W.E.E.P. News
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
17June 2010
SF cell phone legislation
Here's KTVU-TV Channel 2's story on the SF cell phone legislation, which is probably the strongest coverage thus far:
Elizabeth Kelley
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Will the Government Save us from another Industrial Disaster?
June 16, 2010 @ YouthKiAwaaz
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/06/will-the-government-save-us-from-another-industrial-disaster/
Submitted by David
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RADIATION EDUCATION
This website is absolutely fantastic - by kids for kids.
By the way, these are South Surrey/White Rock kids - way to go!
http://www.radiationeducation.com/
Pass it on!
Una St.Clair-Moniz
Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Technology Society
www.citizensforsafetechnology.org
also from this site
http://radiationeducation.s3.amazonaws.com/non-consent-form.pdf
This is awsome
recommended to distribute widely, indeed an excellent initiative.
Iris
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Cell Phones Pose Tumor Risk, Report Says
By Carmen Nobel 06/15/10
SEOUL (TheStreet) -- The world will face "one hell of a brain-tumor pandemic" if cell phones are used at the current rate, according to Lloyd Morgan, a U.S. researcher and activist who presented his findings this week at the annual Bioelectromagnetics Society in Seoul.
In a new report, Morgan parses and disputes the findings of Interphone , a 10-year study sponsored by the World Health Organization.
While Interphone didn't find an increased risk of tumors among cell-phone users, scientists acknowledged that the study commenced during a time when Apple(AAPL) iPhones and Research in Motion(RIMM) BlackBerrys weren't glued to uders' heads several hours a day.
Morgan's report, Re-evaluation of the Interphone Study: Applications of a Correction Factor, argues that every year of excessive cell-phone use increases the risk of meningimas -- brain membrane tumors -- by as much as 26%.
"What we have discovered indicates there is going to be one hell of a brain-tumor pandemic unless people are warned and encouraged to change current cell-phone use behaviors," Morgan said in a statement. "Governments should not soft-pedal this critical public-health issue but instead rapidly educate citizens on the risks."
A longtime critic of Interphone, Morgan was also lead author of a study last summer called Cell Phones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, in which he notes that many cell-phone user manuals actually warn against too much contact. For instance, the user guide for Research in Motion's BlackBerry 8300 says: "If you do not use a body-worn accessory supplied or approved by RIM when you carry the BlackBerry device, keep the device at least 0.98 inch (25 millimeters) from your body when the BlackBerry device is turned on and connected to a wireless network. When using any data feature of the BlackBerry device, with or without a USB cable, keep the device at least 0.98 inches from your body."
And from the Apple iPhone guide: "For body-worn operation, iPhone's SAR measurement may exceed the FCC exposure guidelines if positioned less than 15 millimeters (0.63 inch) from the body." The company recommends that when people talk on the iPhone, they hold it "with the 30-pin connector pointed down toward your shoulder to increase separation from the antenna."
Also
Campaigners Reporting that Brain Tumor Pandemic a Possibility with Mobile Phone Users
New research is pointing to a "brain tumour pandemic" caused by heavy mobile phone use according to a new study that suggests that the world's four billion phone users should keep handsets way from their heads and bodies to lower the ...
Mobile phone users 'five times more likely to develop a brain tumour'
By Fiona Macrae
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1286665/Mobile-phone-users-times-likely-develop-brain-tumour.html#ixzz0r0dNcFqk
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Letter to MPs
I just sent this email to every MP, in an attempt to find a topic which would raise their curiosity and, hopefully, some concern that we share. I'll let you know if I receive any responses.
Sharon
Members of Parliament
Dear Sir or Madam,
Most of you, I am sure, have received pleas from your constituents asking for help preventing a radio or cellphone transmitter from being placed near their homes or schools. If you haven't you will one day soon, because the telecommunication industry is expanding rapidly and this requires more and stronger transmitters to be installed across the country.
Do you know that Industry Canada allows transmitters to be put anywhere, near or on schools, homes and hospitals, usually with no consultation or notification? Why? To make it easier for the corporations.
