Wednesday, May 26, 2010

My Life 6 Feet Under Cell Towers

W.E.E.P. News

Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News 

27 May 2010

My Life 6 Feet Under Cell Towers

By Veronica Ciandre

If you told me three months ago not to hold a cell phone to my head or body, and that if I did, to at least have the battery pack facing outwards, I would have listened but it wouldn't have changed my mind.

If you told me to exchange my cordless phones for good old-fashioned corded phones, I would have listened, but it wouldn't have changed my mind, I liked my cordless phones.

If you told me three months ago to use an Ethernet cable with my laptop and keep Airport mode turned off, or to move the WiFi antennae from my bedroom and to turn it off at night or when not in use, or to get rid of all WiFi all together, I would have listened, and then wondered; why would I want to do all of that?"

If you told me three months ago that baby monitors should not be placed near babies or to ask my 14yr. old daughter to text more than talk, and not sleep with her phone or computer on the pillow beside her, I would have listened but still it might not have changed a thing.

If you told me three months ago that the microwave radiation emitted by cell phones, cordless phones, WiFi antennas, cell towers and masts, WLAN and other wireless technology was an invisible culprit causing thousands of people to experience all manner of symptoms from insomnia to high blood pressure, and should be avoided completely or at least whenever possible, I would have listened, but still I might not have changed a thing. After all, the government continues to approve these things, and the mass media tells us these devices are safe.

But before three months ago I hadn't spent more than a month living 6 feet under as well as in front of cell towers that were placed on my balcony roof. Before three months ago I was healthy, vital and slept like a baby. I didn't wake up with numb hands and feet, my body feeling prickly all night and tingling or vibrating almost all day. I didn't spend night after night in a hyper active state, as though electricity was running through me.

Before three months ago I lived in a beautiful home that I loved, it was my sanctuary. I didn't have a hissing or buzzing or high-pitched ring in my ear, known as tinnitus or microwave hearing, mostly when in that home. I didn't get tension headaches ever, or feel like there is an invisible band around my head creating pressure, mostly when in that home. I didn't feel bouts of nausea on a regular basis, sometimes accompanied by a metallic taste in my mouth, and I didn't get dizzy spells.

I wasn't afraid I might have a heart attack as I slept on a makeshift floor mattress in my living room and felt my heart race all night while my body from top to toe became increasingly numb and tingly. I wasn't without focus and direction and unable to concentrate. I'd never gotten shocks touching my bed mattress, home light switches, pots on my stove, and with every stroke of my cats.

Before three months ago my daughter didn't have more than one unexplainable rash that hurt 'in' the skin as she described it, she didn't have headaches or feel nauseous and dizzy in our home, or experience the blood in her hand going cold. She never had sleepless nights.

Before three months ago I hadn't abandoned my home at the advice of someone who could have sold me thousands of dollars worth of products and equipment by convincing me they would alleviate this situation. Instead I was told, "you have to get out of there, if you care about you and your daughters health you're going to have to move".

I had never couch surfed with my 14yr old in tow while tying to maintain some semblance of a normal life or schedule for her.  Before three months ago I hadn't researched everything I could find to educate myself about the real dangers of exposure to microwave radiation, or electromagnetic frequencies. I wasn't fully aware of cell towers and this invisible Wireless web that continues to be woven above all of our heads.

I couldn't tell the difference between a Bell cell tower, a Rogers cell tower, a Globealive or Wind cell tower or a Telus cell tower. I'd never heard of Industry Canada or Spectrum, Canada Safety Code 6, or the Bioinitiative report.

I hadn't spoken to Health Canada, Industry Canada, Canadian Environmental Legal Association, Environmental Health Clinic, Environmental Health Association, The Environmental Protection Office, The Toronto Environmental Alliance, Public Health office, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, my City Councillors office, trying to find some-any answers as to how safe it is to live in such close proximity to a cell tower. So far none of them have told me it's not safe, but thankfully I have better judgement, a body that is telling me the truth, and Liala, Kevin and Magda to confirm what I already knew.

Before three months ago I hadn't spent 15 days getting 2 hours sleep a night because my body was still vibrating all the time, and the rest of the night in tears while feeling like I was losing my mind from sleep deprivation combined with the physical stress of feeling fight or flight 24 hours a day.

