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How DANGEROUS is your mobile phone By: Consumer Association of Malaysia

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How DANGEROUS is Your Mobile Phone One-fifth of Malaysia’s population – an estimated 4.5 million people – today walk, drive, shop, eat and work with mobile phone pressed to their ears. Even school children use mobile phones these days, and ads are encouraging young children to use this modern lifestyle device too. Besides China and Japan, Malaysia is currently one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in Asia Pacific. Industry sources estimate that advertising spending by the operators increased a hefty 70% to around RM$ 75 million for the first 7 months of 2000, compared with about RM$ 45 million for the same period in 1999. But what is the cost to consumers? Exposure to a string of ailments! In spite of the mobile phone industry’s reassurances over the years that mobile phones are safe, and the argument that the device can help save lives in emergencies, the mobile phone may ironically shorten one’s life. What many users don’t realize is that they are putting a potent transmitter which emits microwave radiation that affects every body system, against their heads day after day. Prolonged regular use has been linked to memory loss, Parkinson’s Disease, impaired immunity, kidney disease, birth defects, cancer and more in numerous studies. The findings confirm the effects of very small energy sources on living things – that small amounts of energy when delivered in a targeted way can have the same effects as massive doses of chemicals. Children are at greater risk as mobile phone radiation penetrates the skull and brains of children more deeply than adults. More and more cellular sicknesses are continually being revealed in a growing body of scientific studies, which has renewed concern worldwide over the use of mobile phones. In 1998, 17 of the world’s foremost independent scientists looking into the mobile phone health debate, signed a resolution (1998 Vienna Resolution) agreeing that health effects caused by low level exposures to microwave radiation, particularly those emitted by mobile phones and their base transmitting stations, were scientifically established and undermined the validity of current safety guidelines.

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Even World Health Organization, WHO is taking the matter seriously. Noting that there will be 1.6 million mobile phone users worldwide by 2005, the WHO is currently planning a study in at least 10 countries to examine links to head and neck cancer. Unfortunately, the public is being denied access to the truth about mobile phones. Some of the world’s radiation experts have openly reported that the industry tries to either cover up or manipulate the results of their research. How much evidence on the harm of mobile phones must be shown before the industry admits to the risks? Until mobile phones are proven to be safe, consumers should beware. We outlines some of the major health threats posed by mobile phones, uncovered in numerous studies around the world.

1. Fry the Brain and Skin • Britain: Mobile phones can cook the brain and affect brain function.

An English study, released last year, found that the levels of exposure arising form phones held near to the head or other parts of the body are substantially great than whole body exposures arising from mobile phone base stations.

• Sweden: A major study found up to a 48-fold increase in the sensation of heat on

the user’s ear, face or head. • Russia: Mobile phones can increase the temperature on the surface of the skin

by up to 4.7°C. This heating damage could lead to skin cancer. In the UK, a mobile phone user died after a cancerous skin growth appeared where he held his mobile phone.

Some scientists warn that this heating damages the skin, making the user look lined and haggard – and ultimately causes premature ageing! It is hypothesized that with heating, cells gradually don’t work properly, so the life process becomes less efficient.

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2. Higher Cancer Risks • Sweden: Mobile phone use increases the risk of brain tumor by almost 2.5 times.

Children who have thinner skulls and smaller brains are at great risk. • Australia: Mice exposed to pulsed digital mobile phone radiation over 18 months

had twice the risk of developing cancers. • US: Frequent mobile phone users have significantly depressed melatonin – a

vital cancer preventing hormone. • Austria: Smokers who use mobiles run a far greater risk of developing cancer

than non-smokers. More alarming facts: • Digital phone users have been known to develop non-Hodgkin’s Disease in the

lymph glands in their neck on the side where they normally used their phones for a couple of hours each day.

• A few minutes’ exposure to mobile phone type radiation can transform a 5%

active cancer into a 95% active cancer for the duration of the exposure, and for a short time afterwards.

• The risk of rare neuro epithelial tumors on the outside of the brain is more than

doubled – a statistically significant risk increase – in mobile phone users, compared to non-users.

• In1998, at least 8 lawsuits alleging that mobile phones caused brain tumors were

filed in the US.

