And I do know a little about what I am talking about since I am a 3rd-year chemistry major in college.
Posted on 06/02/2002 6:02:28 PM PDT by handk
Prior to the Federal Telecom Act of 1996, it was almost impossible for the cellular communications industry to flourish because there was local control of cell tower siting. Science had already established the ill effects microwaves have on plant and animal life and no one wanted a cell tower in their backyard. Since passage of the federal act, however, cell towers have sprung up everywhere because their siting can no longer be blocked effectively at the local level. Why, in total disregard for published medical and environmental science, did the federal government provide the authority to site cell towers all over the nation? Was it to increase our cellular communications capabilities? Or, does logic and prior experience indicate something more sinister?
In order to make contact with cell tower transmitters, your cell phone emits powerful microwave signals in the high megahertz or low gigahertz frequencies.
Microwave energy oscillates at millions to billions of cycles per second. Since WWII, European, Russian and U.S. scientists have known that microwave frequencies are extremely damaging to human tissues. Research in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry demonstrates that microwave frequencies can cause cancer and other diseases by interfering with cellular DNA and its repair.
During cell phone conversation, these cancer-causing frequencies deeply penetrate the brain, ear and eye tissues. The eye is most susceptible to microwave damage. While a standby phone is attached to the body, microwave pulses can penetrate vital organs every few minutes. Headsets and radiation mitigators have been proven generally worthless in reducing this radiation exposure. Recent scientific studies confirm that cell phone microwave can:
* Cause headaches and pressure behind the eyes
* Induce extreme fatigue
* Precipitate cataracts/ eye cancer
* Create burning sensation/rash on the skin
* Damage nerves in the scalp
* Heat the angular gyrus (brain area associated with speech and vision)
* Activate heat shock proteins in the brain (cell stress)
* Induce ringing in the ears, impair sense of smell, cause sensitivity in teeth
* Create joint pain, muscle spasms, tremors
* Cause digestive problems and raise bad cholesterol levels
* Alter the brain's EEG activity during sleep
* Open the blood-brain barrier to virus and toxins (cells leak hemoglobin)
* Reduce the number and efficiency of white blood cells
* Damage blood lymphocyte cells (immune system)
* Cause short term memory loss and difficulty concentrating
* Promote development of Alzheimer's disease
* Stimulate asthma by producing histamine in mast cells
* Stress the endocrine system, especially pancreas, thyroid, ovaries, testes
* Damage chromosomes, specifically the DNA strands
* Induce new cancers and stimulate pre-existing cancers
Scientific data confirming the horrific damage cell phones can do to the human body is found in Dr. George Carlo's great new book, Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age.
Dr. Carlo is an epidemiologist who was hired in 1993 by the telecommunications industry to head an industry-sponsored whitewash of the biological effects of cell phone radiation. His findings were so startling that he was forced to make a break with the industry and expose the raw facts to an unsuspecting public. The subtitle of his blockbuster documentary is “An Insiders's Alarming Discoveries About Cancer and Genetic Damage.”
Microwave is extremely hazardous to children. Parents in many European nations are now warned to keep children away from cell phones. University of Utah researcher found the younger the child, the more radiation is absorbed by the brain.
Spanish researchers have shown that cell phones can alter electrical activity of a child's brain for hours, causing drastic mood changes and possibly behavior and learning disabilities.
Findings published in the Journal of Bio-Electric Magnetics warn that mobile phone emissions may damage human embryos. Pregnant women are advised to be wary of mobile phones.
The effect of microwave radiation inside your vehicle is especially dangerous. Volkswagen of Europe warns that cell phone usage inside a car can be “injurious to health due to the extremely high electromagnetic fields generated.”
This is because a cell phone may increase its field strength up to 10 times to maintain communications within the metallic cage of an auto. Studies in England show that drivers talking on a cell phone are actually more impaired in function and reaction time than drunks.
The telecommunications industry and federal regulatory agencies design their own “studies” to conclude that having a microwave transmitter on your head is safe. However, many people claim to be falling ill from heavy cell phone usage. Numerous cancer-related lawsuits are now being filed against both government agencies and the cell phone industry.
Cell phones today are what tobacco was 40 years ago. The research and the debate will continue for years. Meantime, 90 million cell phone users in the U.S. have three choices:
1. Continue heavy microwave bombardment of brain tissues until disastrous health effects become obvious and irreversible. This is the “guinea pig” option.
2. Reduce cell phone usage to under 2-3 minutes per day and never use the phone in a vehicle. Many health science experts are choosing this option.
3. Obtain a hands-free set and keep the phone away from the body. Everyone in the room can then hear the two-way conversation, but less privacy sure beats brain cancer!
And don't forget to check out your cordless phone. If it has a marking that reads 900 megahertz or 2.4 gigahertz, it emits the same microwave radiation as cell phones.
Some great web sites on microwave and other radiation issues are:
www.wave-guide.org (has great list of books available)
Write to: guru@emfguru.org and ask for free e-mail updates on cell phone/tower studies and litigation.
