is released into space. This emission is

called electromagnetic radiation (EMR). EMR carries energy that is usually invisible and

that can move through space and penetrate most non-metal objects. Mobile phones use

EMR to create an invisible wave that can carry your voice or other data. X-ray machines

use such high frequencies that they can even penetrate most metals. Microwave ovens

use EMR to heat food. Whenever moisture is present, such as when passing through a

person, some radiation is absorbed, creating heat or molecular movement.

 

How did our government determine that cell phones are safe?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided that cell phones are safe since the

body temperature of a six-foot, 200 pound man using a cell phone for six minutes does

not change significantly.

The FDA has not conducted studies about how mobile phones, WiFi, antennas

and wireless utility meters (alone or in combination) affect babies, children, pregnant

women, the elderly, the infirm, or people with medical implants.

Some scientists point to the non-thermal effects of using a cell phone:

• after 20 minutes of use, double-strands of DNA break into fragments If the body’s

repair systems can’t keep up with these breaks, cancer and birth defects can

result.1

• cancer rates increase, especially when people begin using mobile phones as

children and when anyone uses one for 30 minutes or more per day for ten years

or longer.2, 3

• after two hours of use, the blood-brain barrier begins to leak, allowing

neurotoxins in food or from the environment (air or water) to affect brain and

nerves, eventually leading to brain cell death.4

 

Didn’t the World Health Organization report that evidence of harm from cell phone use

was not convincing?

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Yes. However, the report was authored by Michael Repacholi, an industry consultant

who received hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporations with vested interests.5

 

 

I’ve heard from city planners that radiation emitted from WiMax is much too weak to

effect human health. Is that true?

In Dirty Electricity, edpidemiologist Samuel Milham MD MPH says that, “When industry

apologists say that fields are too weak to cause biological effects , I point them to any

number of electro-therapeutic devices, such as pulsed high-frequency field generators

that are used to accelerate the healing of bone fractures.  Anything that can stimulate

cell division and growth is a potential carcinogen.”

 

How does WiFi impact health?

According to environmental consultant Stan Hartman, having a WiFi antenna in a router

on your desk gives you about the same amount of radiation that you’d get 30 meters or

less from a typical cell phone antenna. In isolated human cells, WiFi-like signals can

activate the “cell suicide” response.6

 

Are trees affected by WiFi?

Trees in areas with high WiFi activity have been found to suffer from bleeding, fissures in

their bark, the death of parts of leaves, and abnormal growth. In the Netherlands, 70% of

urban ash trees suffer from radiation sickness, including a “lead-like shine” on their

leaves, indicating the leaves’ oncoming death. In 2005, only 10% of ash trees suffered

radiation sickness.7

 

Is there any relationship between mobile phones, antennas and bee colony collapse?

In India, a study conducted by Dr. Sainuddin Pattazhy shows that EMR emitted by

antennas cripples the “navigational skills” of worker bees who leave their colonies to

collect nectar from flowers. When a mobile phone was kept near a beehive, the worker

bees did not return, and the colony collapsed within ten days.8

 

How does living near a mobile phone base station (also called a cell tower or cell

antenna) affect human health?

Studies find that people living within 300 meters of a base station experience fatigue,

headache, sleep disruption, irritability, depression, decreased libido, memory loss,

dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite, visual disruptions and overall discomfort.9

 

David Carpenter, MD, Director, Institute for Health and the Environment

at SUNY Albany: A growing body of evidence shows that wireless devices harm health,

including when radiation from these devices does not cause body tissue to heat.

Prolonged exposure to radiofrequency radiation increases the risk of cancer. New

studies show that children are much more vulnerable than adults. I am particularly

concerned about this, given that children are now regular users of wireless devices.

 

Leah Morton, MD, doctor of family medicine since 1979: My patients frequently report

that their health worsened when they got a cell phone or WiFi, or an antenna or a

wireless utility meter was installed near their home, school or workplace. They need to

drastically reduce their exposure to radiation, but because of The Telecom Act, that’s

often not possible.

