Search news: View news by countries View all news

«First  ‹Previous   Page 290 of 290

In Britain: Victims of cancer cluster take on phone companies over towers near schools
Australia	Created: 24 Apr 2007
Victims of cancer cluster take on phone companies over towers near school Residents are campaigning for kids, MARGARET Hines-Randle is fighting cancer, but she is not alone. Most of the people in her road are battling the same illness. At the most recent count, 30 of her immediate neighbours were either suffering with cancer or had already died from it. "We are all in a line, it is quite extraordinary,'' said the 64-year-old, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer eight years ago. "It is a very dramatic cluster of cancer. The people in the house behind us and the one at the side have it. Both the people in the first and second bungalows in the road had cancer and died. Now the person who moved in to one of them has breast cancer too.'' Just down the road at StEdward's Roman Catholic primary school, Pat Ward's pockets are full of paper tissues, but he doesn't have a cold. The deputy headmaster uses them to mop up the nosebleeds of his pupils: he finds that their noses haemorrhage with such frequency that tissues are a necessity. Next door at the Woodlands special school, no fewer than seven of the 30-strong staff have developed tumours in the past few years, including Ward's wife, who teaches there. Two have died. A nearby caretaker has been diagnosed with a prostate tumour at the age of 37. Even the lollipop lady who helped the children cross the road has died of cancer. The cause of all this illness in Coleshill is unclear. But many in the affluent Warwickshire town in central Britain believe much of it can be attributed to a mobile phone mast, also known as a tower, which looms large over its southern half. The schools, which are adjacent to the 27m structure, have stood in its shadow for nearly 15 years. It is already acknowledged that there is a link between electromagnetic radiation from overhead power cables and childhood leukemia -- something that was also disputed for many years. Campaigners estimate that at any one time in Britain today about a thousand active disputes are going on over phone towers. There are already 47,000 towers in position, but the phone companies are putting more up every day and fears over their safety are growing fast. There is no doubt among scientists that electromagnetic radiation of the type emitted by phone masts can cause cancer and genetic damage at high intensities. However, the scientific community is divided over what emission levels are safe. The industry in Britain is subject to guideline limits for emissions, which all its masts fall well within. But some scientists believe the limits have been set far too high. They point to other European cities, notably Salzburg in Austria, which has -- on scientific advice -- imposed radiation limits that are a fraction of the levels allowed in Britain. William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, authored a report in 2000 that found no conclusive evidence of health implications for adults, a view echoed by the World Health Organisation. However, in 2005 he issued a further report, Mobiles Phones and Health, in which he said young children should probably not be exposed to mobile phones. He has also said care should be taken that towers do not direct their strongest beams at schools. ``I can't believe that for three- to eight-year-olds they can be readily justified,'' he said. On phones in general, he added: ``Just because there are 50 million of them out there, doesn't mean they are absolutely safe.'' A BBC survey three years ago found one in 10 schools were overlooked by a phone tower. A survey in London found almost every school has a nearby mast. Two years ago -- prompted by reports of people developing cancer -- the parents of children attending StEdward's, together with the school authorities and a group of residents, began pushing for the mast to be removed. They organised surveys of health problems among the children, teachers and residents. More than half the children surveyed at StEdward's suffered headaches and more than a quarter reported regular nosebleeds and nausea. Among the staff at both schools almost all those asked felt fatigued and had sleep problems, with nearly half suffering dizzy spells and humming in their ears. A survey of 1300 nearby residents threw up a further surprise. In Castle Drive, and part of adjacent roads, 31 cases of cancer were found -- about one in every second person in the immediate area. ``When I saw the results I felt sick myself,'' said Pat Jones, another campaigning resident. ``There is big money in mobile phones and yet the operators don't seem to want to know what is happening to people.'' The raw data was passed to John Walker, a physicist and member of the Electromagnetic-Radiation Research Trust who has studied cancer clusters around other mobile phone masts elsewhere in the