Toronto Public Health Prudent Avoidance
toronto-public-health
Monday November 4th, 2013 there will be
a City council meeting where Toronto Public Health will vote on the recommendation
from the Medical Officer of Health to remove Toronto Public Health’s prudent
avoidance policy for wireless/RF radiation arising from cell tower emissions.
Let the Board of Health know that you want the Prudent Avoidance Policy to
remain in place because you do not want the fate of all Torontonians to rely on
Health Canada’s antiquated Safety Code 6.
What is Safety Code 6?
Health Canada’s Safety Code 6 is the exposure guidelines for
the cumulative limit of wireless/RF radiation exposure to the human body. It
governs the emissions from cell phones, cell towers and antenna, WiFi, smart
meters, as well as consumer goods such as cordless phones and baby monitors. It
was put in place in the 1980’s, based on tests done to a 220lb mannequin on 6
minutes of exposure, does not take into account children, or biological effects
at all and is embroiled in a national conflicted controversy unfolding in
Ottawa at the moment. It is one of the worst in world today leaving
Torontonians and Canadians at the mercy of industry. Learn more HERE.
What is prudent avoidance?
Prudent avoidance is a precautionary principle in risk
management, stating that reasonable efforts to minimise potential risks should
be taken when the actual magnitude of the risks is unknown. In this case it
takes the form of wireless radiation (EMR/RF) dictated in a document called
Safety Code 6.
Toronto Public Health Prudent Avoidance
Toronto Board of Health is voting on the irresponsible
recommendation to remove prudent avoidance [PA] for human exposure to
Microwave/EMF radiation emissions from wireless antennas. Prudent Avoidance in
Toronto is currently 100 times lower emissions than the federal standard,
Safety Code 6 (SC6) in line with China and Russia, and even tighter
restrictions on emissions in Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, and
Luxemburg. Removing Toronto’s prudent avoidance would not be a good thing.
Monday November 4th, 2013
Toronto Board of Health is hearing from the public on the
Medical Officer of Health's recommendations. They need to hear from
Torontonians to keep PA!
Please come out and support:
Toronto City Hall
West Wing
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON, M5H 2N2
Meeting Room 1, 2nd Floor between 2pm-4pm on Monday 4th
November.
You can also contact the Toronto Public Health Complaints
Officer
Call: 416-338-7600
Email: tphfeedback@toronto.ca
Fax: 416-338-8061, Attention Toronto Public Health
Complaints Officer
Mail: Toronto Public Health Complaints Officer, 277 Victoria
St, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W2
Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Wants to Hide Behind
Safety Code 6. He is...
City Council discontinue the prudent avoidance policy
wherein the City requests that radiofrequencies from cellular phone base
stations are kept 100 times below Safety Code 6 in areas where the public
normally spends time;
The Board of Health encourage Industry Canada to:
Conduct regular monitoring for radiofrequencies arising from
telecommunications structures in Toronto, and to make this information publicly
available and accessible.
Ensure that information regarding the locations and
estimated emissions of all cellular phone antennas is publicly available and
accessible.
The Board of Health encourage Health Canada to continue to
review health evidence pertaining to human exposure to RFs and to revise Safety
Code 6 whenever appropriate to protect human health.
Summary
This report responds to a motion by the Board of Health
(BOH) to review the City of Toronto's Prudent Avoidance (PA) policy related to
radiofrequencies (RFs) emitted from cell phone towers and to provide an update
on evidence regarding public health impacts from exposure to cell tower RFs.
Under the policy, adopted by City Council in 2008 as recommended by the BOH,
Toronto Public Health (TPH) reviews the predicted RF values provided by
companies applying to install new cell phone base stations (cell towers) in
Toronto and requests that providers keep RF emission levels 100 times below
Safety Code 6, Health Canada's public exposure guideline. Compliance with the
PA policy is voluntary as the authority to regulate cell phone towers
(including siting and the development of appropriate RF exposure levels) rests
with the federal government.
