LETTER: WHO’S PAYING ATTENTION TO THE WHO?
by Contributor on 07 Mar 2014
For years many people have wondered about the effects of electric and magnetic fields (EMF) on human health. More recently, these concerns have extended to radiofrequency (RF) exposure from wireless technologies like cordless phones, cell phones, cell phone towers, GPS devices, “smart” meters, and WiFi. In 2011, the WHO (World Health Organization) entered RF radiation to the list of “possible carcinogenic in humans.”
Since then, governments around the world have alerted their populations to approach wireless devices with caution. Many people are unaware that wireless devices use microwaves, the same as your microwave oven. So your cordless phone, WiFi, smart meter, water meter, and the cell tower outside your window are effectively functioning as low-level, constantly-emitting, microwave transmitters. With more and more cell towers and smart meters broadcasting throughout our living spaces, we are experiencing low-level “tasering.”
Sadly, Health Canada is dangerously behind other countries in recognizing electrosensitivity. RF radiation is measured in milliwatts per square meter (mW/m2). Canada uses ICNIRP’s safety standards, which are 10,000 mW/m2. However, many countries around the world have heeded WHO’s warning and have set their RF safety standards remarkably lower than the ICNIRP.
For example, the European Union which is made up of 28 member states (UK being considered one member) has a safety standard of 1 mW/m2; that’s 10,000 times lower than the ICNIRP’s standards. Other countries like Switzerland and Russia’s safety standards are from 20 to 200 mW/m2, and other nations like China are 70-100, which is still 100 times lower than Canada’s safety standards.
In November of 2013, professor Emeritus Anthony Miller, of the University of Toronto spoke to Toronto’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, warning them of the dangers of RF pollution. Miller said that a working group for the International Agency for Research on Cancer, of which he was the lead scientist, concluded that RF radiation was a probable carcinogen, upgraded from the earlier WHO designation. He also warned that increasing the amount of RF radiation in our environment will increase the hazard to people by increasing cancers like brain tumors, etc.
In view of this, the question must be asked: "How much radiation can we be exposed to before having health consequences?" There is no doubt that we are already being exposed to levels of EMF and RF radiation that are having very serious and real consequences to peoples' health.
Frank Clegg, former president of Microsoft Canada, is now an advocate for wireless radiation safety. In a recent article in Vitality Magazine, he tells of one family’s illnesses that encompassed swelling of tonsils, adenoids, sinus troubles, skin rashes, dizziness, lack of sleep. When the father connected the dots between his family’s health problems and the installation of WiFi, he turned it off. The family’s symptoms quickly disappeared.
This is not an isolated family. Many people are experiencing “strange” symptoms apparently linked to no particular virus or diagnosable illness, yet the cost of our sick society is borne by our overtaxed health care system and lost productivity. Clegg says that more than 1 in 5 people will develop symptoms over time. You owe it to yourself to read his article which is available from the link above.
Can the City Council of Grand Forks, in all good conscience, press yet another wireless device on us, and yes, I am speaking of water meters, when there is so much evidence that this technology is hazardous to our health?
Beverley Tripp, Grand Forks
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