If our health depends on looking squarely at scientific evidence, then we need to

revise the Telecom Act so that health can be considered in relation to telecom

equipment. The FCC must change its radiation exposure standards to comply with The

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BioIniative Report. We need radiation levels tested and reported regularly to the public.

We need more publicly-funded studies about how using wireless devices and residing

near an antenna and/or with a wireless utility meter on your home affect sleep, memory,

blood pressure, attention spans, anxiety, depression, addictive behavior and fertility. We

need studies about the combined effects of pesticides and other neurotoxins and

microwave radiation. We need studies about how wireless devices affect people with

metal dental work, pacemakers and other implanted medical devices.

 

How do I know if my health is affected by wireless devices?

Some people smoke several packs of cigarettes every day and never get sick. Some

people get lung cancer or other diseases from second-hand smoke. Likewise, people

respond differently to EMR. People who live and work near antennas, use mobile

phones and WiFi and have a wireless utility meter on their home are exposed to different

amounts of radiation than people who use only corded phones, have no WiFi and live

and work far from an antenna. Every person arrives at the threshold of over-exposure to

microwave radiation uniquely.

Over-exposure to radiation creates Radio Frequency Sickness. Symptoms

include disturbed sleep, heart arrhythmia, muscle spasms, memory loss, sinusitis,

deteriorating vision, seizures, paralysis, altered sugar metabolism, stroke, nosebleeds,

skin rashes, digestive problems and other reactions.

 

Can I get Radio Frequency Sickness if I don’t use wireless technologies?

Yes. Using contemporary TVs, computers, printers and energy-saving  washing

machines, compact fluorescent bulbs and/or other electronics in a house or building

causes  “dirty power,” where radio waves pulse on the electrical wiring. Occupants of

such buildings can experience Radio Frequency Sickness. Wireless utility meters can

also create dirty power and Radio Frequency Sickness. (See “Electro-Shocker” by

Michael Segel in Prevention’s January, 2010 issue.)

 

Michele, 52: I had good health, a cell phone and WiFi until September, 2009. I work at

home, but starting that month, I couldn’t focus enough to work. I couldn’t remember

words or where I’d put things. Every night, I woke up agitated several times. I was

always on high alert. Privately, I wondered if I had Alzheimer’s.

In February, 2010, during a winter storm, our electricity kept going off and on. I

got a high-pitched, painful ring in my right ear. I started having heart palpitations and

nightmares, and my other symptoms got stronger. I wondered if something was wrong

with our electricity. My electrician wondered if Con Edison had installed a wireless meter

on our home. They had–in June, 2009.

After several phone calls and a letter from my doctor, Con Ed removed the Smart

Meter they had installed on our house. Within days, the pulsing and loud buzzing

quieted, and my thinking got clear again. But now, if I’m near a cell phone or WiFi or if I

drive by a cell tower, I get sharp pain in my ear and pressure in my head.

I consider the Smart Meter my tipping point. Unfortunately, my neighborhood is

still flooded with these meters. Each one transmits pulses of microwave radiation 24/7.

When I requested studies about the meters’ effects on human health, Con Edison told

me I’d need a subpoena.

I want to continue living in my home. Even with teenagers in the house, I’ve been

able to eliminate wireless devices inside. How can I decrease my exposure to

microwave radiation that comes from antennas and my neighbors’ Smart Meters?

The federal government needs to fund research about the health effects of these

meters. States that have not yet installed them need to wait until Smart Meters are

proven harmless.

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When in human history have people noticed that their behavior was destructive–and

then changed their behavior?

Hundreds of years ago, when Native American farmers realized that they

depleted their soil when they planted the same crop in the same soil year after year, they

began to rotate planting beans, corn and squash. Nutrients in their soil–and the

vegetables–were replenished.

Around 1900, in New York City, orphaned babies were fed well and kept warm in

orphanages. But many of them died. When a caretaker realized that the babies also

needed to be held and lovingly touched, the babies thrived.