Do you know that transmitters often are not visible, being put in church steeples, on powerlines, in trees -- hidden so people won't see them? Why? Industry Canada says this is because people don't like the looks of them, but really it is to make it easier for the corporations. People won't complain about them if they don't know they are there.
Do you know that even though Industry Canada has policies only, NOT LAWS, they behave as if they were law, bullying municipalities and the public? No complaints regarding health concerns or reduced property values are allowed. Why? That makes it easier for the corporations.
You need to know these things and to know that Industry Canada's policies are endangering the health of Canadians. You have the authority to confront Industry Canada, to force this department to conduct business in a manner which, although perhaps more costly for the corporations, will protect the health and well-being of your constituents.
You do know that we should not have to live in fear for our lives and the health of our children so that corporations can profit. We cannot afford it. Now you know what your constituents are facing and you understand better their pleas.
We know that it is your sworn duty to help us, and we look to you to do so, now.
Respectfully,
Sharon Noble
Chair, Citizens Against UnSafe Emissions (CAUSE)
Victoria, British Columbia
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Keep cell towers away from schools, say SD43 trustees
By Diane Strandberg - The Tri-City News
Published: June 16, 2010 3:00 PM
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/96513639.html
School District 43 will oppose construction of cellphone towers close to schools following a decision Tuesday night that puts the board on a collision course with telecommunications giant Rogers and its proposal to build a 164-foot tower within 360 feet of Coquitlam River elementary school.
Trustees agreed to oppose any proposed cellular tower or antenna within 1,000 feet of a local school after PoCo trustee John Keryluk raised concerns about possible safety issues. Keryluk said trustees should follow take precautionary measures because not enough information is known about effects of long-term exposure to low level radio frequency.
"For too long, the absence of evidence was taken as the absence of harm," Keryluk said.
But an FAQ page on the city of PoCo's website said radio frequency exposure from the tower will be well within Health Canada safety guidelines.
The city hasn't received a formal submission from Rogers but would earn $25,000 a year in revenue, plus $3,000 for each sublease, if Rogers succeeds in its bid to build a cell tower in an undeveloped portion of the Port Coquitlam cemetery.
The board of education's decision to adopt a 305 m limit on cell phone towers near schools was lifted from a Vancouver School Board policy and a few trustees objected to the idea, saying SD43 should do its own research.
Board chair and Port Moody trustee Melissa Hyndes said the district should have its own policy and do its own due diligence before opposing cell phone towers. Port Coquitlam's Judy Shirra said trustees shouldn't be meddling in issues outside their mandate.
"The principle here is we're opening a Pandora's box," said Shirra, who said Keryluk's motion amounted to "fear-mongering."
Trustees stopped short of opposing Rogers' proposed Port Coquitlam cell tower outright but agreed with Port Moody trustee Keith Watkins that it was okay to oppose in principle any telecommunication towers that could pose a safety risk.
The decision followed a presentation by Dave Werthman, who said PoCo residents would get minimal benefit from the tower but could be at risk from low-level radio frequency exposure. Werthman also raised concerns about erecting a tower close to the cemetery where national and hometown hero Terry Fox is buried.
"It's simply wrong to use a cemetery for this purpose. It's disrespectful," Werthman said, calling the cellphone tower an "eyesore."
According to the city's website, the proposed location for the tower is outside the cemetery, on a plot of land undeveloped land slated for future development of the cemetery. Money from leasing the land would be used for the cemetery's future development and the lease would be for 20 years.
But before the city would agree to any tower, it would first require proof it would meet federal safety standards and a public consultation process would have to take place as, as required by Industry Canada.
There are differing views on the safety of cell phone towers and low-level radio frequency exposure, and the city has a number of links on its website. But the city maintains in its FAQ that the proposed base station would emit less electromagnetic frequency than a mobile phone.
• For more information, visit www.portcoquitlam.ca and click on "telecommunications tower."
Submitted by Robert
Web site www.weepinitiative.org e-mail contactweep@weepinitiative.org
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