UK. ``The masts typically throw out microwaves in three directions, and where the beams hit the ground is where you will usually find the cluster of cancers or disease,'' he said. ``Coleshill has the largest single cluster I have yet seen, and this may be explained by the fact that Castle Drive is sited at the point where the beams from two masts converge, one of them at the school and another on the other side of the town. ``Residents and teachers are more likely to have health problems because they tend to be exposed to the microwaves for more years than pupils, who eventually leave the school.'' For a while, tensions ran very high among the community. Parent protests were organised, with one day ``strikes'' in which they kept their children out of school. For 12 months the campaign intensified. Letters declaring an intent to sue phone company O2 if the medical evidence became stronger in the future were sent to the company, while the diocese sent protest letters too. Mike O'Brien, the area's MP, was then asked by the campaigners to help. He approached the operators but deliberately fought shy of leading off with the residents' health concerns. ``I said to O2 that I wasn't going to put the case on medical grounds, which they don't accept are an issue, but on the fact that the school wanted the land on which the mast stands and the fact that it is an old mast and rather ugly and due for replacement,'' he said. His approach, backed up by the campaigners and their research, has resulted in O2 agreeing to tear down their mast. However, for Hines-Randle and her neighbours who have developed tumours, the fight goes on. ``I don't know whether my cancer was caused by the masts,'' she said. ``But it is worth someone looking further into it.''
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Sylvie: The Australian. By Daniel Foggo and Maurice Chittenden

Prof.Olle Johansson: "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrate "adverse health effects" from Wi-Fi.
New Zealand	Created: 24 Apr 2007
Professor Olle Johansson, of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, who is concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrate "adverse health effects" from Wi-Fi. Concern about Wi-Fi health danger spreads to NZ from British schools A British furore over wireless internet technology - Wi-Fi - use in schools is raising similar concerns here. Britain's top health-protection watchdog wants the network, which emits radiation, to be full investigated because of the concern for students' health. Wi-Fi - described by the British Department of Education and Skills as a "magical" system that means computers do not have to be connected to telephone lines - is being taken up rapidly in schools there, with estimates that more than half of primary schools - and four-fifths of secondary schools - have installed it. But some scientists have expressed fears it could cause cancer and premature senility. Internet safety watchdog NetSafe executive director Martin Cocker said last night that many primary and secondary schools here used Wi-Fi and the present thinking was that the technology was safe. "That's our understanding and that's the understanding of New Zealand schools. "Obviously, if that's not the case that's going to be pretty alarming. It would be of great concern to schools because they have really adopted the technology and many schools have extensive wireless networks." The cost of wireless transmitters was low. "Most laptops now come with the capability to receive wireless signals built in. It's a technology that is saturating the education and commercial markets." Mr Cocker did not have an exact number of schools using the technology but said most larger schools would have some sort of wireless capability. "If there's any indication that it has any negative effects then we would encourage a more thorough study. We will definitely be interested to know what happens in the UK. If it is damaging to children's health then it is alarming." Several European provincial governments have already taken action to ban, or limit, Wi-Fi use in the classroom. This week, the British Professional Association of Teachers is to demand an official Government inquiry. Virtually no studies have been done on Wi-Fi's effects on pupils, but it gives off radiation similar to emissions from mobile phones and phone masts. Recent research has linked radiation from mobiles to cancer and brain damage. And many studies have found disturbing symptoms in people near masts. Professor Olle Johansson, of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, who is concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrate "adverse health effects" from Wi-Fi. "Do we not know enough already to say, 'stop'?" For the past 16 months, the provincial government of Salzburg in Austria has been advising schools not to install Wi-Fi, and is considering a ban.
Click here to view the source article.

Americans: Action Alert on human health effects of Radiofrequency (RF) radiation.