In the 1930s, men and women whose lives had become unmanageable because

of alcoholism began meeting to share their experiences while they struggled to get sober

and keep sober. They wrote the Twelve Steps and formed Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1989, after the Soviet Union broke up, Cuba lost its oil supply. Suddenly, gas

wasn’t available even for trucks that transported food. The government bought three

million bikes and turned available land into small farms. Scientists developed bio-

dynamic fertilizers and pesticides that were not petroleum-based. Communities were

strengthened by neighborhood farmers’ markets, public transportation and sharing TVs.

When toxic waste from factories and petroleum-based farms made key

waterways undrinkable, some people developed mycorestoration: growing mushrooms

that eat sludge. The water becomes drinkable again.

 

Have any governments or professional organizations banned or warned against wireless

devices?

• In official comments to the FCC about guidelines for evaluation of

electromagnetic effects of radio frequency radiation (FCC Docket ET 93-62,

November 9, 1993), The Environmental Protection Agency found that the FCC’s

exposure standards are “seriously flawed.”

http://www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/docs/epa_to_fcc_3nov_93.pdf

 

• The Food and Drug Administration commented to the FCC on November 10,

1993 that “FCC’s rules do not address the issue of long-term, chronic exposure

to radiofrequency fields.”   http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/headlines/emrpi_gn_09_51_exhibits.pdf

– Exhibit 46 p. 410.

 

• In 2004, the International Association of Fire Fighters declared that it opposes

communication antennas on fire stations. http://www.iaff.org/HSFacts/CellTowerFinal.asp

 

• The government of Frankfurt, Germany states that it will not install WiFi in its

schools until it has been shown to be harmless. http://www.magdahavas.com/wordpress/wp-

content/uploads/2010/09/German_Swiss_Wifi_In-Schools_Warn.pdf  p.5

 

• In 2007, The European Environmental Agency, Europe’s top environmental

watchdog, calls for immediate action to reduce exposure to radiation from WiFi,

mobile phones and their masts.

http://latelessons.ew.eea.europa.eu/fol572324/statements/Benefits_of_mobile_phones_and_potent

ial_hazards_of_EMF.doc

 

• In 2008, The International Commission on Electromagnetic Safety (comprised of

scientists from 16 nations) recommends limiting cell phone use by children,

teenagers, pregnant women and the elderly. http://www.icems.eu/resolution.htm

 

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• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service urges Congress to investigate the potential

relationship between wireless devices and bee colony collapse in May, 2009.

http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetichealth-blog/emf-and-warnke-report-on-bees-birds-

and-mankind/

 

• In 2010, municipalities in California, Hawaii, Maine and Maryland have passed

resolutions creating moratoriums on Smart Meters. For updates, check

http://www.emfsafetynetwork.org   See Also http://www.magdahavas.com/2010/12/03/smart-meter-

installation-challenged/

 

Jay: I run a small city’s land use department. Recently, a telecom company proposed

installing an antenna in a church steeple here. The church houses a nursery school.

Parents do not want this antenna near their children. As a public servant whose job is to

uphold land use codes, my choice is between permitting the antenna and a lawsuit from

the telecom company for non-compliance, which they will surely win.

As I see it, concerned citizens need to petition their Congressional reps to revise

Section 704 of The Telecom Act so that health concerns can be considered when a

telecom company wants to install equipment.

 

 

REALISTICALLY, WHAT CAN I DO?

1. Reduce your exposure to EMR:

• Turn your WiFi off at night. If you’re not sure how to do this, unplug your

computer and your modem.

 

• Go back to a corded landline. Go back to cabled internet access. Don’t use your

mobile phone for a week, and see if your health or sleep changes.

 

• Quit fluorescent lights. While they save energy, fluorescent lights create dirty

electricity. Also, fluorescent bulbs are made with mercury. They’re highly toxic if

broken or not disposed of at a special recycling facility. Go back to incandescent

bulbs.

 

• Unplug the electronic devices in and near your bedroom while you sleep.  Don’t

just turn off your TV, computer, and alarm clock.  Unplug them.