Note: Last month's edition of The IO contained a review of the book, “Cell Towers, Wireless Convenience or Environmental Hazard? The book is a compilation of research papers presented at a one-day conference entitled, “Cell Towers, State of the Science/State of the Law, that took place in Litchfield, Conn., December 2, 2000. The book, edited by Blake Levitt, is a comprehensive exploration of the manyfold health, environmental, political and legal implications of the cellular communications infrastructure currently being erected in our country. Cell Towers can be obtained by sending email to: blakelevit@cs.com
While my area of expertise didn't deal with cell phone towers in particular, I did deal extensively with land mobile radio at 800mhz which is pretty close to where most cell phones are. Bandwidth is not necessarily the issue, ERP (effective radiated power) is. The cell towers that I've looked at are effectively omni-directional; look at the antenna arrays - they go around the tower in a circle. Now perhaps those antennas are servicing more than one cell in different directions at different times but during any peak usage time, they're all likely to be transmitting. Even if what I'm referring to are mostly receive antennas, there are enough transmit antennas to do what's required and the fact that they're directional isn't reassuring if they happen to be pointed at me. Even though as cells get smaller, the power required to accomplish the same thing goes down, they're designed to blanket a particular area with whatever power level is required. Obviously, the further you are away from it, the less you're exposed to and it's exponential (presuming you don't wind up getting closer to the next cell...). Because of the radiation pattern, I would rather live directly underneath the tower than half a block away. That goes for television/fm transmitting antennas as well.
By the way, for those lurking, I once lived in a town that had a fit over the installation of some satellite uplink antennas. Dishes are scary (I guess...) Satellite dishes typically have a 2 degree or better directional pattern and they're pointed up in the air. They do have splashy side lobes of radiation but at a much reduced level (think of the reflector in your flash light). What the people in this town didn't know is that those satellite antennas were sited right below a UHF television transmitting antenna with an ERP of over a million watts. You could almost walk around like Uncle Fester with a light bulb lit up in your mouth thanks to that TV antenna, but those little 200 watt satellite antennas were new so they were scary.
People also don't realize that they're exposed to a constant level of microwave radiation from satellites (at least while they're outdoors) - and it's getting worse all the time. Back in 1980 there were only a few non-military satellites and they were running 5 watts with not-that-good antennas. You needed a 15ft dish to get a snowy picture. Granted today receiving technology is better, but satellites now pump out 40 watts on each "channel" with very good antennas and there are ____loads of them raining down on you. By the way, did you vote for that? ................ Maybe with your wallet - anyway...... I know folks in the industry who unlike me now , make a living at that business who are concerned about it. These are hardly the type of folks to don tin-foil hats - believe me.
An interesting sidelight (no pun intended). I was told by a military radar tech (fighter planes) that one of the standing jokes for the new guys on base was to order them to go get an arm load of 48" flourescent light bulbs. On their way back from where they got the bulbs they would walk several hundred feet in front of a fighter and one of the old timer wise guys would fire up the radar in one of the jets causing the armload of light tubes to light up! Needless to say there was a broom handy.
The term "any consequence" is relative. I don't know what the consequences of constant, low-level exposure are. Until I do know, I would prefer to err on the side of caution. That doesn't mean go berserk, it means given a choice, I would prefer to avoid it.
Good thing that had their cell phones. They saved their lives, didn't they?! What multinational corporation do we all owe thanks?
I trust that you (and, I hope, handk) are merely counseling against cell phone use, and would not ally yourself with coercive {insert vice here}-grabbers.
"You don't have to be weird to be wired. You don't have to be an American brand. You don't have to be strange to be strangled. You don't have to be weird to be wrangled. But I'm Totally Wired. Totally Wired. JJJust Totally Wired. I'm Totally Wired. My Heart and I agree. My Heart and I agree. I'm Irate, Peeved, Irate, Peeved, Irate, Bad State. Bad State. Cos I'm Totally Wired. Totally Wired. JJJust Totally Wired. Totally Wired. And I'm always worried. And I'm always worried. And I'm always worried. And I'm always worried."
In 800 mhz, the effective radiating power is 12 watts, leaving the ground at 18 watts.
Since these are "line of sight" antennas, unless you are up 120 feet off the ground, you are not in the direct path of them - and if you were, 8 to 12 watts is not enough to cause a problem...........
I believe that answer to that would be "yes." Next question.
What multinational corporation do we all owe thanks?
Verizon, for one. I'm sure there are others.
This is complete nonsense! I've been using a cell phone for .... well I can't remember when I started using one but, none the less, ??? ... what was I talking about?
Oh, did you mean "Did every single person with a cell-phone survive"? Well, you certainly got me there. No, they didn't, just some.
Course, not everyone with a gun survives an assault. Guess we always have to weigh costs and benefits. I'm sure there is a multinational gun corporation out there somewhere that deserves some thanks.
Good. I won't take yours, and you won't try to take anyone else's. Even if you did state the above in sarcasm.
And I do know a little about what I am talking about since I am a 3rd-year chemistry major in college.
If they cause harm, then it was my choice to use it, just as a smoker currently has the choice to smoke or not. I sit in front of a computer, I have a microwave oven, I drive an SUV...... all my choices, yet some get their panties in a bunch over a cell phone......... so dramatic, so silly..........
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