3. DNA & Immune System Damage Several studies have shown that mobile phone radiation can cause DNA damage in human cells. According to a UK scientist, weak radio frequency radiation similar to that emitted by mobile phones can also damage the body’s immune system that fights off infections and disease.

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4. Birth Defects US: Radiation from mobile phones has been linked with possible dangers to pregnant women and their unborn babies. In a study, the radiation was found to cause defects in chicken embryos.

5. Raised Blood Pressure Germany: In a study reported in the Lancet in 1998, the blood pressure in human test subjects raised each time by 5-10 mmHg – a level of increase that would be more than enough to trigger a stroke or heart attack in someone at severe risk. This was the first firm evidence that mobile phone radiation could directly alter cell function in the human body.

6. Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis & Parkinson’s Disease

• Sweden: Just 2 minutes of exposure to emissions from mobile phones can

disable a safety barrier in the blood, causing proteins and toxins to leak into the brain.

This can cause the chances of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s. In another study, those who use the mobile phone for 30 minutes a day were twice as likely to complain of memory loss than those using it for less than 2 minutes.

• US: A study found that learning and short term memory in rats were impaired

after 45 minutes’ exposure to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones. • UK: A government sponsored study implicated mobile phone radiation exposure

with short term memory loss as well as sudden confusion.

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7. Heart Disease and Kidney Stones

Europe: New research indicates that exposures to mobile phones’ radiation causes red blood cells to leak hemoglobin (which carries oxygen around the body), the build-up of which can cause heart disease and kidney stones.

8. Decrease Sex Drive, Burning Sensations & Fatigue

• Ukraine: Using a mobile phone could also drastically reduce sex drive, according

to animal studies. Rats exposed to mobile phone radiation were found to have far less testosterone in their bloodstream than unexposed rats.

The higher the dose of radiation, the less testosterone was released by the body’s glands, resulting in diminished sexual activity.

• Scandinavia: Studies sponsored by the Scandinavian cellular industry and the

Swedish and Norwegian governments confirmed a significant correlation between the length and number of phone calls made by users and the incidence of symptoms such as fatigue, burning sensations and headaches.

Regular mobile phone users have also reported skin tingling or burning or twitching.

9. Poisons from Your Fillings Studies have also found that mobile phone radiation can activate the mercury and release the poisonous gas. Experts believe the fumes attack the brain’s central nervous system causing conditions from depression and asthma to Alzheimer’s and Multiple sclerosis.

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10. Headaches, Dizziness & Concentration Lapses Sweden: A cellular industry sponsored Swedish study on 11,000 mobile phone users found that users making 4 or more calls a day were 3.6 times more likely to suffer headaches than those using it less than twice. Users were also 2.3 times more likely to report dizziness and 2.4 times as likely to have concentration lapses. Young people appeared to be most at risk with the under 30s, 3-4 times more likely to experience side effects.

What is Mobile Phone Radiation

Russian occupational health scientists have known for more than 20 years that LOW-LEVEL MICROWAVE RADIATION (less than 0.1 mW/kg SAR*) can cause a strong heating effect in animals. This can be simply demonstrated by slowly simmering a cup of water (in a glass) in a microwave oven. The water temperature can be seen to exceed the boiling point by several degrees Celsius without any observed boiling. [*SAR, or Specific Absorption Rate, measures the maximum quantity of radiation absorbed by a kilogram of tissue from a mobile phone. It is an internationally accepted standard for measuring radio frequency absorption by human tissue.] Note: Most mobile phones analyzed in tests overseas emit even higher levels of SAR than the above. There are 2 possible health risks from microwave radiation – thermal and non-thermal. Thermal effects occur when enough radiation, at certain frequencies, is absorbed to be converted to heat, increasing tissue temperature. These effects can be measured in terms of SAR. A SAR of 4 Watts per kilogram is associated with a 1°C temperature rise in human tissue. Although officially, negative impacts on biological systems are measured by the degree of heat that is generated in the tissue by the radiation energy, overwhelming evidence suggest that there are severe non-thermal impacts of electromagnetic radiation which can’t be ignored.