 

• Eliminate baby monitors, which commonly transmit in microwave range.   Switch

to a wired intercom.

 

• Avoid using and replace dimmer switches.

 

• Remove your metallic dental materials, including mercury, nickel and palladium.

They are toxic on their own and may increase adverse effects of exposure to

EMR. “Silver” fillings are actually a mix of (very toxic) mercury and other metals.

Mixed metals produce electric current in the mouth. This “battery effect” can

disturb the brain and nervous system. Be aware: only well-trained, well-equipped

dentists who use necessary protections should remove mercury amalgams. For a

list of such dentists in your state, call Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions

(DAMS) at 651.644.4572 or email dams@usfamily.net.

 

Liz, 27: I spent a day on a train and was nauseous the whole time. I’ve ridden trains

before and never had a problem. A friend wondered if the train’s new WiFi system might

have affected me.

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I had no idea that WiFi could be harmful. But I noticed that my health problems

(depression and a sinus infection that would not quit) started around the time my

husband and I got cell phones and WiFi. As I learned more, I felt unsafe talking on the

cell phone. My husband and I want children, and we want them to have a healthy start.

We decided to go back to a corded landline and cabled internet access. This

actually took two months, including a five-hour “conversation” with our phone company

and a week when we had no phone. We kept a cell phone for emergencies.

Now, my husband and I feel remarkably less anxious. And since we’re not

available to each other all the time, we’re actually communicating more clearly.

 

 

2. If you use a mobile phone:

• Keep it off. Remove the battery from the phone. Install the battery only when you

use the phone.

 

• At home, use a corded landline. Eliminate (recycle) DECT cordless phones and

their (sometimes corded) base stations, which emit radiofrequency radiation

similar to that of cell phones. A non-electric corded landline allows you a working

phone during electric blackouts.

 

• Away from home, use text messaging rather than voice, since phones emit

radiation for a shorter amount of time to send text; and the phone is not against

your head when you text.

 

• Educate your children about the hazards of cell phones. The hazards of radiation

are greater for children than they are for adults. They should never sleep with the

phone on or charging near their bed.

 

• Keep calls short. Using a mobile phone for 30 minutes a day is the heaviest use

studied so far, and it significantly increases your risk of brain cancer.2

 

• Be aware that the weaker an antenna’s signal, the more your cell phone has to

increase its radiation output to maintain the connection, which increases your

exposure. When reception is bad (such as in rural areas) use your phone only for

emergencies. Swedish research finds worse health effects for cell phone users in

rural areas.

 

• Don’t text or phone in a metal box such as an elevator, car, bus or train, since

this also requires your phone to increase its radiation output.

 

• Don’t text or talk while driving. Studies have demonstrated that texting or talking

on a mobile phone while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk, even with

a hands-free device.

 

• Some scientists and physicians recommend using speaker phone mode or

headsets to reduce the radiation that enters your brain. While there are no

studies about these devices, in speaker phone mode (if the antenna is away from

the head), less energy enters the user’s head. A Blue Tooth ear piece broadcasts

a signal that’s lower in intensity than if the cell phone were next to the head.

However, if the Blue Tooth device is on a long time, then the total energy

transmitted into the head could increase.

 

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• Pregnant women should not use cell phones. One study finds that a mother’s cell

phone use nearly doubles the chance of a child’s developing behavioral

problems, even after correcting for other effects.10  In an emergency, keep the

phone away from your abdomen. New mothers should not speak or text on a

mobile phone while holding the device near the baby’s head. A baby’s developing

brain is especially susceptible to radiation.

 

• Men who plan to become fathers should not keep their cell phones in their

pockets or on their belts. They should keep their cell phones turned off. Cell

phone use negatively affects sperm quality.11 (Studies about the effects of

carrying a mobile phone on women’s reproductive health have not been

conducted; but women might apply the Precautionary Principle here.)

 

• Some cities like San Francisco now require cell phone retailers to reveal the SAR

(specific absorption rate of microwaves into the user’s head) of each phone.

