La Grua panel to discuss health risks of wireless technology

La Grua panel to discuss health risks of wireless technology

Posted: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 10:00 am | Updated: 11:03 am, Wed Jun 26, 2013.

STONINGTON — Public health experts and researchers on the possible ill effects of wireless technology will hold a panel discussion Friday night at the La Grua Center, 32 Water St., Stonington.

The program, “Cellphones & Wi-Fi – Are Children, Fetuses and Fertility at Risk?” will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

It is the contention of the panelists that the health consequences of electromagnetic field exposures are comparable or even more widespread than those of tobacco and asbestos. According to this theory, exposure to electromagnetic fields in utero is correlated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, emotional problems, asthma, obesity and possibly autism, and that expectant parents are not being told about the risks. The sources of the radiation include devices like cellphones, routers, iPads, and wireless baby monitors.

The panelists will include Devra Davis, Hugh Taylor and David Carpenter, Martin Blank and Camilla Rees.

Davis started The Environmental Health Trust, a scientific and advocacy group, and was founding director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. She has written “The Secret History of the War on Cancer” and “Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Is Doing to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family.”

Taylor is chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale University, and author of a study published in 2012 showing that cellphone radiation exposure in utero leads to significantly altered brain chemistry, behavioral disorders and ADHD in animals. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal “Reproductive Sciences.”

Carpenter is a professor of environmental health sciences and director of the Institute for Health and Environment at the University of Albany School of Public Health. He is co-editor of the BioInitiative Report, which documents the body of science on biological effects of non-ionizing radiation, such as from cellphones, Wi-Fi, and cell towers, as well as the effects of low frequency electricity and power lines. Carpemter previously directed the Wadsworth Laboratory of the New York State Department of Health, and served on the President’s Cancer Panel that examined radiation exposures as they relate to the risks of cancer.

Blank is a lecturer and retired associate professor at the Columbia University Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics; a researcher in biolelectromagnetics; author of the BioInitiative Report’s section on stress proteins; and editor of the journal Pathophysiology’s special issue on electromagnetic fields.

Rees, a health policy advocate, was the founder of www.ElectromagneticHealth.org, and is the co-author of  “Public Health SOS: The Shadow Side of the Wireless Revolution,” and a white paper, “Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern.”

Rees investigated the impact of portable phone radiation on the heart, co-founded the International EMF Alliance, a consortium of 85 advocacy organizations, and started Campaign for Radiation Free Schools for parents (on Facebook). Recently, she co-produced a white paper, “Getting Smarter About the Smart Grid,” and a publication about electromagnetic fields and birds, both published by the National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy in D.C.

Space is limited. Early arrival is recommended. Conversation and refreshments will follow.

http://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/la-grua-panel-to-discuss-health-risks-of-wireless-technology/article_844efe86-de67-11e2-9d98-0019bb2963f4.html