I didn't have a clear and unpleasant physical reactions to my cell phone, the usage of cell phones by people in close proximity to me, the touch of my computer keyboard, or the experience of sitting close to the monitor for too long. I didn't feel my legs tingling-and going cold and slightly numb if I spent too much time in the same room as a WiFi station. I didn't feel nauseous and have sharp pains go through my hand and up my arm if I held a cordless phone or a cell phone while in use. I didn't feel nauseous if I sat for too long or too close to a television. I do for now.

Before three months ago I couldn't tell you when I was standing within two to four blocks of a cell tower installation. I never thought twice about leaning on walls or in close proximity to the electrical wiring in a building, or lying on the floor above a basement for the same reasons. I never had to consider the effects of my neighbours WiFi antennas and cordless phone base station broadcasting through any wall that stood between us.

Before three months ago I hadn't heard the words Electro Sensitive or Electro Hypersensitive. I hadn't spent hours and hours on the phone trying to find a good doctor, preferably one who knew what a cell tower was and the possible effects of living 6 feet under or in front of one, only to find that it is nearly impossible to find any doctor at all taking new patients. Unfortunately for me, the ones that were, who offered the kinds of analysis or treatment I needed, cost an arm and or a leg or a plane ticket which I didn't have to spare at that time.

Before three months ago I hadn't slept in six locations over a period of nine days in the middle of a three week period, while trying to find a place where I could get a good nights sleep because even after friends and family pulled the plug on the WiFi, cordless phones, and everything but the fridge, my body was reacting to the wireless technology from the neighbours, emitting through the walls to where I slept.

Before three months ago I hadn't heard of EMF Solutions, Earthcalm, Magda Havas, Jim Vella,  WEEP Initiative, the Electro-sensitive Society, a Qlink, a gauss meter or an Electro smog meter. I hadn't read stories from hundreds of people around the world whose lives have been profoundly impacted by something we can't see or hear (for the most part) but can most definitely feel… by microwave radiation, and electromagnetic frequencies emitting at levels not meant for human consumption, by something we are led to believe is harmless and benefits us in more ways than it bombards us, in favour of convenience and especially someone's bottom line, over our continued health and longevity.

Three months ago my life got turned upside down by exposure to microwave radiation while living 6 feet under and in front of 10 cell phone antennas. I am now preparing to move to a home yet to be found, and challenged by the fact that I have to consider my recently acquired sensitivities more than the location, size, and cost.

There is no doubt in my mind or my body as to when and where this all began. There is no doubt in me at all, that human beings are affected on a biological level by exposure to microwave radiation well below the levels considered safe by Health Canada's Safety Code 6. Hopefully, over time it can be reversed.

A lot can happen in three months, and like anyone else, I don't like being blindsided.

I share this with you not because I expect you to listen, but because I do want you to pay attention. Pay attention to the choices that are yours to make, and especially to the ones that are made for you. Because even if I had listened to every piece of advice in terms of precaution, I still would have had no choice about whether or not I wanted to live in a neighbourhood rife with cell towers... or should I say live and sleep 6 feet under and in front of 10 of them.

Pay attention now, before you have to pay dearly.

Sincerely

Veronica Ciandre.

 

Are cell phone antennas on apartment buildings safe?

Posted February 2010. In December 2009 an array of cell phone antennas was placed on an apartment building in downtown Toronto, much to the surprise of the residents who first became aware of this construction as the cranes moved in. Watch the video and listen to what one woman experienced.

See the video of Veronica at -

http://www.magdahavas.com/2010/02/17/are-cell-phone-antennas-on-apartment-buildings-safe/ 

 

Web site www.weepinitiative.org    e-mail contactweep@weepinitiative.org

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W.E.E.P. – The Canadian initiative to stop Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution

Continuing Controversy / San Francisco / Overexposed to radiation? / The precautionary principle /

W.E.E.P. News

Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News 

26 May 2010

 
Dear All,
 
The proceedings for
'Electromagnetic Phenomena and Health – A Continuing Controversy?',
10 September 2008, The Institute of Physics, London, UK, are now
available at: http://iopscience.iop.org/1755-1315/10/1
 
For my own chapter, please, go to:
http://iopscience.iop.org/1755-1315/10/1/012005/pdf/1755-1315_10_1_012005.pdf

Best regards
Yours
Olle

(Olle Johansson, assoc. prof.
The Experimental Dermatology Unit
Department of Neuroscience
Karolinska Institute
171 77 Stockholm
Sweden

&

Professor
The Royal Institute of Technology
100 44 Stockholm
Sweden)
 
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San Francisco
 
Mayor Gavin Newsom's proposed legislation requiring cell phone retailers
in San Francisco to disclose Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) values for
radiation emitted by the cell phones they sell passed out of the City
Operations & Neighborhood Services Committee after a hearing today.
Supervisors Carmen Chu and John Avalos voted to send it to the full Board
with a recommendation in favor of its passage, while Supervisor Sean
Elsbernd voted no.