Since 2008, 33 applications for towers have been assessed by
TPH and compliance with the PA policy has been high. With few exceptions, RF
emissions estimates typically have met the PA policy level and all have been
well below Safety Code 6. The application of the policy is however restricted
to a relatively small subset of cell towers in the City that are subject to
municipal consultation and enforceability is constrained by a lack of municipal
jurisdiction.
From its review of recent health evidence, TPH notes that
the majority scientific opinion indicates that the health risk to the public
from cell towers and other telecommunications sources of RFs is low.
Toronto Public Health responds regularly to resident
concerns and councillor inquiries about cell phone towers and antennas.
Response strategies have involved site visits, requesting information on
emissions from the provider and/or Industry Canada and most recently, taking
field measurements of RFs from specific antennas. The information reviewed by
TPH has indicated that the RF levels from these antenna systems have consistently
been well below Safety Code 6 and have met the PA policy level. Based on a
review of evidence and TPH's experience implementing the policy, continued
application of the PA policy in the form of a stricter exposure guideline is no
longer necessary as it does not confer a health benefit to the residents of
Toronto. The Medical Officer of Health therefore recommends that the Board
support discontinuation of the PA policy. Toronto Public Health will continue
to monitor the health evidence related to RFs from cell towers and will
continue to respond to and address public concerns as they arise.
Click HERE to read the Full Recommendation to Toronto
Council to Remove PA
Click HERE to read the Toronto Public Health Full Report
TPH claims these points as justification for removing PA:
TPH claims: Radiation levels in Toronto have not increased
since 2002/3. TPH sites only one reference, which is a non-public letter
between Toronto’s Medical Health Officer, David McKeown, and a Director within
Industry Canada. If a proper survey had been conducted [eg. 2002 survey] it
would be made public and available. Therefore, it is clear that TPH is making
this assertion against global trends and without any real science.
TPH claims: There is no scientific basis to be prudent. The
risk from cell towers is low. The science is mounting. Also it is common sense:
if we continue to irradiate Torontonians with increasing levels of microwave
radiation, how can they remain healthy? TPH’s review methodology is flawed as
it only considers older studies [by considering only reviews of primary science
rather than the primary science itself]. Some of the most important science has
been published in the last 12 months. These studies are ignored by TPH.
TPH claims: Electro-hypersensitivity [EHS] unlikely to exist
given current scientific evidence. Odd that TPH takes this approach when the
science of EHS has been so flawed and both Ontario Disability Act and Canadian
Human Rights Commission recognize this disability. Perhaps it would have helped
TPH to consult with leaders in the field [Scientists Dr. Olle Johannson in
Sweden and Dr. Belpomme] and environmental doctors across Canada who are
treating this disability daily with long waiting lists.
TPH claims: Toronto has no real jurisdiction over Cell
towers. While Toronto has little legal jurisdiction, it has worked to contain
the RF emitted from cell towers over last 10 years. We would like TPH to
continue this work in protection of Torontonians.
As a concerned Torontonian, it is of critical importance
that you write an email (on the right hand side of this page) and/or call your
Councillor COPYING all Councillors across Toronto to explain why you are
concerned about this, and to make it clear that you do not support removal of
Toronto’s Prudent Avoidance Policy, and that you want your Councillor to also
not support removal.
Government Officials Contact Information
Toronto Public Health Executive
Toronto Board of Health
Loren Vanderlinden
Manager, Healthy Public Policy
Email: lvander@toronto.ca
Monica Campbell
Director, Healthy Public Policy
Email: mcampbe2@toronto.ca
Reg Ayre
Manager, Healthy Environments
Email: rayre@toronto.ca
Melanie Azeff
Public Health Inspector
Email: mazeff@toronto.ca
Dr. David McKeown
The Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto
Email: dmckeown@toronto.ca
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