It is more dangerous and prevalent than the swine flu. You cannot see it, taste it, or smell it. It is one of the most pervasive environmental exposures in industrialized society today. There is virtually no unexposed population.
What is it? Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) or electromagnetic fields (EMFs).
There are two types of EMFs: low frequency electromagnetic fields from electrical and electronic appliances and power lines; and radiofrequency radiation from wireless devices such as cell phones and cordless phones, cellular antennas and towers, and broadcast transmission towers.
The City of Cordova has given GCI conditional use permits to install four cellular towers within our city limits. There is a rapidly growing body of evidence – going back 30 years – that shows health risks can and do occur at low exposure levels to EMFs: everyday levels that can be thousands of times below public safety limits.
Chronic exposure can lead to immune dysfunction, chronic fatigue, chronic allergic responses, inflammation diseases and ill health. There are people with electrical hypersensitivity – I’ve seen them. They shake, their brains are muddled, and, in extreme cases, they can’t function in normal daily living conditions. Some countries estimate 3 to 5 percent of their population suffers from electrical hypersensitivity (EHS) and the numbers are growing. Sweden doesn’t regard EHS as a disease: Sweden officially recognizes EHS as a fully functional impairment.
The International Association of Fire Fighters recently adopted a resolution opposing the use of fire stations as base stations for cellular antennas and towers. A study of firefighters with cellular towers affixed to their buildings found brain damage from radiofrequency (RF) radiation. The brain is the first organ to be affected by RF radiation. Firefighters experienced symptoms of migraine headaches, extreme fatigue, disorientation, slowed reaction time, vertigo, vital memory loss and attention deficit – not good for public protectors we all rely on to protect our lives and homes.
Everyday exposure is not good for the rest of us either. Children in particular are extremely sensitive to EMFs. Increased risk for childhood leukemia starts at levels almost 1,000 times below the safety standards. Children recovering in high EMF environments have a poorer survival rate than children in low EMF homes. Evidence of a relationship between EMF exposure and adult leukemia, brain tumors and other neurodegenerative diseases, breast cancer, decrease in melatonin (cancer inhibitor), increase in heat shock proteins (stress response to toxins), and DNA damage, among other problems, is sufficiently strong to merit preventative measures – not a business-as-usual approach.
Authors of the BioInitiative Report (www.bioinitiative.org) – the basis for my comments – state, “No one would recommend that drugs used in medical treatments and prevention of disease be randomly given to the public, especially to children. Yet, random and involuntary exposures to EMFs occur all the time in daily life.”
The federal public-safety limits are based on thermal levels. Scientists have determined beyond any reasonable doubt that adverse bioeffects occur at far lower levels – literally several hundred thousand times below the safety limits where heating is an impossibility. In other words, it is the electromagnetic radiation, not the heat, that is causing the biological damage. The federal safety limits are meaningless – and there is no justification for any claims of safety.
Another troubling matter is that once one company installs cellular towers, I’ve heard other companies can “colocate” towers in the same space, creating “antennae farms” – and health hazards for people and wildlife.
In their resolution opposing cell tower installation at fire stations, the firefighters state, “It is crucial that firefighters are functioning at optimal cognitive and physical capacity at all times.” The same is true for fishermen, children, and the rest of us!
I urge the City of Cordova to reconsider GCI’s conditional permits for cell tower installation. We have thousands of acres of wilderness nearby. If we need these towers, let’s at least site them well away from people. And let’s take a closer look at the science and policies that advocate protection. I’ve barely skimmed the surface.
National WorkerRF Safety Crisis Video Our nations’ workers and the welfare of their families
are at risk! Watch the video to see how.
Let’s be wary of cellular tower plan
Source: Cordova Times
Date: 06/07/2009