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More Health Threats Dangerous to hospital & airports Mobile phones can play havoc with life-saving equipment in hospitals and clinics, and cause adverse effects on aircraft navigation systems, electronic systems in vehicles, speed control systems, computer networks and data storage. For example, the mobile phone’s standby signal of 2 Hz can be confused with the heart beat. This can make digital phones dangerous for those with pacemakers, which can mistake a phone-pulse for a heart beat and fail to function

Explosion risk in petrol stations Impulses from mobile phones could theoretically cause equipment at gas stations to spark and ignite gas of gas fumes. Even mobile phone manufacturers themselves (eg: Motorola) warn consumers in their owner manuals not to use their phones while at gasoline stations. Investigations in Canada, where reports of fires associated with the use of mobile phones at gasoline pumps are known, show that turning the phone on and off, or even changing the phone’s batteries may cause a spark. In Europe, Esso had begun putting warning labels regarding mobile phones in its stations in Europe since 1998.

Non-thermal effects can occur at lower levels of exposure. The electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones is actually a form of non-ionizing radiation. Once believed to be harmless, studies have now shown that non-ionizing radiation may also present a danger to human health. This discovery caused the public and the scientific community to alter their view of non-ionizing radiation and to shift attention to questions concerning the hazards of EMFs (electromagnetic fields), especially from mobile phones.

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Distract drivers A Taiwan government initiated survey found that using mobile phones slows drivers’ response times, making them less able to react to emergency situations. The 1-year survey, which included tests on 390 individuals in a laboratory environment, showed that it takes an additional 0.43 seconds (or about 100 meters) for motorists to step on the brakes when they’re dialing the phone, and an additional 0.27 seconds when they’re answering the phone. The survey also discovered that motorists are at greater risk when they answer the phone and when they hang up. This is because in both situations, the motorist tends to look downward, taking his or her attention from the roads.

Transmission towers – “Transmit” cancer If you are within 200 meters of a typical mobile phone tower, it may be associated with an increased low risk of a range of cancers and miscarriage, and a higher risk of sleep disturbance and chronic fatigue which may lead to learning difficulties. The risk increases if you are closer to the tower. In an Australian test ( using TV towers) for the safety of mobile phone sites (better known as the Hocking Study), conducted and funded by Australian telecommunications giant Telstra, it was found that people living close to the towers had more leukemia than those living further away. Because of their link to cancer, in the US alone, 85% of the total number of base stations (mobile phone towers) needed have yet to be constructed (Source: WHO, 1998).

Children at greater risk Children are more vulnerable to radiation from mobile phones because of their developing nervous system, the greater the absorption of energy in the tissues of the child’s head, and a longer lifetime of exposure. Studies have shown that children absorb microwaves at 3.3 times the rate of adults.

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In fact, an American company has warned parents of “potential health risks” for children, Metrocall Introduced the warning in the US at the beginning of 2000.

Similar to microwave ovens Mobile phones radiate microwaves similar to those used in a microwave oven to cook food. Studies indicate that human beings are very good conductors of microwave transmitted signals. This means that most microwave signals radiate through us and are absorbed with very little going to the main transmission point. The transmitting frequencies of mobile phones are also in the band that has maximal penetration into the head, between 20% and 80% of the energy is absorbed by the user’s head. The percentage absorbed depends on the design of the phone, type of antenna (the stubby ones which you cannot extend are worse for pushing energy into the user’s head), and how far it is to the nearest base stations. It is estimated that when 80% of the transmitted power in a digital phone is absorbed by the use’s head, the brain cells are “hit” by these radiation pulses times every second. According to a Chinese study, half of a mobile phone’s radiation is absorbed by the human body and another quarter by the brain. Results of tests from the UK National Physical Laboratory using a 7-material phantom human head showed that mobile phone users who wear glasses could be intensifying exposure to their eyes by up to 20% and into the head by 6.3%.

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Warning Labels on Phone Packages

In the US, all mobile phones are required by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to meet radiation safety standards. All manufacturers are required to give their phones’ SAR levels to the Commission before they are approved for sale there. In July 2000, mobile phone manufacturers in the US caved in to consumer pressure and agreed for the first time to disclose radiation levels. Finnish Nokia (the world’s largest mobile phone maker), US Motorola and Sweden’s Ericsson are also working to develop a standard for measuring the amount of cell phone radiation that is absorbed by human tissue.