USA	Created: 24 Apr 2007
Your time and effort is needed NOW to invite the staff members of your U.S. Senators and Congressman to a public policy education briefing on the inadequacy of U.S. federal policy regulating the environmental and human health effects of Radiofrequency (RF) radiation. The briefing is to be hosted by Vermont Congressman Peter Welch and Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders. I t will take place on Thursday, May 10, 2007 from 3:00-5:30 PM in the U.S. Capitol, Room HC-5. For complete instructions, go to: http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/action/index.htm Please forward this messages to your friends, families, and colleagues in other states as well who will take the time to make their voices heard. Many thanks for your willing participation to make this briefing a success. Janet Newton, President The EMR Policy Institute P.O. Box 117 Marshfield VT 05658 Tel. & FAX: 802-426-3035 JNewton@emrpolicy.org http://ww.emrpolicy.org Sent us by Dorte P: From: Chemical Injury Information Network chemicalinjury@ciin.org
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Dorte P. : By Janet Newton, President The EMR Policy Institute

Jersey: Call for phone mast health website
United Kingdom	Created: 24 Apr 2007
Call for phone mast health website STATES departments must do more to keep Islanders informed about the effects of mobile phone radiation on health. That is the view of a report published today which gives ministers of a number of departments six weeks to take the initiative and form 'an action plan for the future'. The Scrutiny-sub panel which received hundreds of submissions during its four-month review has demanded greater openness and transparency between mobile companies, the States and the public. It wants to see a website set up listing all the Island's base stations, the level of emissions they produce and how many Islanders are within range of the radiation. http://www.thisisjersey.com/news/news2.html
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Sylvie: By Orlando Crowcroft

Cancer clusters at phone masts
United Kingdom	Created: 23 Apr 2007
SEVEN clusters of cancer and other serious illnesses have been discovered around mobile phone masts, raising concerns over the technology’s potential impact on health. Studies of the sites show high incidences of cancer, brain haemorrhages and high blood pressure within a radius of 400 yards of mobile phone masts. One of the studies, in Warwickshire, showed a cluster of 31 cancers around a single street. A quarter of the 30 staff at a special school within sight of the 90ft high mast have developed tumours since 2000, while another quarter have suffered significant health problems. The mast is being pulled down by the mobile phone after the presentation of the evidenceoperator O2 by local protesters. While rejecting any links to ill-health, O2 admitted the decision was “clearly rare and unusual”. Phone masts have provoked protests throughout Britain with thousands of people objecting each week to planning applications. There are about 47,000 masts in the UK. Dr John Walker, a scientist who compiled the cluster studies with the help of local campaigners in Devon, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands, said he was convinced they showed a potential link between the angle of the beam of radiation emitted from the masts’ antennae and illnesses discovered in local populations. “Masts should be moved away from conurbations and schools and the power turned down,” he said. Some scientists already believe such a link exists and studies in other European countries suggest a rise in cancers close to masts. In 2005 Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, said he found four such studies to be of concern but that the health risk remained unproven.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: The Times Online, Daniel Foggo, 22 Apr 2007

Danger on the airwaves: Is the Wi-Fi revolution a health time bomb?
