W.E.E.P. News
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
9 November 2010
Dr. Devra Davis is giving a public lecture in Peterborough, ON, on Tuesday November 23, 2010 entitled:
The Secret History of the WAR on Cancer
The real truth on why cancer has advanced in our society
Dr. Devra Davis
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 7:30 p.m.
Showplace Performance Centre
290 George St. North, Peterborough
This is a free, ticketed event, open to the public. School groups welcome.
To order tickets, please reserve online at
Seating in the theatre is on a first-come, first-served basis. Book signing, book sale and refreshments following lecture. For further information, please call 748-1011 x 6025
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Coast to Coast A.M. Radio Show
Author and health pioneer Ann Louise Gittleman will discuss the latest scientific data and case studies that show how EMF pollution has reached the point of toxicity, causing fatigue, irritability, weakness, and even illness, and how we can protect ourselves from the danger.
Her website is at
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Joshua Hart, Stop Smart Meters! (831) 440 9814
November 8th 2010 joshuanoahhart@gmail.com
DIRECTOR OF PG&E'S SMART METER PROGRAM CAUGHT FALSIFYING HIS IDENTITY
William Devereaux Infiltrated Health Advocacy Group in Order to Gather Intelligence
San Francisco- William Devereaux, Senior Director of Pacific Gas and Electric's 'Smart' Meter program has been caught falsifying his identity in a covert attempt to access information from a group of citizens opposing the new meters. The group has been identifying and collecting evidence of widespread health problems, meter inaccuracies, electrical interference and customer information privacy problems caused by PG&E's wireless 'Smart' Meters.
Devereaux, who has testified to numerous local governments throughout California and made claims about the meters' safety and accuracy, has been using a fake name on other activist listservs for months. This may explain how PG&E contractors Wellington Energy knew to evacuate their installation yard in Rohnert Park before a protest planned by neighborhood groups on October 28th. But on Thursday, November 4, Devereaux pushed his luck and was caught lying about his own identity and hiding his position with PG&E. Apparently assuming that his name would be hidden, Devereaux signed his e-mail to Sandi Maurer, moderator of the EMF Safety Coalition, "Ralph." However, his e-mail program revealed the sender's true identity:
On Nov 4, 2010, at 3:23 PM, William Devereaux <manasota99@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Sandi,
> Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I've been travelling a lot. I live in Oakland where Smart >meters have been sweeping across town and wanted to learn more about them and join the conversation to >see what I can do to help out here.
> Thanks,
> Ralph
"This is not a single indiscretion, but rather typical of the false information that PG&E has publicized, fabricating advantages for customers." said Ellen Marks of the Environmental Health Trust. "Contrary to PG&E claims, we will face significantly increased utility bills, collection of private data revealing information about events occurring inside our home, and exposure to powerful spikes of microwave radiation 24 hours a day through our brains and bodies."
The deception by one of PG&E's top officials is only the latest in a series of unethical tactics used to force 'Smart' Meters on an increasingly skeptical public. PG&E has been ripping off 'do not install signs' on meters, and threatening to cut off the gas and electricity supply to elderly residents of Santa Rosa- even as winter approaches- unless they accept a 'Smart' Meter. The company has also censored public comments on its Facebook page, deleting references to peer-reviewed scientific studies showing health damage from RadioFrequency (RF) radiation at levels far below those from the 'Smart' Meter.
PG&E's meter program represents the largest system technology roll out in the history of California, yet they have not even done a basic Environmental Impact Report, which could have caught the massive violations of health, privacy invasion and increased costs to customers. The meters have been plagued with problems since the beginning, starting with widespread reports of inflated bills, privacy violations, electrical interference and reports of health issues from residents who have received the new meters. 'Smart' Meters use microwave radiation (similar to a cell phone) to transmit customer data back to the utility, and are being installed just as the public learns of evidence that brain tumors and other health damage can be traced to similar wireless devices. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) which sanctioned PG&E's $2.2 billion program to install 10 million new meters throughout California at the expense of ratepayers, has not allowed individuals to opt out even in cases of severe health impacts.
Nearly two dozen local governments* have called for a moratorium. The State's Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) last month also demanded public hearings be held to study potential health risks resulting from exposure to radiation from the meters.
According to Joshua Hart of Stop Smart Meters!, "This fraud and covert espionage against the people of California, carried out by the Director of the 'Smart' Meter Program in California, should immediately force a moratorium on 'Smart' Meter installation and open up a full independent State Legislative investigation of the entire PG&E 'Smart' Meter Program."
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* California local governments demanding a moratorium include: the City and County of San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Marin Counties, Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, the cities of Sebastopol, Berkeley, Cotati, Fairfax, Santa Cruz, Piedmont, Scotts Valley, Capitola, Watsonville, Sausalito, San Anselmo, Belvedere, Monte Sereno, Novato, Richmond, Ross, Bolinas, and Camp Meeker
Stop Smart Meters!