Beware that while the highest SAR phones may pose the greatest risk of thermal

damage, even the lowest SAR phones can cause non-thermal effects, including

nerve cell death.

 

• Be aware that no study has considered the relationship between cell phones,

WiFi and wireless utility meters and the risk of cancers below the neck, including

leukemia, lymphoma, skin and pancreatic cancers.

 

Jesse, 46: I’m an electrical engineer. Recently, I learned about Bayville, NY, a small

town with a high incidence of childhood leukemia and other forms of cancer among

children and adults. Their elementary school’s property line is 50 feet from a water tower

with nearly 60 antennas on it. At one point, seven of the school’s 21 staff members had

some form of cancer. Because of the Telecom Act, these townspeople can’t move these

cell phone antennas or even question freely whether they contribute to their health

problems.

Meanwhile, around the country, water towers are covered with antennas.

Radiation levels around them can exceed FCC guidelines. FCC guidelines are one

thousand times higher than what a number of researchers consider safe. So I worry–

about the workers who go up on water towers, and about the people who live near them.

 

 

3. Get Informed and Take Political Action:

• Learn about your neighborhood’s antennas at http://www.antennasearch.com

Alert owners about antennas’ effects on property values before they contract with a

telecom company. For more info, see http://www.emrpolicy.org

 

• Learn about your town’s telecom ordinance. Many ordinances allow telecom

companies to install antennas on easements to private property without notice or

permission. Create the most protective ordinance possible for your municipality.

Refer to Cell Towers: State of the Science/State of the Law, edited by B. Blake

Levitt. Get your city to join the Coalition for Local Oversight of Utility

Technologies; http://www.CLOUTnow.org

 

• Petition your Congressmen and women to revisit Section 704 of The Telecom

Act of 1996 so that health and environmental concerns can be recognized when

a telecom company wants to do business. Petition for a moratorium on new

wireless equipment until it’s proven harmless. See http://www.prove-it.co

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• If a device makes you sick, report the problem to the FDA’s Medwatch Program,

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch-online.htm  or call 1-

800.FDA.1088. Also report it to the Consumer Product Safety Commission,

which takes dangerous products off the market.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx  or call 1-800.638.2772. Send a copy of your

complaints to The EMR Policy Institute at info@emrpolicy.org with “Radiation

Emitting Product Complaint” in the subject heading.

 

• Divest. If you own telecom stock or subscribe to wireless services, divest.

 

RESOURCES

Websites:

http://www.emrpolicy.org   The EMR Policy Institute educates policy makers on the need for

sound public policy that protects public health regarding electromagnetic radiation

(EMR).

http://www.bioinitiative.org    2007 international scientific report that reviews some 2000

published papers on exposure to electromagnetic fields.  It documents bioeffects,

adverse heatlh effects and public health conclusions about EMF exposure and provides

a rationale for biologically-based public exposure standard.

http://www.cloutnow.org    Communities for local oversight of public utilities.  Archive of local

government resolutions calling for revision of the TCA of 1996.

http://www.electricalpollution.com    The solutions page tells how to clean up

electrical pollution in your home or business.

http://www.electromagnetichealth.org     Includes a petition for radiation “quiet zones.”

http://www.emfacts.com/electricwords    An index of scientific studies.

http://www.international-emf-alliance.org/index.php/appeals  Lists groups that

call for stricter regulation and/or a moratorium on wireless technology.

http://www.lehmans.com     A catalog of non-electric tools and appliances.

http://www.lessemf.com    Products for people with electric sensitivity.

http://www.mast-victims.org   Testimonies from people harmed by antennas.

http://www.microwavenews.com    Since 1981 this journal has been reporting on the potential

health and environmental impacts of electromagnetic fields and radiation. It is widely

recognized as a fair and objective source of information on this controversial subject.

http://www.prove-it.co   Find here a petition for a moratorium on new antennas and wireless

utility meters until they’re proven harmless.

http://www.weepinitiative.org   International news about EMR.