United Kingdom	Created: 23 Apr 2007
It's on every high street and in every coffee shop and school - But experts have serious concerns about the effects of electronic smog from wireless networks linking our laptops and mobiles, reports Geoffrey Lean. Being "wired-up" used to be shorthand for being at the cutting edge, connected to all that is cool. No longer. Wireless is now the only thing to be. Go into a Starbucks, a hotel bar or an airport departure lounge and you are bound to see people tapping away at their laptops, invisibly connected to the internet. Visit friends, and you are likely to be shown their newly installed system. Lecture at a university and you'll find the students in your audience tapping away, checking your assertions on the world wide web almost as soon as you make them. And now the technology is spreading like a Wi-Fi wildfire throughout Britain's primary and secondary schools. The technological explosion is even bigger than the mobile phone explosion that preceded it. And, as with mobiles, it is being followed by fears about its effect on health - particularly the health of children. Recent research, which suggests that the worst fears about mobiles are proving to be justified, only heightens concern about the electronic soup in which we are increasingly spending our lives. Now, as we report today, Sir William Stewart (pictured below right), the man who has issued the most authoritative British warnings about the hazards of mobiles, is becoming worried about the spread of Wi-Fi. The chairman of the Health Protection Agency - and a former chief scientific adviser to the Government - is privately pressing for an official investigation of the risks it may pose. Health concerns show no sign of slowing the wireless expansion. One in five of all adult Britons now own a wireless-enabled laptop. There are 35,000 public hotspots where they can use them, usually at a price. In the past 18 months 1.6 million Wi-Fi terminals have been sold in Britain for use in homes, offices and a host of other buildings. By some estimates, half of all primary schools and four fifths of all secondary schools have installed them. Whole cities are going wireless. First up is the genteel, almost bucolic, burgh of Norwich, which has installed a network covering almost the whole of its centre, spanning a 4km radius from City Hall. It takes in key sites further away, including the University of East Anglia and a local hospital, and will be expanded to take in rural parts of the south of the county. More than 200 small aerials were attached to lamp posts to create the network, which anyone can use free for an hour. There is nothing to stop the 1,000 people who use it each day logging off when their time is up, and logging on again for another costless session. "We wanted to see if something like this could be done," says Anne Carey, the network's project manager. "People are using it and finding it helpful. It is, I think, currently the largest network of its kind." Not for much longer. Brighton plans to launch a city-wide network next year, and Manchester is planning one covering over 400 square miles, providing free access to 2.2 million people. So far only a few, faint warnings have been raised, mainly by people who are so sensitised to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobiles, their masts and Wi-Fi that they become ill in its presence. The World Health Organisation estimates that up to three out of every hundred people are "electrosensitive" to some extent. But scientists and doctors - and some European governments - are adding their voices to the alarm as it becomes clear that the almost universal use of mobile phones may be storing up medical catastrophe for the future. A recent authoritative Finnish study has found that people who have used mobiles for more than ten years are 40 per cent more likely to get a brain tumour on the same side of the head as they hold their handset; Swedish research suggests that the risk is almost four times as great. And further research from Sweden claims that the radiation kills off brain cells, which could lead to today's younger generation going senile in their forties and fifties. Professor Lawrie Challis, who heads the Government's official mobile safety research, this year said that the mobile could turn out to be "the cigarette of the 21st century". There has been less concern about masts, as they emit very much less radiation than mobile phones. But people living - or attending schools - near them are consistently exposed and studies reveal a worrying incidence of symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, nausea, dizziness and memory problems. There is also some suggestion that there may be an increase in cancers and heart disease. Wi-Fi systems essentially take small versions of these masts into the home and classroom - they emit much the same kind of radiation. Though virtually no research has been carried out, campaigners and some scientists expect them to have similar ill-effects. They say that we are all now living in a soup of electromagnetic radiation one billion times stronger than the natural fields in which living cells have developed over the last 3.8 billion years. This, they add, is bound to cause trouble Prof Leif Salford, of Lund University - who showed that the radiation kills off brain cells - is also deeply worried about wi-fi's addition to "electronic smog". There is particular concern about children partly because they are more vulnerable - as their skulls are thinner and their nervous systems are still developing - and because they will be exposed to more of the radiation during their lives. The Austrian Medical Association is lobbying against the deployment of Wi-Fi in schools. The authorities of the province of Salzburg has already advised schools not to install it, and is now considering a ban. Dr Gerd Oberfeld, Salzburg's head of environmental health and