Thursday, February 12, 2009

Tragic Loss of Human Rights

Tragic Loss of Human Rights in America

There is a growing group of people who may be having their human rights stripped from them right here in America. These electro-sensitive people are experiencing profound health impacts from microwaves (MW) and radio-frequency (RF) fields, created by the unprecedented growth of wireless communications technologies everywhere. And now, there is nowhere in the US free from these radio waves. Yet the federal government continues to sell more RF-spectrum and has refused to formerly recognize human health sensitivity from electromagnetic fields (EMF).

Just like to the proverbial canary in the coal mine, whose sudden death served to warn miners of deadly gases underground, scores of electro-sensitive human canaries are now experiencing profound health effects from invisible radio waves from cell phones, wireless computers, WiFi, GPS, leaky microwave ovens, game consoles, radar and satellites. Are they warning the rest of us? Electro-sensitive (ES) people are reporting rashes, memory loss, unexplained headaches and head pain, muscular-skeletal disorders, sleep disturbances, cognitive diminution, loss of libido, burning of the skin and host of other symptoms that correlate with exposures to wireless technologies.

It should come as no surprise that we may be finally reaching a tipping point in our health, arising from the mass adoption of wireless technologies. Since the mid-1970's, more than 600 largely-ignored studies on the bio-effects of radio-frequency (RF) fields have shown health impacts from the biological interaction with radio-waves, even at low-levels. The recent explosion of wireless technologies, which has created radio-frequency fields that are now 100-150 times as intense as they were as in 2000, has also created a burgeoning electrosmog over our cities, suburbs and countryside. The FCC claims that in a typical US suburb there are now more than 1200 fixed radio-frequency signals within a mile of us at any given time. This does not account for the signals coming from hundreds of cell phones, or mobile devices nearby, which are transmitting every eight seconds, even while they are on standby.

The problem is that no one can see these waves and most cannot feel them and thus the US federal government, industry and others deny that this health problem exists. However, a growing body of science shows that between 1-3% of the population is becoming sensitive to radio-waves and electro-magnetic fields (EMF). The State of California performed a health survey, which pegged nearly one million (3%) in their state as electro-sensitive and as many as 125,000 disabled from electromagnetic fields (1/3 of one percent). In Sweden, an early adopting nation of wireless technologies, between 230,000 and 290,000 (2.3 - 2.9%) people are reporting disabilities from Electro-Hypersensitivity (EHS), according to data provided by the City of Stockholm. In September 2006, the health ministry of Great Britain formerly recognized a health disability from sensitivity to electro-magnetic fields.

For those unfortunate technology canaries, the personal impact has been harsh. Some have learned to live with it, fortifying their homes against the waves, while suffering through the symptoms. Others have run for the hills. Reports show that thousands have fled to the high dessert or remote caverns in rural areas to get away from the wireless technologies.

I have personally met more than two dozen electro-sensitive people and what has struck me most is their level of education, professional credentials and their unanimous desire for anonymity. Four are PhD's., two attorneys, a pharmacist, a radio personality, a pre-medical student, seven executives, more than half graduated from tier-one universities.

Many with electromagnetic sensitivities have been misdiagnosed, and misunderstood. Others are being treated for psychological issues. Still others, who show the symptoms, have not yet made the connection between unexplained symptoms and the invisible radio waves. What's clearly suppressing the awareness of this issue is a profound reticence on the part of electro sensitive people to come forward and admit publicly to their society-imposed health condition.

Where Will They Go?

In the meantime, the question is: are these people being denied their basic constitutional rights? The biggest fear of these people: In 2009 TV will switch to digital and WiMax will begin to come online. What will happen to these EMF-sensitive people? Where will they go?