 

DVDs:

Full Signal, filmmaker Talal Jabari. Scientists, doctors, advocates and

concerned citizens from eight countries discuss cell phones, antenna sites and

health.

The Power of Community, produced by Community Solutions. Cuba’s

response to losing its oil supply in 1989.

 

Magazine Articles:

“Cell-Phone Safety: What the FCC Didn’t Test,” by Michael Scherer, Time,

October 26, 2010.

“Electro Shocker,” by Michael Segell, Prevention Magazine, January, 2010.  How

dirty electricity created a cancer cluster at a California school.

“Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous to Your Health,” by

Christopher Ketcham, GQ, February 2010.

10

 

Scientific Journal Articles:

Pathophysiology, Aug. 2009. Special issue devoted to EMR and health providing

peer review of The BioInitiative Report.

 

Books:

Davis, Devra, Disconnect, Dutton, 2010.

Gittleman, Ann Louise, Zapped, Harper, 2010

Milham, Samuel, Dirty Electricity:  Electrification and the Diseases

of Civilization, iUniverse, 2010.

Reese, Camilla and Havas, Magda, Public Health SOS.

Sugarman, Ellen, Warning: The Electricity Around You May Be Hazardous to

Your Health, Simon and Schuster, 1992.

 

GLOSSARY

2G  Antennas that serve “second generation” digital cell phones. 3G, “third generation”

includes video and smart phones.

 

bandwidth  Bandwidth refers to the range of frequencies used to transmit data, whether

or not the data is sent within cables or by a wireless device. Video requires more

bandwidth than voice; voice requires more bandwidth than text.

 

broadband  An internet connection with high bandwidth (large range of frequencies) that

allows large amounts of data for a movie or video game, for examples, to be transmitted

quickly.

 

corded phone  A phone with a base that plugs into a wall-jack; the mouthpiece also

connects to the base by a cord.

 

dirty electricity  The wiring in most houses, schools and offices is designed for electrical

devices that operate at 60 Hz, but cordless phones, TVs, dimmer switches, fluorescent

light bulbs, solar panels, energy-saving washing machines and computers (etc.) “chop

up” the 60 Hz current and create high frequency transients. Termed “electrical sewage”

by electrical engineer Dr. Martin Graham, these high frequencies contaminate wiring

running throughout the building and expose occupants to radiation. People exposed to

strong dirty electricity may develop Radio Frequency Sickness or cancer. For more info,

read “Electro-Shocker” by Michael Segell in Prevention’s January, 2010 issue; see

http://www.electricalpollution.com

 

fiber optics  Very thin, transparent cables that carry signals by pulsing  light. Fiber optic

cables offer the fastest connection, the greatest capacity, the most security, and the

lowest EMR of available technology. They require much less electrical power than

antennas to transmit signals.

 

frequency  The number of times per second that either the electric or the magnetic field

completes a full cycle (a positive maximum falling to a negative maximum and increasing

back to the positive maximum again).

 

gigahertz (GHz)  One billion vibrations per second. Cordless phones now commonly

operate at 5.8 GHz, nearly six billion vibrations per second.

 

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Hertz (Hz)  The number of vibrations that either the electric or magnetic component

completes in one second.

 

kilohertz (kHz)  One thousand vibrations per second.

 

megahertz (MHz)  One million vibrations per second.

 

microwave  An electromagnetic field that has 300 million vibrations per second–or more,

up to 300 GHz.

 

Precautionary Principle suggests that we not use a product when its safety is unknown

and alternatives are available. Developed in 1998 by scientists, farmers and breast

cancer action groups who observed that many hazardous products (such as pesticides)

are assumed to be safe when they are introduced to the marketplace. But when they are

used repeatedly or in combination with other hazardous products, harmed health results.

 

radiation  Energy that transmits information through space or through matter. The

frequency of electromagnetic radiation determines the extent to which it can carry data

and can penetrate metal roofs, thick walls and people. The frequencies at which electric

fields best penetrate beneath skin are microwaves, X-rays and gamma rays.

