Health Risks From Wireless Technologies
by author Jeffry Fawcett, PhD
Suppose several hundred marine biologists were to study your
swimming pool. A reasonable percentage of them report that you’ve got sharks in
your pool. Would you dive in? Would you let your kids swim in the pool?
According to European reports, cellphone radiation may be the shark in the
water, and it is endangering our health.
Radio frequency radiation–the kind of radiation we’re exposed to
from sources such as cellphones, cellphone antennas, cordless phones, wireless
routers, and other wireless technologies such as the iPhone–may have biological
and health effects. Of the hundreds of studies conducted, 47 percent found
increased cancer risks, 69 percent found disruptions to cell function, 77
percent found disruptions to electrical signalling in the body, and 83 percent
found neurological, physiological, and behavioural effects.
No Proof of a Problem
This evidence has not convinced the major health agencies in
North America to take action. In fact, the North American governments continue
to reassure consumers: Health Canada says, “There is currently no convincing
evidence, from animal or human studies, that the energy from cellphones is
enough to cause serious health effects.â€
Yet a survey by the European Union Commission found that most
Europeans believe cellphones and cellphone antennas damage health. Most
Europeans also reported feeling properly informed on these issues by health
agencies and the businesses that provide wireless technologies.
At about the same time, two events reinforced these concerns. As
with the European Commission survey, these events were covered extensively by
the European media but not at all in the North American media.
WiFi in British Schools
The first event was a BBC television news program broadcast in
May 2007 that reported on schools with wireless networks. The program claimed
that children in those schools are exposed to radiation up to three times the
intensity generated by a cellphone antenna. The program prompted Sir William
Stewart, head of the UK Health Protection Agency, along with the UK’s
Professional Association of Teachers, to call for an immediate moratorium. Some
schools dropped plans to install wireless networks. Others initiated plans to
remove wireless networks.
Health risks exposed
The second event to bring attention to wireless health risks was
the release of the BioInitiative Report in August 2007. An international group
of leading scientists formed the BioInitiative Working Group to summarize what
is known about wireless health risks and to examine the inadequacies of current
standards in light of that evidence.
The BioInitiative Working Group found significant evidence of
harm: cancer (including childhood leukemia), nerve and brain damage, DNA damage,
increased stress response, and decreased immune response. All of these effects
were found at levels of radiation well below the current standards.
Almost immediately upon the report’s release, the European
Environment Agency called for action to establish appropriate levels of exposure
to minimize risk.
Reasonable Evidence of Harm
Why is the European Environment Agency ready to act while Health
Canada and the US Food and Drug Administration are not?
The answer lies in the fact that Europe has a much stronger
public health tradition than Canada and especially the United States. Those who
reassure us that wireless technologies are safe say that a strong scientific
consensus must be reached before they take action. In contrast, the public
health approach taken by the European Environment Agency is to take action when
there’s reasonable evidence of harm.
If you have reasonable evidence of sharks in your swimming pool,
do you protect yourself? Or do you and your kids wait for scientific certainty
as you dive in?
Jeffry Fawcett has a PhD in environmental economics and
political economy. He is a writer and health educator, president of the
Sustainable Health Institute (sustainablehealthinstitute.org), and co-producer
of the Your Own Health and Fitness radio show.
Source:
alive #306, April
2008
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Una St.Clair-Moniz
Executive Director
Citizens for
Safe Technology Society
www.citizensforsafetechnology.org
Empowering the public to protect children
and youth from unsafe wireless
technologies.
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