How Your Mobile Phone Works

Mobile phones, are in effect, tiny radio stations that send and receive. A low frequency pulse, carrying the information, travels on a high frequency microwave. As the pulse is digital (on/off) and “rhythmic”, it penetrates very powerfully with little energy input (the antennae on the transmission towers only have the approximate wattage of a light bulb, ie 50 Watts). This is sometimes called the Jackhammer principle. By pulsing, a small and light jackhammer is able to break through the hardest rock. It is the pulse action, that makes the mobile phone radiation considerably more dangerous to living systems (as well as technological systems, like airplanes, heart pacemakers, hospital installations) than the far more powerful TV or radio signals, which are emitted with up to 100,000 Watts of power. These emissions are not pulsed, however, and vary in frequency and modulation, thereby causing relatively less damage.

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Lawsuits

• US: A neurologist filed an US$800 million lawsuit against Motorola as well as 8 other telecommunications companies and organizations in July 2000, claiming his use of mobile phones caused a malignant brain tumor.

• SOUTH AFRICA: In 1999, a Pretoria man sued 2 mobile phone

companies because he developed a brain tumor. He also asked the court to order that all mobile phone suppliers issue warnings that their systems may be harmful to humans.

• UK: In May 1998, a magistrates court here issued a summons under the

UK Consumer Protection Act, 1987 for Welsh bioelectromagnetic scientist Roger Coghill to bring a private criminal action against a retail distributor of Orange and Motorola mobile phones.

Coghill’s action claims that the distributors failed to affix required labels to their handsets warning of possible health risks to users from prolonged conversations as required by the Act.

• SCANDINAVIA: Some people here were also reported to be suing mobile

phone companies because they became blind in the eye closest to their “phone ear”. People in Scandinavia have had the longest experience with such phones.

Note: The growing number of lawsuits against mobile phone companies has been predicted to be another tobacco-type health scandal, the limelight litigation of the 21st century. In fact, as far back as 1994, the American Bar Association Journal had warned (in its cover story) that EMF litigation “could be the next asbestos”. It noted that more studies existed in the 90s linking EMF exposure to increased cancer risks, dwarfing the asbestos claims of the 80s when the latter first surfaced.

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Antenna Danger

The highest concentration of energy is around the antenna. Depending on how close the antenna is to the head, as much as 60% of the microwave radiation is absorbed by, and actually penetrates, the area around the head, some reaching 1-1.5 inches into the brain. Experts are now pressuring the industry to design safer phones with the antenna pointing down. In the mean time, this is what you can do: • Move the mobile phone antenna 8 inches from the head. This would

dramatically reduce exposure – radiation dose falls to 1/64th as the square of the distance.

In fact, according to one report, every millimeter you move the phone antenna away makes a big difference. The intensity of radiation decreases quickly with distance. It has been found that at 0.3 meters to the head, a typical mobile phone can emit 1,693 mirco-Watts of energy per square cm (mW/sq cm). This drops to 152.4 mW/sq cm at 1 m and a miniscule 0.1 mW/sq cm at 90m.

• Make sure the antenna is outside your car. • Phones with internal antennas might look cute but they release higher

levels of radiation to compensate for the energy dispersed in our skulls, with a consequent increase of absorption.

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Electromagnetic Pollution Cancer and nervous disorder risks from exposure to electromagnetic fields In Malaysia, the last 10 years or so have seen the rapid expansion of electromagnetic fields (EMF) technologies, for example, mobile phone technology. This has led to the uncontrolled mushrooming of telecommunication towers (some even illegal), in the country. Many of these structures are located on top of high-rise buildings and in densely populated areas. Mobile telephone base station sites emit EMF namely radio frequency (RF) fields. Radio frequency fields are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. When these installations are placed on dwellings and rooftops, the general public is thus exposed to RF fields. SAM, an environment association in Malaysia, views this development with great concern as the general public have no say or control over where these structures are constructed. They are thus faced with exposure of RF fields which is not of their own doing. While these installations expose the general population and their families to RF fields, only a few mobile telephone users benefit. It is not surprising that public concern and awareness of the risks to human health of EMF exposure have meant that in many countries around the world, the construction of new power lines and mobile telephone networks has met with fierce opposition from the public at large. It is now recognized worldwide that increasing non-ionizing radiation in the living environment leads to electromagnetic pollution. Electromagnetic pollution was first coined by the World Health Organization, WHO in 1981. Its publication Environmental Health Criteria 16, Radio frequency and Microwaves observes: “the rapid growth of telecommunication systems, radio broadcasting, television transmitters, and radar installation has increased the possibility of human exposure to electromagnetic energy and, at the same time, concern about possible health effects... General population exposure from man-made sources of microwave and RF (radio frequency) radiation now exceeds that from natural sources by many orders of magnitude.

