HYBRID VEHICLE OWNERS REPORT ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS... strong electromagnetic currents!

ncpa.org ^ | June 19, 2008

[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

[Calvin Locke]

Are you going to pop it with your cellphone?

[JimSEA]

Can it get stupider?

I don't know but when I was walking past the local law offices of Shyster, Pillage and Robb, I heard someone chanting, "Grandma Toyota what deep pockets you have!!!"

[CharlesWayneCT]

If you drive 3000 miles a month, and get 34 miles to the gallon, you are using 88 gallons a month, which is about 360 dollars a month at $4 a gallon.

If you drove an SUV that got 20 mpg, your cost would be $600 a month.

If you drove a Prius that got 50 mpg, your cost would be $240 a month, for a savings over a 20-mpg care of $360, but a savings over a 34mpg car of only $120.

Because was do miles-per-gallon, and not gallons-per-mile, it’s hard for people to compare actual costs. If you drive a 20-mpg car and switch to a 30-mpg car, you will save a LOT more money than if you switch from a 30-mpg car to a 50-mpg car.

On the other hand, I know people who drive more than 3000 miles per month.

[dangerdoc]

Automatic transmission, 4 wheel drive and the EPA emissions requirements limit the MPG.

My wife likes leather seats and all of the gadgets. We weren’t looking for a hybrid when we were shopping, it just turned out to be the most economical choice out of all the vehicles she was interested in driving. It actually cost a lot less than the Suburu wagon she thought she wanted, got better miliage, and was larger.

For me there was no hybrid up charge.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Nothing in your linked article says anything about EMS being afraid, anything about using the jaws of life, or any specific fear abour electrocution.

There is EMS training for working with Hybrids. There is a danger in a car fire because of the batteries, you have to be careful and use the right extinguishing chemicals.

One problem is the car can be “running” but the engine not moving. When manufacturers first came out with the electric motor cooling fans, EMS needed a warning because they could be reaching into the engine area and the fan blades could suddenly turn on.

Well, with the Prius, the car is running and the engine might fire up at any time — so they need to ensure the car really is off.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Now that should have a warning sticker on it.

[HP8753]

270,000 miles on my 98 Lumina and still going strong.
Been paid off for years and it was a 1 year lease return when I bought it.I’m going to drive it until it dies.

[dangerdoc]

She drives over 2000 miles a month. Her Trailblazer got WORSE miliage that the Suburban we had previously. I haven’t put pencil to paper with the new gas prices, we many be saving more than $400 a month.

If we had not bought the Escape hybrid, we would have bought the V6 Escape or a Subaru, neither of which were less expensive than the hybrid.

I wouldn’t know about the payback on a Prius. We need AWD and more room, the Prius was never on our list.

[calex59]

current flowing through a wire will produce EMF

Correction, alternating current flowing through a wire will produce EMF. Direct current, the type produced by batteries, does not produce EMF except for the first brief surge when you initially turn on a switch. Batteries in the Hybrids will not produce harmful EMF, the motor might however.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Related FR article: Fear, but Few Facts, on Hybrid Risk

[pennboricua]

Rescuers refer to a crucial 15-minute period at the scene of an accident as a “golden window” in which it is critical to attend to those injured most seriously and get them on the way to emergency treatment. They worry about the possibility that in the course of a fast-paced rescue attempt, a hybrid might suddenly lurch ahead or that high-voltage wires might be cut

[blackie]

I’m with you on the hybrids!

It’s gotta have a booming V8 engine of over 5 liters before I’ll own it!! >:-}

[JoeGar]

First it was CFLs, next it was hybrids, then it was ...

[DoughtyOne]

I bought a Mercury Mariner a couple of years ago.  It's a four wheel drive SUV.  It's small but it's all I needed.  I wanted an SUV for commuting because of the visibility.  I would have purchased a Mercury Mountaineer, if they hadn't had the Mariner.

I can easily get 30 mpg on the highway, and have achieved over 32 mpg per tank on occasion.  Tell you what folks, I'm not feeling sad about the choice these days.

You don't have to be an environmental whack job to prefer to use less gas.  Frankly, I was willing to pay a bit more to cut down on my gas consumption, because I want us less dependent on oil from the Middle East.  I consider it a strategic decision to help us be less beholding to those nations whose populace would do us harm.

I highly recommend the vehicle.  As for force fields or the need for tin foil to protect yourself, I don't have any ringing in my years and there haven't been any unusual growths poping up LOL.

Later...

[Calamari]

Other things to worry about:

Asteroid Impact, Same Sex Marriage, Massive gamma ray burst from an outside the solar system event, BSE nvCJD, SARS, Smallpox, Ebola ,Flu- (human, bird, swine, duck, chicken), Salmonella, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Terrorists, Anthrax, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Too little ozone, Too much ozone, Global warming, Global cooling, Global Warming Chaos, Pesticides, Deer ticks, Nerve gas, Dirty bombs, Haliburton, SUVs, Guns, Acid rain, Too much Rain, Too little Rain, Nuclear power, Non-nuclearpower, Nuclear war, Conventional war, Wind Turbines shredding endangered birds, Obesity, Starvation, BCS, The Yankees with A’Rod, NCAA Basketball Tournament Selections, Pit bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes ,Doberman Pinschers, Chow Chows, Great Danes, St. Bernards, Akitas, green ketchup, MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), Pet spiders, Yard Sale Congestion, Red King Crabs, Shadow people, Cattle mutilations, Junk Science, Supersize fries, ”Our worst fears were confirmed”, steroids in baseball, microwave popcorn, HIV, Peak Oil, Cholesterol both LDL and HDL, second hand smoke, Google Telephone Searches, backyard nuclear reactor, Nitrogen pollution, Carbon Dioxide Reported at Record Levels, Dangerous' Curry Colourings Cataracts from computers, brain tumors from cell phones, fire ants, killer bees, killer tomatoes, killer clowns the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Terrell Owens and Ron Artest, Exploding cell phones, cryptococcus gattii, methylisothiazolinone (MIT), "holiday heart," , U.S. Teens Are Among the Worst at Math, picking your teeth in public"The Hamdog.", Plastic Wrap in a Microwave, mercury, perfluorooctanoic acid, Teflon, KFC frying oil, Starbucks high calorie coffee drinks, Southern San Andreas fault waiting to explode:, Study Says Earth's Temp at 400-Year High, Earth hottest it's been in 2,000 years,strong electromagnetic currents...

Added a new one

So much to worry about...

[Chode]

are you insinuating that all high-bred drivers are REDSHIRTS??? 8^)

[Lamchops]

Most hybrid vehicle owners are complaining of problems with memory and learning, distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, touch), trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor coordination, increased heart rate, and anxiety...

http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/drug_guide/Marijuana

But these are symptoms whose etiology also causes hybrid vehicle owners to purchase their cars in the first place. It also causes them to get all paranoid about the Earth overheating- like 2 degrees man, over the next century, dude! Right before they get the munchies.

[SJSAMPLE]

It’s “liberating” to drive a paid off vehicle, with no collision insurance, and not have to yield right of way or my lane to SUV mama talking on the go-phone.

Only thing that isn’t working 100% is the AC (leak) and the cruise control that uses the AC for pressure.

[Brilliant]

Yeah, but if your microwave leaks, it really can hurt you. That’s one of the reasons why they tell you not to repair your own microwave.

Your computer monitor will not hurt you.

[exit82]

It’s doubly bad when they drive the hybrid under power lines and by cell phone towers.

The results haven’t been pretty./s