 

radiofrequency (RF)  Electromagnetic radiation at frequencies between 30 kHz and 300

GHz.

 

satellite  Stationed in space, telecom satellites transmit information to Earth by

microwave radiation. This technology allows data to be distributed to remote locations,

including places blocked by mountains or an ocean. It is used by nationally-distributed

TV networks, phone providers, the military and newspapers. Satellite dishes used on

homes for satellite TV use active electronics to convert the signals to lower frequencies

that can then be sent to your TV using standard coax cables. These conversion devices

are another source of radiation and high-frequency transients, i.e. dirty electricity.

 

transformer  A transformer can be the size of a city block or as small as a “wall wart” at

the end of cell phone charger. Transformers change the frequency and/or the voltage of

electricity. At close range, transformers always create EMR. Newer transformers are

smaller and more energy efficient, but also create much more dirty electricity.

 

WiFi  Stands for wireless free Internet. WiFi lets people with laptops access the Internet

without a cord. WiFi is now commonly available in schools, businesses and on many

trains and airplanes. WiFi operates at 2.4 GHz.

 

WiMax  A wireless system that can transmit broadband signals up to 30 miles from an

antenna. WiMax provides wireless internet access with a significantly stronger signal

than WiFi.

 

wireless devices   Cordless phones, mobile phones, utility meters, baby monitors,

doorbells, remote-controlled toys, alarm systems and WiFi that work without cables.

Most TV remote controls use infra-red, which does not appear to pose the same risk as

microwave wireless devices.

 

x-ray  Penetrating electromagnetic radiation that takes a picture through the skin’s

surface to x-ray a bone, for example. Radiation from new body scanners at airports

12

penetrates only the skin layer. X-rays use such high frequencies that electrically

conductive materials can’t block them; only heavy nuclei like lead can.

 

Which do you think is more important: a ubiquitous wireless telecommunications

system or safeguarding the ecosystem and human health?

 

ENDNOTES

1. Campisi, A., et al, “Reactive Oxygen Species Levels and DNA Fragmentation on

Astrocytes in Primary Culture After Acute Exposure to Low Intensity Microwave

Electromagnetic Field,” Neurosci Lett, Vol. 473, pgs 52-55, 2010.

2. Cardis, E. et al, “Brain Tumor Risk in Relation to Mobile Telephone Use: Results of

the Interphone International Case Controlled Study,” Int. J. Epidemiol, June, 2010, Vol.

39 (3), pgs 675-694.

3. Hardell, Carlberg and Mild, “Epidemiological Evidence for an Association Between

Use of Wireless Phones and Tumor Diseases,” Pathophysiology, August, 2009, Vol. 16.,

(2-3), pgs. 113-122.

4. Salford, L.G. et al, “Nerve Cell Damage in Mammalian Brain after Exposure to

Microwaves from GSM Mobile Phones,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 111,

n.7, 1 June, 2003

5. Slesin, L., “It’s Official: Mike Repacholi Is An Industry Consultant and He’s Already In

Hot Water,” Microwave News, November 13, 2006 and “WHO and Electric Utilities: A

Partnership on EMFs,” October 1, 2005.

6. Lee, et al, “2.45GHz Radiofrequency Fields Alter Gene Expression in Cultured Human

Cells,” FEBS Lett, 579:4829, 2005.

7. http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-11/wi-fi-radiation-killing-trees

8. The Times of India, 9.2.09.

9. Santini, R et al, “Survey study of people living in the vicinity of cellular phone base

stations,” Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine 22: 41-49, 2003.

10. Divan et al, “Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Cell Phone Use and Behavioral

Problems in Children,” Epidemiology, e-print ahead of publication, May 7, 2008.

11. DeIuliis, G.N. et al, “Mobile Phone Radiation Induces Reactive Oxygen Species

Production and DNA Damage in Human Spermatozoa In Vitro,” PLoS One, 2009; 4 (7):

e6446.

 

KATIE SINGER’s books include The Wholeness of a Broken Heart (a novel), The

Garden of Fertility and Honoring Our Cycles.