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The rapid proliferation of such sources and the substantial increase in radiation levels is likely to produce ‘electromagnetic pollution’. Problems of pollution range from electromagnetic interference, particularly in relation to the operation of health services, to direct risks to the health of individuals”. Non-ionizing radiation (NIR) include radio frequency (RF) and microwave (MW) fields, extremely low frequency (ELF) fields, static electric and magnetic fields, ultra violet radiation, infrared radiation and visible light. ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) refers to the region 1-300 Hz, into which falls the power frequency of 50/60 Hz (UK/USA). Radio frequency (RF) spans approximately 100 kHz to 300 MHz; Microwave (MW) 300 MHz to about 20 GHz. Radar normally 1-10 GHz; and millimeter waves beyond. In the 17 years since WHO’s warning, technologies that were undreamed of then, have been unleashed upon us. They include digital and cellular telephones, satellite communications, paging, radio data, cordless telephone, and personal communications networks etc. Many of this generation of personal communications systems is based on radio technology, thus further adding to electromagnetic pollution. As early as 1990, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded after a 2-year assessment of the evidence that there is a significant link between exposure to extremely low frequency radiation and the occurrence of human cancer, and that ELF electromagnetic fields should be classified as “probable human carcinogens”. The EPA also recommended that RF and MW radiation be designated as a “possible carcinogen”. Because of the growing concern worldwide regarding the possible connection between human cancer and chronic exposure to sources of ELF electromagnetic fields produced by power lines, video display units and many household appliances, the European Parliament passed a Motion for a Resolution in 1993 recognizing the harmful effects of NIR and setting standards to limit human exposure to electromagnetic radiation. The Motion reads that “whereas according to an increasing number of epidemiological and experimental studies, even slight exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetic fields increases the risks of cancer, can be accompanied by nervous disorders and disruption of the circadian rhythms and seems capable of effecting developing organisms; whereas the results of many in vivo and in vitro studies show increasingly clearly that the interaction mechanisms underlying such disorders and illness, centered mainly in the cell membrane lead to disruption of melatonin secretions; ornithine decarboxylase activity and T-lymphocyte efficacy testifying to the probable role of non-ionizing radiation in promoting cancer.”

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It also added that “the difficulty of demonstrating a relationship between dose and effect enabling the effect of non-ionizing electromagnetic field (EMF) to be quantified… does not prevent the adoption of legislative measures designed to minimize the exposure of workers and the public.” As a result of the work of Russian scientists (who were among the pioneers in the research into the biological and health effects of EMF exposure among the general population) in the former Soviet Union, the Russian Government declared this issue a social problem in 1995. According to Nikolai Izmerov of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS) and Director of RAMS Institute of Occupational Health, “The safety of human exposure to an ever increasing number and diversity of EMF sources both at work and at home has clearly become a public health issue.”

Adverse Effects of EMF In response to growing public health concerns among member states over possible adverse health effects from exposure to an ever increasing number and diversity of EMF sources, the WHO launched the International EMF project in 1996. In December 1997, the WHO recommended research priorities for studying possible health effects of EMF which will focus on the possible associations between low frequency EMF and the following: • CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA: Research has indicated that children seem to be at a

50% greater risk of leukemia when they reside near high voltage electric power lines.

• BREAST CANCER: Evidence from laboratory studies reveal that exposure to

low frequency EMF suppresses the night time rise in melatonin (a hormone that controls our normal night and day rhythms).

Some animal and in vitro studies suggest that melatonin has a suppressive effect on the proliferation of certain breast cancer cells, or even that low frequency fields may suppress this protective effect.

• DISEASES OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: Recent epidemiological

studies suggest that exposure to low frequency EMF is related to an increase in the incidence of central nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This is important given the fact that populations worldwide are ageing.

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• OTHER HEALTH EFFECTS: Headaches, skin rashes, dizziness attributed to EMF exposure.