medicine, says that the Wi-Fi is "dangerous" to sensitive people and that "the number of people and the danger are both growing". In Britain, Stowe School removed Wi-Fi from part of its premises after a classics master, Michael Bevington - who had taught there for 28 years - developed headaches and nausea as soon as it was installed. Ian Gibson, the MP for the newly wireless city Norwich is calling for an official inquiry into the risks of Wi-Fi. The Professional Association of Teachers is to write to Education Secretary Alan Johnson this week to call for one. Philip Parkin, the general secretary of the union, says; "I am concerned that so many wireless networks are being installed in schools and colleges without any understanding of the possible long-term consequences. "The proliferation of wireless networks could be having serious implications for the health of some staff and pupils without the cause being recognised." But, he added, there are huge commercial pressures" which may be why there has not yet been "any significant action". Guidelines that were ignored The first Stewart Report, published in May 2000, produced a series of sensible recommendations. They included: discouraging children from using mobiles, and stopping the industry from promoting them to the young; publicising the radiation levels of different handsets so that customers could choose the lowest; making the erection of phone masts subject to democratic control through the planning system; and stopping the building of masts where the radiation "beam of greatest intensity" fell on schools, unless the school and parents agreed. The Government accepted most of these recommendations, but then, as 'The Independent on Sunday' has repeatedly pointed out, failed to implement them. Probably, it has lost any chance to curb the use of mobiles by children and teenagers. Since the first report, mobile use by the young has doubled.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: The Independent, Geoffrey Lean, Paul Bignall, Will Dowling, Jude Townend, 22 Apr 2007

Validation of the French questionnaire used in the INTERPHONE
France	Created: 23 Apr 2007
Validation of the questionnaire used in the INTERPHONE Study: Measuring mobile telephone use in France Environnement, Risques & Santé. Volume 6, Number 2, 101-9, Mars-Avril 2007, Article original Résumé Article gratuit Summary : As part of the European INTERPHONE study, validation studies evaluated subjects’ short-term recall of mobile telephone use. This publication presents the results of the French validation study, which included 73 volunteer subjects. After participants consented in writing, mobile telephone operators in France provided information on their actual use (number and duration of calls) for a six-month period (from 01-10-2000 through 30-03-2001). The INTERPHONE questionnaire was administered in June 2001 and again in June 2002. At enrolment subjects were not told that they would be questioned later on their mobile telephone use. The analysis compared the mean use reported with actual use provided by the operators (t test for paired samples) and used logistic regression to evaluate various factors that might explain the discrepancies. While recall of the number of calls was good (mean reported number: 1 95.6/month- mean real number: 162.6/month, NS), subjects considerably overestimated the average duration of calls (mean reported duration: 986 min/month/mean real duration: 377 min/month, p<\;0.01). Women overestimated more than men. These findings were similar in all age categories and socioeconomic groups, except office workers and craftsmen. Estimating the duration of use by call or by day (instead of by week or month) is one explanatory factor for these discrepancies. Overestimation appeared to decrease over time and was somewhat lower in 2002 than in 2001, although it was significant both years. The correlation between the real monthly number of calls and the real monthly duration of calls, as measured by the operators, is good. The number of calls appears to be a more reliable indicator of mobile telephone use than their duration. Author(s) : Martine Hours, Lucile Montestrucq, Marie Arslan, Marlene Bernard, Harouna El Hadjimoussa, Martine Vrijheid, Isabelle Deltour, Elisabeth Cardis
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Sylvie

Phone mast pulled down after school cancer scare
United Kingdom	Created: 23 Apr 2007
A mobile phone mast has been dismantled after residents complained over a localised cluster of cancer cases, raising fresh concerns over the technology’s impact on health. A study of seven separate sites has reported higher incidences of cancer, brain haemorrhages and other serious illnesses within a radius of 400 yards of mobile phone masts. They included a cluster in Warwickshire of 31 cancer cases concentrated around a single street, which could be attributed to the proximity of a nearby mast, researchers said. A quarter of the 30 staff at a special school within sight of the 90ft high mast have developed tumours since 2000, and another quarter have suffered significant health problems. The mast, which was installed up to 15 years ago, was pulled down by the mobile phone operator O after the presentation of the evidence by local protesters. While rejecting any links to ill-health, O admitted that the decision was “clearly rare and unusual”. Studies in other European countries suggest a rise in cancers close to masts. In 2005 Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, said he found four such studies to be of concern but that the health risk remained unproven. John Walker, a scientist who compiled the cluster studies said he was convinced they showed a potential link between radiation emitted from the masts and illnesses discovered in local populations.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: David Rose . The Times

Cancer victims ask: "Is it the phone mast's fault?"
