1. This is an interesting
story (note- MCS is Multiple Chemical Sensitive). The link at the
bottom of the story leads to plenty of very good information for EHS
and MCS sufferers.
2. The second story is
about the proposed installation of a WiFi network in Thorold, Ontario
and the information presented to council.
Martin
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Wi-Fi
controversy reignited in Thorold
Trio urges council to move transmitter
towers for pilot project away from residential area
Posted By Tiffany Mayer, Standard Staff
Here is my letter to the editor in response to the article in the
St. Catharines Standard about the Thorold City council meeting
Dear Editor,
I am writing in response
to the article "Wi-Fi controversy reignited in Thorold"
Is it really necessary
to have wifi transmitters on poles, blanketing whole neighbourhoods
with radiation? Residents already have cable and phone
lines into their homes to connect to the internet. If
they choose to have wireless technology in their homes, then that is
their choice. But what about residents who do not want to be irradiated
by this technology? They don't have a choice. The
technology is being imposed on them against their wishes. These
wifi units are transmitting into the homes of those who don't subscribe
to the service. They are emitting radiation and we all
know the health harm radiation can cause.
There are already so
many sources of radiation in our environment; why add another source,
especially when there are safer alternatives?
As for Councillor Handley's comment about
scare tactics…. In Sept. 2007, the German government issued a warning
to its citizens, "The Environment Ministry recommended that people should
keep their exposure to radiation from Wi-Fi "as low as possible" by
choosing "conventional wired connections". It added that it is
"actively informing people about possibilities for reducing personal
exposure". (http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/germany-warns-citizens-to-avoid-using-wifi-401845.html)
Are they using scare
tactics? They are obviously more concerned about their
citizens' health than the money this technology would generate. They
are exercising the Precautionary Principal that states, "…. Where there are threats of serious or
irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be
used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent
environmental degradation." (Article
15 of the 1992
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=78&ArticleID=1163)
This is a United Nations
Declaration that all UN members agreed to and signed.
One councillor also
mentions that studies can be found saying the technology isn't
dangerous. True…. but who paid for those studies?
The most reliable studies are those that are not paid for by the
industry that is churning out this technology. I agree,
"let's compare apples to apples".
This councillor also
says that he asked the wifi company if there were ill-health effects
from this technology. They told him there weren't.
De ja vu; remember what the cigarette and asbestos industry told
us? How many years was it before government listened to
the scientific studies saying these products are harmful to health?
And how many people became ill or died in the mean time? Even
with the knowledge that cigarettes cause illness and death, the
government still allows their production, sale, and use. Why?
Because there is a lot of money to lose if they are banned, by
the government and the industry. Let's weigh it out:
dollars vs. healthy citizens…and the winner is… dollars….again.
The Radiation Protection
Bureau of Health Canada, has a series of safety codes that specify the
requirements for the safe use of radiation emitting devices. Limits
of Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields in the
Frequency Range from 3 KHZ to 300 GHZ - Safety Code 6 (
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/radiation/99ehd-dhm237/index_e.html
)
One problem with this safety code is that
it only protects us from the thermal (cooking) effect of microwaves.
It does not protect us from the biological effects of microwaves
and as stated by the BioInitiative Working Group (An
international working group of scientists, researchers and public
health policy professionals), "the existing standards for public
safety are inadequate to protect public health".
Another problem with this safety code is
that it was last revised in 1999. In the eight years
since then, wireless technology has become much more powerful and its
use is much more wide spread. This code is years overdue
for another revision.
In 2007 The
BioInitiative Working Group (An international working group of
scientists, researchers and public health policy professionals), published a report that
documents serious scientific concerns about current limits regulating
how much EMF is allowable from power lines, cell phones, and many other
sources of EMF exposure in daily life. (
http://www.bioinitiative.org/report/index.htm ).
The 14 members of this
group reviewed 2000 scientific studies before coming to this conclusion.
To use the councillors own words, that is "comparing apples to
apples". This study was not funded by industry and is
therefore very reliable. In fact it was this report that
spurred the German Government to warn its citizens about the technology.
In conclusion, there is
evidence that this technology causes health harm and the safety
standards set by the Government of Canada and other governments around
the world, are inadequate to protect us from it. We can
argue it until we are blue in the face but in the mean time, what of
the health of those people who are unwillingly exposed to this
radiation? Shouldn't the precautionary principle be
adopted to protect the health of Canadians?
It's time to 'butt out'
to reduce the exposure of non-users, to second hand radiation.
Sue Parsons
[ http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=MCS
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=EHS
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wi-Fi
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Wi-Fi ]