EMF sources include high voltage power lines, radars, mobile telephones and their base stations. Common sources of RF fields include mobile telephones, television and radio broadcast, microwave telecommunications, radar, satellite links, industrial induction heaters, medical diathermy, AM radio, FM radio, microwave ovens, monitors and video display units, TV sets and burglar alarms.

According to WHO: • RF fields can produce different effects on biological systems such as cells, plants,

animals and human beings. These effects depend on the frequency and intensity of the RF field.

• A recent study found that RF fields, similar to those used in mobile

telecommunications, increased the incidence of cancer among genetically engineered mice that were exposed near (0.65 m) an RF transmitting antenna.

• Exposure to low levels of RF fields has been reported to alter the electrical

activity of the brain in cat, and rabbits by changing calcium ion mobility. This effect has also been reported in isolated tissues and cells.

Other studies have suggested that RF fields change the proliferation rate of cells, alter enzyme activity or affect the genes in the DNA of cells.

• Exposure to extremely powerful frequency and intensity of RF fields can cause

adverse health effects which include eye cataracts and skin burns.

Relatively high levels of exposure to RF fields can occur to workers in the broadcasting, transport and communications industries when they work in close proximity to RF transmitting antennae and radar systems. Military personnel are also exposed.

• Current mobile telephone systems operate at frequencies between 800 and

1,800 MHz (although systems using 21,000 MHz and higher frequencies may be introduced soon). These frequencies fall into the range between 1 MHz and 10 GHz (1 GHz = 1 thousand MHz) 1 Hertz (Hz) = one cycle per second; 1 Kilo Hertz (kHz) = 1000 Hz; 1 Mega Hertz (MHz) = 1,000,000 Hz; 1 Giga Hertz (GHz) = 1,000,000,000 Hz Radio frequency fields within this range are known to penetrate exposed tissue and produce heating due to energy absorption.

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The depth of penetration of the RF field into the tissue depends on the frequency of the field and is greater for lower frequencies. Even very low levels of RF energy produce a small amount of heat. However, most of the thousands of RF studies and experiments that have been conducted have addressed short-term, high-level exposures, looking at possible thermal damage, rather than long-term, low-level exposures, which is the critical question to be answered. Although most healthy people can tolerate short-term (minute-hour) rises in body temperature of up to 1 degree Celsius, some groups of people are less heat tolerant than others. These include those with compromised thermoregulatory ability, cardiac and circulatory problems, a fever, or those taking certain drugs. Infants, pregnant women and old people may be similarly compromised. Thus such people should not be subject to even small heat loads from RF sources.

• Mobile telephones and many other electronic devices in common use can cause

electromagnetic interference in other electrical equipment. Therefore, caution should be exercised when using mobile telephones around sensitive electro medical equipment used in hospital intensive care units.

Mobile telephones can cause interference in certain medical devices, such as cardiac pacemakers and hearing aids. In fact, recent reports have linked malfunctions in incubators, respirators, chair emissions from portable radio devices. Hand phone signals can also interfere with the electronic circuitry of cars, triggering off sparks which can ignite petrol vapor and cause an explosion. Given the body of scientific work and studies worldwide on the problems of EMF exposure, and the concerns of various governments worldwide as to the hazards of EMF, the government should seriously consider the adverse impact of EMF on public health and safety and take measures to control EMF exposure within the population and in the living environment. Until the international scientific community achieves a complete and definitive picture of health risks, especially cancer risks from exposure to low levels of RF fields, immediate measures must be taken to protect the health and safety of Malaysians.

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Radio Waves Pose Invisible Danger

By Arthur Firstenberg, the founder of Cellular Phone Taskforce, USA and editor of ‘No Place to Hide’, the CPT newsletter World health authorities have been puzzled by recent sharp increases in asthma, sleep disorders, hypertension, tinnitus and memory loss. Influenza and flu-like illnesses also have become more severe and more frequent. In the US, this sharp increase began in November 1996, the same time that digital cell phone service first became available in many cities. In the last 4 years, radio frequency (RF) and microwave radiation levels have increased 10-fold around the world (and up to 100,000-fold in some large cities). “Our family, neighbors and children are plagued with headaches, eye discomfort, facial redness, ringing or high-pitch sounds, fatigue, dizziness, sleep disturbances, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, nausea, pain in the joints and muscles, difficulty in concentrating, memory difficulties, immune system abnormalities, asthma, allergies…” The authors of the preceding letter live in Duanesberg, New York, but similar complaints are coming from communities all over the world. The culprit in each case: a cellular communications tower. On 7 June last year, scientists from the US, China, Russia and other countries convened the International Conference on Cell Tower Sitting in Salzburg, Austria to discuss their growing concerns about the impact of wireless technology on human health. On 29 June 2000, Belgian Member of Parliament Paul Lannoye called a conference in the European Parliament to discuss the dangers linked to mobile phones and antennas. Experts from France, Belgium, Switzerland, England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand participated. The growing global concern is reflected by tougher exposure standards in other parts of the world. In Salzburg, the permissible public exposure for pulsed radio frequency (RF) radiation is 10,000 times lower than in the US

