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HYBRID VEHICLE OWNERS REPORT ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS... strong electromagnetic currents!
ncpa.org ^ | June 19, 2008

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


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: energy; health; hybrids; transportation
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To: InvisibleChurch

I wonder if people wearing pacemakers have reported any effects?


21 posted on 06/19/2008 1:54:56 PM PDT by Amelia
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To: InvisibleChurch
Not to mention all the SMUG they produce.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

I hope they are wearing protection. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

22 posted on 06/19/2008 1:55:20 PM PDT by txroadkill (Liberals believe that the only oppressed people in Cuba are the terrorist in GitMo)
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To: Brilliant
These guys should be more worried about sitting too close to their microwave.

Microwave? What do they think their Computer Monitor generates?

23 posted on 06/19/2008 1:55:46 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com ---- Get involved, make a difference.)
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To: InvisibleChurch
Voodoo science and engineering.
Let me go get some popcorn.

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...

24 posted on 06/19/2008 1:56:46 PM PDT by Publius6961 (You're Government, it's not your money, and you never have to show a profit.)
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To: mo

There really is website for everything, isn’t there?


25 posted on 06/19/2008 1:57:35 PM PDT by Islander7 ("Show me an honest politician and I will show you a case of mistaken identity.")
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To: dangerdoc

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.


26 posted on 06/19/2008 1:57:47 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com ---- Get involved, make a difference.)
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To: InvisibleChurch

These are probably the same tree huggers that wear magnetic bracelets.


27 posted on 06/19/2008 1:58:17 PM PDT by printhead
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To: MNJohnnie

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....


28 posted on 06/19/2008 2:00:02 PM PDT by Gaffer
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To: Gorzaloon

Can it get stupider?


Stay tuned...


29 posted on 06/19/2008 2:00:41 PM PDT by SE Mom (Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet)
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To: dangerdoc

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.


30 posted on 06/19/2008 2:00:51 PM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: dangerdoc

“Saves me about $400 a month in fuel.”

As opposed to driving what?


31 posted on 06/19/2008 2:01:55 PM PDT by wolfcreek (I see miles and miles of Texas....let's keep it that way.)
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To: InvisibleChurch

What is the “NCPA,” “Rand”-lite?


32 posted on 06/19/2008 2:02:02 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
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To: InvisibleChurch
If you're gonna drive a hybrid, you gotta wear the hat:


33 posted on 06/19/2008 2:02:26 PM PDT by TonyInOhio (The dice are on the table. It is hot in Suez.)
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To: InvisibleChurch

They just cant win for losing can they.


34 posted on 06/19/2008 2:02:26 PM PDT by CougarGA7 (Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.)
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To: pennboricua

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.


35 posted on 06/19/2008 2:03:47 PM PDT by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: Jersey Republican Biker Chick

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.


36 posted on 06/19/2008 2:04:33 PM PDT by dangerdoc (dangerdoc (not actually dangerous any more))
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To: Amelia
I wonder if people wearing pacemakers have reported any effects?

None of them are still alive to make the report.

37 posted on 06/19/2008 2:04:34 PM PDT by steve86 (Acerbic by nature, not nurture™)
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To: MNJohnnie

It is also the reason libs play acoustic not electric guitar.


38 posted on 06/19/2008 2:04:47 PM PDT by doodad
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To: MNJohnnie
I drive about 120 miles a day to work and back. average about 25 work days/month....that's about $3000/month and almost all highway.....I get 34 mpg with my 4 cyl 5 speed Honda accord. My total gas bill is about $200-250/month depending on weekend driving. I don't see how this guy could be 'saving' $400/month because of the hybrid

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.

39 posted on 06/19/2008 2:05:45 PM PDT by Gaffer
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To: dangerdoc

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.


40 posted on 06/19/2008 2:07:44 PM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur)
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