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Sunday, June 8, 2008

Wireless Not Worth Health Risks

By Victoria Jewett
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    Santa Fe city councilors should be commended for twice delaying a decision on whether to allow Wi-Fi into the downtown library and other city-owned buildings. They are trying to take into account the predicament of the growing group of individuals who can no longer participate in our society because of electromagnetic radiation sensitivity.
    Six weeks ago, I exchanged my portable phone for a land line and turned off the wireless Internet. I was frankly alarmed by what I had been reading about chronic exposure to microwave radiation, such as Wi-Fi. It was a precautionary measure on my part. I did not anticipate feeling any different as a result. I nonetheless feel noticeably, remarkably better. I can think more clearly. I have more energy. The tension in my head is gone.
    I continued to research the issue and learned that doctors and scientists around the globe have linked the recent explosion in wireless communications technology to a concurrent spike in illnesses, such as cancers, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, allergies, memory problems, sleep disorders and autism, to name but a few. Although the research has received very little media attention, the data has led many scientists and doctors to envision worldwide, irreversible damage on all levels.
    For example, Dr. George Carlo, who coordinated the six-year wireless technology research program mandated by Congress, says that exposure to wireless-communications radiation is "potentially the biggest health insult" this nation has ever seen. Swedish neurosurgeon Dr. Leif Salford warns that an entire generation of cell-phone-using teenagers may suffer from mental deficits or Alzheimer's disease by the time they reach middle age.
    Robert Becker, Nobel Prize nominee noted for decades of research on the effects of electromagnetic radiation, says he has no coubt the proliferation of electormagnetic fields is the greatest polluter.
    People with electromagnetic sensitivities cannot tolerate microwave radiation without incurring illness and injury. This group encompasses some bright and accomplished local citizens, yet their claims are routinely dismissed and often ridiculed. These individuals are marginalized, isolated and lack support from any public or private agency. They are frequently forced to move in order to escape assault from a newly erected cell tower or their neighbors' wireless Internet. A significant number live in their cars. There is no way to completely escape, however, as chronic exposure to wireless radiation has become compulsory for everyone.
    American society has yet to understand the public health threat posed by global radio-wave pollution, but the issue has received significant notice in Europe. Radiation sickness from exposure to chronic, non-thermal radiation had become so prevalent in Germany by 2004 that a group of doctors signed the Bamberger Appeal, calling the situation a "medical disaster." This appeal followed the Freiburger Appeal, signed by thousands of German doctors who were witnessing an epidemic of acute and chronic diseases among both old and young patients exposed to wireless microwave radiation. The Helsinki Appeal, the Catania Resolution, the Benevento Resolution and other appeals by doctors and scientists have urged their respective governments to promote alternatives to wireless communication systems; to inform the population of the potential risks of cell and cordless phone use; to limit cell and cordless phone use by young children and teenagers; and to designate wireless-free zones in cities, in public buildings and on public transit in order to permit access by persons who are hypersensitive to electromagnetic fields.
    Wireless-free zones are being created in Europe and the U.S., along with materials and buildings which would shield against electromagnetic radiation. For example, a building now exists in Budapest with the sole aim of shielding its occupants from antennas, and in France, the National Library has dismantled its Wi-Fi installation and has reverted to wired connections. The Salzburg Department of Health and the Frankfurt Department of Education have both recommended against Wi-Fi in schools. In Sebastopol, Calif., citizens lobbied the city council to revoke its downtown Wi-Fi contract, and in March the councilors reversed themselves, voiding the previously signed contract.
    I support that city-owned buildings should be "safe havens" for those who are already sensitive to electromagnetic fields and as a precautionary measure for all citizens. Our concerns about the hazards of Wi-Fi are scientifically based and the evidence is too compelling to ignore.
    Jewett is a library science student who lives in Santa Fe.