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Turning up the radiation Meanwhile, the US telecommunications industry continues to deny that there is cause for concern. In the 29th May issue of ‘Time’ magazine, industry representatives eagerly promoted the idea that “in the future, virtually all inanimate objects – from front doors to light bulbs – will have a wireless Internet hookup”. The industry’s success in reassuring the public is aided by the popularity of wireless technology, and the fact that the current economic boom is fuelled in large part by the growth in telecom. In addition, it is difficult to link the environmental effects of radiation exposure with the use of a particular product. In his pioneering 1985 book, ‘The Body Electric’, Dr Robert O. Becker warned about the growing health dangers of exposure to electromagnetic pollution. Becker recently declared that he now believes electromagnetic radiation has become “a bigger threat to the planet than global warming”.

Electromagnetic pollution Despite the reluctance of authorities to regulate electromagnetic pollution, a number of long-term epidemiological studies sponsored by universities and governments in Mexico, Latvia, Poland and Switzerland have documented health and environmental effects from exposure to short and long-wave radio, radar and wireless communication facilities. In 1954, the Swiss government began operating a short-wave transmitter in the village of Schwarzenburg to broadcast radio programs to Swiss listeners overseas. After years of citizens’ complaints, in the summer of 1992, it initiated a public health study of the surrounding population. The study found that insomnia, nervousness and restlessness, limb and joint pain, general weakness and tiredness, cough and sputum, and abnormal blood pressure were more prevalent within 1.5 kilometers (3,280 feet) of the transmitter. The effects on sleep were demonstrable up to approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). Over the 40 years of the transmitter’s operation, the promotion rate of children at a school a half mile form the transmitter was found to be lower than at a similar school located on the far side of a mountain from the transmitter. Because of these findings, the Schwarzenburg facility was shut down on 28 March 1998.

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US waffles, citizens sue Over the past 5 years, 95 million Americans have begun using cell phones on a daily basis. On 17 July 2000, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) responded to growing public concerns by announcing a new policy to disclose how much radiation is emitted by different brands of cell phones. According to the Associated Press, the industry’s action reflects growing fears about the “long-presumed safety of holding a wireless phone against the head for prolonged periods of time”. Since this is an industry initiative and not a federal regulation, the cell phone manufacturers have said that they will not disclose the radiation warnings on the outside of the boxes – only on the equipment inside. On 11 May 2000, Britain’s Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones issued a report that strongly recommended that mobile phones not be used by children and proposed a ban on marketing cell phones to kids. The group called for an independent panel to conduct “substantial” research into cell phone safety and asked the government to send leaflets to every UK household to warn of the health impacts of cell phone use. Finally, the study demanded that radiation warnings should be made “readily accessible to consumers” by placing the exposure numbers “on the box”. In June 2000, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it would begin epidemiological and genotoxicity studies of cell phone radiation – funded by the CTIA. But not everyone agrees that more studies are needed before the public should be protected. Fiorenzo Marinelli of the Institute of Cytomorphology in Bologna, Italy, spoke for many at the Salzburg meeting when he said that evidence of biological effects of RF radiation is so convincing that much stricter exposure limits should already be in place. In 1997, the Cellular Phone Taskforce (CPT), a citizens watchdog group, led a legal challenge alleging that the Federal Communications Commission promulgated RF-exposure standards that were not based on current science and failed to protect the public health and the environment. The CPT also challenged the constitutionality of sections of the 1996 Telecommunications Act that mandated universal wireless services and banned states and local governments from regulating such facilities based on the environmental effects.