Two Quotations - Radiation Risks

“I have no doubt in my mind that at the present time, the greatest polluting element in the earth’s environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields. I consider that to be far greater on a global scale, than warming, and the increase in chemical elements in the environment.’’

- Dr Robert O. Becker – twice nominated for the Nobel Prize

"The notion that non-ionizing radiation is harmless – the assumption of innocence – is no longer tenable. Research findings suggest that radiofrequency exposures are potentially carcinogenic and have other health effects. Therefore, prudent avoidance of unneeded exposures is recommended as a precautionary measure."

- The Late John R. Goldsmith, M.D., M.P.H.

- - - - - - - -

I welcome you to take a look at following two German inititiatives:

Mobilfunk Ärzteappell Allgäu-Bodensee-Oberschwaben (2006)

Bamberger Ärzteappell (2004)

+ Check the radiation level versus symptoms table.

When will the doctors in Nordic countries wake up?

- - - - - - -

Update 30th April 2008: My personal experience is closer than I ever would like to witness. I wrote an opinion piece "Radiation risks under control" for the University of Tampere Aikalainen magazine. This opinion "Säteilyriskit hallinnassa?" is written in Finnish , but the additional base station / cell tower related information might interest some of you?!

Comments

[Jeff Ubois]

Fiction's not a bad source of truth on this one. The movie Thank You for Smoking concludes with a tobacco PR man moving over to work for cell phone companies. He advises them: "Gentlemen, practice these words in front of the mirror: Although we are constantly exploring the subject, currently there is no direct evidence that links cell phone usage to brain cancer."

Given the amount of money at stake, unbiased researchers are going to face an uphill battle getting their results heard about this issue. On the other hand, some easy remedies may do more harm than good: anti-cell phone reactionaries in Berkeley have fought successfully to limit the number of towers in my neighborhood, causing my cell phone to transmit more powerfully to reach towers far away.

[PhD Mikko Ahonen]

Thanks, Jeff, I loved that PR-man story ;-) Got to see the movie.

I understand that mobile phones need base stations in our society. I am not that luddite, yet :-\

B-u-t, I am against base stations close to schools and on top office and residential buildings. The problem is that antennas ’leak’, the radiation pattern close to the antenna is not directional, more like there are circular fluctuations. That is why in 2007 Taiwan and Israel removed and relocated thousands of antennas. We currently have here in the university a nasty case where some employees got ill because of such a roof-top basestation :-(

In your state, California, a base station can not be closer than 500 meters from a school or a kindergarten. In New Zealand and in the Canadian British Columbia there is a similar, wise law. Here in Europe we have base stations attached to school building and even in the school yard. My home town Tampere, is especially famous for these uncontrolled experiments with newest technology (http://www.tampere.fi/english/tampereinbrief/history/index.html).

Talking about a long distance to the base station: You are correct, Jeff: The more distance, the more mobile phone needs to power up. Sadetzki’s et al.’s salivary gland tumor related work is worth checking: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/kwm325v1

Just last year Finland’s Knowledgeable Ministers decided that in the countryside carriers are allowed to take away telephone cables, shut down (A)DSL-connections and ”provide” ”similar level” services through mobile base stations. This deal was a murky one since our government owns a large part of one of the carriers. So, people in the countryside will experience this power up phenomenon and symptoms in 10 years latency or earlier :- ( My question here is: Why is a 5 year old child forced to make a phone calls with a mobile phone in the (Finnish) countryside ? Who can ever make such a deal?

This is an energy and climate issue as well: According to Professor Erik Dahlqvist’s calculations Sweden’s 72.000 base stations consume electricity 5-7 TWh. In Finland we have at least similar amount of base stations. That 5-7 TWh is a yearly electricity production of nuclear plant! Even with power saving MUXes and antennas the energy consumption is / will be huge. With fiber optics the energy need would be minimal.

Sometimes I have a feeling that we are living a crazy and irresponsible world.