There was significant opposition to the legislation from the San Francisco
small business community and the San Francisco Small Business Commission
voted against taking legislative action in April.  The wireless industry's
most powerful lobbying organization, CTIA, was also on hand to speak
against the legislation.

However, Supervisor Chu, who was the swing vote on this particular
Committee, ultimately voted in favor after her concerns about the costs
involved and the burdens on small businesses were addressed to her
satisfaction.

To read the legislation in its current form, which calls for a gradual
roll-out commencing later this year, go to the following link:

http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/committees/materials/cons052410_100104.pdf
 
 
 
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Are we being overexposed to radiation?

Posted by Sarah Harlan - email

http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=12535860

(NBC) - When you hear the word radiation, you may think about a bomb or a way to make energy. Truth is, we're exposed to radiation almost every day without even realizing it, but are we being overexposed?

Just the word radiation alone can conjure up fears, hysteria, concern and all sorts of conspiracy theories.

We've seen the power of radiation after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986 or the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, incidents that have been linked to causing widespread cancer in those areas, but the fear and hysteria about radiation only gets ramped up when the focus points to the one thing today many would say they can't live without: their cell phones.

"That is a totally different type of radiation, it's at a totally different end of the spectrum and they really don't need to be talked about in the same breath but they do share the word radiation," Radiologist Dr. Leon Bell said.

So let's break down the science.

There are two different types of radiation. Ionizing radiation and non-ionizing. Dr. Bell said things like cell phones and microwaves use non-ionizing radiation, emitting a low-frequency of electromagnetic waves. Ionizing radiation can come from medical radiation like X-rays and CT-scans which can cause changes to cells in the body and can also increase the risk of cancer. Doctor Bell said the low-frequency waves coming from cell phones simply cannot cause molecular changes in the body leading to cancer. Cancer and medical radiation have stronger ties.

According to the National Council on Radiation Protection, Americans are exposed to seven times more medical radiation today than 20 years ago. Advancements in the medical field with digital imaging products like X-rays and CT-scans may have something to do with it.

"In many cases, the more radiation we give, the more information we can get," Dr. Bell said. "It's constant sliding scale to balance between the need to know and the need to avoid radiation."

But when does the need to know go too far? Last year, Becky Coudert was one of dozens of patients who were notified by an Alabama hospital about receiving "elevated levels" of radiation after getting a CT brain scan.

Coudert said in the weeks following her CT scan, she began losing her hair, having headaches, and memory loss.

"Eventually, I was told, 'you got a little bit too much'," Coudert said.

Her hair grew back but she still wonders what's going on inside her body.

"We are not informed," Coudert said. "None of us know that we are getting so much, when we have a cat scan how dangerous it is."

Just to be clear, Coudert is not a patient of Doctor Bell nor does he speak for that Alabama hospital but he does offer some insight on medical challenges when it comes to the use of radiation.

"We work under an assumption that there is no absolutely safe level because no one knows where the threshold is between harmless amount of radiation and the extreme end, the amount of radiation people got at Chernobyl or Hiroshima or Nagasaki," Dr. Bell said.

The FDA is now investigating the events at that hospital and other instances across the nation of radiation overexposure to patients.

The FDA is already using its regulatory power to push medical imaging companies to install more safety features on their products, and maybe then, a prescribed dose of radiation will be the right dose every time.

Medical procedures like CT scans and radiation therapy used for cancer patients present both benefits and risks, but many won't deny the use of radiation in medicine has changed healthcare as we know it.

 

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The precautionary principle and risk perception: experimental studies in the EMF area

Environmental Health Perspectives, April, 2005 by Peter M. Wiedemann, Holger Schutz

 
 
Carl

Web site www.weepinitiative.org    e-mail contactweep@weepinitiative.org

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W.E.E.P. – The Canadian initiative to stop Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution