Posted on 06/19/2008 1:44:33 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch
Purchasers of hybrid vehicles, which are subsidized by the federal government and championed by environmental activists as a way to reduce gasoline consumption, are trading in their vehicles because of health fears concerning electromagnetic fields created by the hybrid batteries, says John Dale Dunn, a policy advisor for the American Council on Science and Health.
As noted in an April 27 article in the New York Times:
Some hybrid vehicle owners are complaining of a variety of health problems allegedly caused by strong electromagnetic currents from the cars' batteries. Reported ailments and concerns include rising blood pressure, drowsiness behind the wheel and higher leukemia risks. Various agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, acknowledge the potential hazards of long-term exposure to a strong electromagnetic field (E.M.F.), and have done studies on the association of cancer risks with living near high-voltage utility lines. Drivers who have given up their hybrids have reportedly documented "dangerously high" electromagnetic fields, leading them to conclude driving the vehicles is not worth risking blood for oil. This issue illustrates the double standard regarding environmental activists, says H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis.
"Environmental activists routinely use the Precautionary Principle as a weapon against technologies and products they do not like," Burnett explains. "They assert that until and unless a product they oppose can be definitively proven to be safe, the product must be banned. Now, however, when consumers and some scientists assert that one of the activists' pet products may be causing serious health harms, the activists act like they have never heard of the Precautionary Principle."
Source: John Dale Dunn, "Hybrid Vehicle Owners Report Adverse Health Effects," Heartland Institute, July 1, 2008; and Jim Motavalli, "Fear, but Few Facts, on Hybrid Risk," New York Times, April 27, 2008.
For text:
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23393
For Times text:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/automobiles/27EMF.html
For more on Environment Issues:
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=31
I wonder if people wearing pacemakers have reported any effects?
Microwave? What do they think their Computer Monitor generates?
None dare call it "science by anecdote?"
Comparing a 200-volt DC system with High-voltage AC transmission lines (500,000v) requires a very advanced degree in stupid...
There really is website for everything, isn’t there?
Since the average saving of the hybrid drivers over is something like $.12 a mile your wife must be driving about 3300 miles a month.
These are probably the same tree huggers that wear magnetic bracelets.
Probably nothing close to ‘microwaves’ morelike
kilohertz frequencies.....Unless you’re talking about
possible processor data bus line circuit traces, but this would all be low power....
Can it get stupider?
I’d like to see the gas bills and mileage totals to shore that up.
Not challenging, but a savings of $400 a month implies a lot of driving.
“Saves me about $400 a month in fuel.”
As opposed to driving what?
What is the “NCPA,” “Rand”-lite?
They just cant win for losing can they.
If that wire isn’t coiled, it would take one hell of a lot of current to generate a significant EMF. At that point, I would say you’d be in more danger of battery explosion.
EMF has been studied for years, I’m not worried. The biggest dose of EMF you can get without climbing a radar tower or going to a government test facility is an electric blanket. They put out huge ammounts of EMF and people have been using them for a hundred years.
Radio reception in the thing is good too, I doubt there is even a significant EMF.
None of them are still alive to make the report.
It is also the reason libs play acoustic not electric guitar.
My understanding that a 'hybrid' will be economical on the city driving because the electric can switch in for the gas, but on straight highway it's mostly gas...I don't see the need or savings of a hybrid for my driving situation.
So you can get a net payback on the upcharge of buying a Prius (for how much $$) vs. a (for example only) a 4 -cylinder Ford Fusion SEL (26/34) @ $21,000 in how many months? [Fusion has higher initial quality ratings and (much) lower lifetime TCO when you count Hybrid battery refit.)
BTW, check your math (and you may have already; no flame intended)... to save $400/mo in fuel, at $4/gal she has to be *saving* 100 gallons. Even vs. an Expedition or Suburban that’s 1500 miles per month ( 50 miles every day )
Serious commuter, eh?
FWIW, I *LIKE* hybrid cars and wish I had one ‘cuz they’re cool. I currently drive a paid for reliable vehicle that gets 22/26 MPG (Ford Escape). There is basically NO economic model for me to replace that vehicle with a hybrid anything, not even a hybrid Escape. *IF* all people replace conventional vehicles at end of useful life with hybrids, that’ll be a good thing.
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