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Smart Meters - They're Smart, But Are They Safe?
November 8, 2010
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/16846-1
SAN FRANCISCO - PG&E's Smart Meters may be smart, but some Californians say they're making them sick. Nearly two dozen communities have placed moratoriums on the wireless utility meters, and more than 2,000 health-related complaints have been received by the California Public Utilities Commission.
Elizabeth Kelley, founder of the Electromagnetic Safety Alliance, says the wireless meters are invasive and involuntary, so people should be able to opt-out of the program.
"Because we don't know yet what the health risks are from these low-powered frequencies that are eventually going to be traveling through our home night and day emitting pulse radio frequency radiation, this is causing considerable concern."
Kelley says especially for people who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS).
PG&E contends its meters comply with federal safety standards and are well within what you would find with normal household appliances.
Kelley says more research should have been done before the devices were put in people's homes.
"There are no specific studies on Smart Meters, but there are comparable studies on very low power non-ionizing radiation exposure conditions, namely cellular antennas, which show there can be harm under certain exposure conditions."
Olle Johansson is a professor in the department of neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He's collaborating with leading international scientists on a proposal recommending global governments adopt new, more stringent, exposure guidelines for wireless technologies.
"We have looked upon the current literature in the science field and it's obvious that the current guidelines for public exposure are definitely obsolete and need to be replaced by biologically based guidelines, taking into account various forms of health effects."
In July, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to require warning labels on cell phones and education on risks at the point of sale.
A program on wireless hazards Wednesday at the San Francisco Library will feature leading activists addressing concerns about Smart Meters, cell phones and cell towers, followed by a screening of the documentary, "Full Signal."
A Nov. 18 program at the Commonwealth Club will include leading international scientists addressing health issues related to a variety of wireless technologies.
More information is available at
http://electromagnetichealth.org.
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The biological effects of low frequency electric and magnetic fields
November 8, 2010.
Most of the documents in Zory's Archive are concerned with the biological effects of radio frequency radiation. This week we have one that focuses on the biological effects of low frequency electric and magnetic fields.
Nair, I, MG Morgan, and HK Florig. 1989. Biological Effects of Power Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields, Background paper as part of OTA's assessment of Electric Power Wheeling and Dealing:
Technological Considerations for Increasing Competition, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, Congress of the United States, Office of Technology Assessment, 110 pp.
Introduction and Overview
Electric and magnetic fields produced by electric power systems have recently been added to the list of environmental agents that are a potential threat to public health.
This paper describes peoples' exposures to fields from power systems and other sources (Section 2), reviews existing scientific evidence on the biological effects of these fields (Sections 3 through 7), presents a history of research support and of regulatory activity (Sections 8 and 9 ), and discusses problems and alternatives in regulatory action (Section 10).
For more information, visit:
http://www.magdahavas.com/2010/11/08/pick-of-the-week-17-power-frequency-electromagnetic-fields/
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Laptop use on laps might reduce sperm quality: report
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A70G720101108
Sun, Nov 7 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Using a laptop computer as the name suggests may not be good for male reproductive health, according to a study.
And there is little that can be done about it, aside from using the laptop on a desk, said Yelim Sheynkin, a urologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook who led the study published in Fertility and Sterility.
In the study, thermometers were used to measure the temperature of the scrotums of 29 young men balancing a laptop on their knees. Even with a lap pad under the computer, the men's scrotums overheated quickly.
"Millions and millions of men are using laptops now, especially those in the reproductive age range," said Sheynkin.
"Within 10 or 15 minutes their scrotal temperature is already above what we consider safe, but they don't feel it."
According to the American Urological Association, nearly one in six couples in the United States have trouble conceiving. About half the time this is due to male infertility.
Under normal circumstances, the position of the testicles outside the body keeps them a few degrees cooler than the inside of the body, which is necessary for sperm production.
No studies have yet researched how laptops affect male fertility and there is no strong evidence that it would, Sheynkin added. But earlier research has showed that warming the scrotum even more than one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) is enough to damage sperm.
Though both general health and lifestyle factors such as nutrition and drug use can affect reproductive health, tight jeans and briefs are generally not considered a risk factor since people are moving around.
Holding a laptop on the knees, though, requires keeping the legs still and closed. After one hour in this position, the researchers found that the men's testicle temperature had risen by up to 2.5 C.
A lap pad kept the computer cool and meant that less heat was transmitted to the skin, but Sheynkin warned it didn't do much to cool the testicles and might give a false sense of security.
"I wouldn't say that if someone starts to use laptops they will become infertile," Sheynkin told Reuters Health, though he warned that frequent use might contribute to reproductive problems because "the scrotum doesn't have time to cool down."
When the men sat with their legs spread wide -- made possible only by placing the computer on a large lap pad -- they could keep their testicles cooler. But it still took less than 30 minutes before they began overheating.
"No matter what you do, even with the legs spread wide apart, the temperature is still going to be higher than what we call safe," said Sheynkin.
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