Stop Smart Meters! organized a press conference after the Electromagnetic Health Forum on Nov. 18th to allow those who have suffered from wireless technology to share their stories. Three people- David, a real estate agent from West Marin, Sandi, a paralegal from Orange County, and Sarah, a clinical nutritionist from Fairfax, share their stories.
Thanks to our friends at the Environmental Options Network for producing the video.
I am a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering and have studied many of their reports (and have written one). I find it difficult to believe what is presented here which is contrary to their findings which I believe to be reliable and thorough. Furthermore, they would require the action of physical forces that are not explainable by our current understanding of physics. Of course these may be wrong, but most of us have confidence in them in that they have been tested through hundreds of years of studies by thousands of investigators. These studies have attempted to determine the effect of electromagnetic radiation of varying intensity on biological systems and have failed to find a relationship of the sort necessary to account for the anecdotal evidence presented on your website. If these presenters are correct, they would have demonstrated that the physics that most of us use is incorrect which would be a revolutionary finding. If true, it should be published in scientific journals, refereed, and would be of Nobel Prize calibre. If you have confidence that these are correct, you should make this attempt to convince the community, and if you succeed, you would be famous and richly awarded.
Hi Richard,
Thank you for your (slightly tongue in cheek) comment. Although I am not personally an expert in this field, I have read many of the scientific studies of biological impacts from electromagnetic fields. I have also spoken to the experts about their research. This- combined with the testimony of individuals who are EHS- has raised enough questions about wireless health impacts. Why we are so willing to expose ourselves as a society? I don’t know but I suspect that we have a lot of misplaced trust in authority- an authority whose allegiances lie with industry rather than human welfare.
I could point you to thousands of studies going back to the 1950’s that show biological impacts at levels far below what we currently allow to flood our communities but for now I will just post one- research by Henry Lai and Narendra Singh published in 2004 in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives that found that cells in a rat’s brain showed DNA damage from very low levels of EMF. As described by Devra Davis in her recent book Disconnect, the cell industry tried to discredit this science- even going so far as requesting that the journal ‘unpublish’ the work.
Study linked here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1241963/
The idea that only ionizing radiation within the electromagnetic spectrum (like gamma rays and x rays) have biological impacts- not non-ionizing radiation (like microwaves and radio waves) just does not hold water anymore. Just because science cannot explain the exact mechanism behind these impacts does not mean they are not happening. Science can still not explain the details of how cigarette smoke causes lung cancer- but we know that it does. And we WARN people about it as a result. Look at all the other carcinogens that we were once told were perfectly safe: x-rays, asbestos, cigarettes, etc. and look at the harm each one did as govt. regulators twiddled their thumbs and waited for ‘proof’. Methinks we have too much faith in technology.
An increasing number of (non-industry funded) studies of long term cell phone users are finding a significant increase in brain tumors, centered on the side of the head that the person held the phone. These studies are desperately being attacked by the wireless industry along the lines that the tobacco industry fought back regulation.
All this combined with recent research that shows how wireless signals from a cordless phone base station can make the heartbeats of susceptible individuals race- indicates that we need to proceed with caution- not reckless abandon- when it comes to installing wireless throughout our communities.
http://www.magdahavas.com/2010/10/21/new-study-radiation-from-cordless-phone-base-station-affects-the-heart/
Humans (and indeed all life on Earth) are based on cells that emit and receive electromagnetic energy. The real shocker would be if it turned out that we are NOT sensitive to or harmed by artificial, high levels of microwave radiation.
For a more comprehensive review of the science, look at:
http://www.prove-it.co/studies
and to watch a recent conference at the Commonwealth Club in SF about the health impacts of EMF, go to:
http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/cc-video/