United Kingdom	Created: 23 Apr 2007
Margaret Hines-Randle is fighting cancer, but she is not alone in her struggle. In fact most of the people in her road are battling alongside her, since they have the illness too. At the most recent count, 30 of her immediate neighbours were either suffering with cancer or had already died from it. “We are all in a line, it is quite extraordinary,” said the 64-year-old, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer eight years ago. “It is a very dramatic cluster of cancer. The people in the house behind us and the one at the side have it. Both the people in the first and second bungalows in the road had cancer and died. Now the person who moved in to one of them has breast cancer too.” Just down the road at St Edward’s Roman Catholic primary school, Pat Ward’s pockets are full of paper tissues, but he doesn’t have a cold. The deputy headmaster uses them to mop up the nosebleeds of his pupils: he finds that their noses haemorrhage with such frequency that a ready supply of tissues is a necessity. Next door at the Woodlands special school, no fewer than seven of the 30-strong staff have developed tumours in the last few years, including Ward’s 46-year-old wife Sally who teaches there. Two have died. A nearby caretaker has been diagnosed with a prostate tumour at the age of 37. Even the lollipop lady who helped the children to cross the road has died of cancer. The cause of all this illness in Coleshill is not clear. But many of those living in the affluent Warwickshire town believe much of it can be attributed to a mobile phone mast which looms large over its southern half. The schools, which are adjacent to the 27m-high structure, have stood in its shadow for nearly 15 years. More worrying perhaps is that although the Coleshill cluster is extraordinary, it is not unique. Tight bunches of cancers and other illnesses have been recorded around masts in other parts of the country, and fears about phone masts generally are widespread. It is already acknowledged that there is a link between electromagnetic radiation from overhead power cables and childhood leukaemia - something that was also disputed for many years. Campaigners estimate that at any one time in Britain today there are about a thousand active disputes going on over phone masts. There are already 47,000 masts in position, but the phone companies are putting more up every day and fears over their safety are growing fast. Eileen O’Connor, a campaigner against mast proliferation and member of the Health Protection Agency’s Electromagnetic Fields Discussion Group, said: “There is simply not enough care being taken with this technology. I have no doubt that we are looking at a major public health problem.” So are the masts safe? Are the levels of allowed radiation correct, and should ministers and regulators be doing more to protect people? Last week a reporter from The Sunday Times posing as a homeowner approached the five main mobile phone network providers - O2, 3, T-Mobile and Vodafone - to inquire about the possibility of having a mast installed on his house. All but Vodafone jumped at the opportunity and said they would pay between £1,000 and £2,500 a year for the privilege. They would even disguise the mast, so as not to annoy the neighbours. Kevin Hull, a network consultant at O2, said: “We pay higher rents in city centres, lower rents in the countryside based on expected revenue. “We do follow a code of best practice, which involves community consultation, but we can use a range of solutions to disguise the masts. “The standard masts tend to blend in with street lighting columns. We also use replica telegraph poles made of glass-fibre and mock cypress trees with leaves.” Mike Yates, acquisitions manager at Orange, said his company could also help. “It will probably need planning permission, depending on what it is, and the neighbours would know. We have had them on houses as drainpipes but there is a cost element if we have to put stealth covers on them.” It is this combination of financial reward and stealth that has enabled Britain’s phone companies to put up so many masts so quickly. It also explains why so many local communities are only now waking up to the potential health threat. There is no doubt among scientists that electromagnetic radiation of the type emitted by phone masts can cause cancer and genetic damage at high intensities. However, the scientific community is divided over what emission levels are safe. The industry in Britain is subject to guideline limits for emissions, which all its masts fall well within. But some scientists believe the limits have been set far too high. They point to other European cities, notably Salzburg in Austria, which has - on scientific advice - imposed radiation limits that are a fraction of the levels allowed in Britain. Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, authored a report in 2000 which said that there was no conclusive evidence of health implications for adults, a view echoed by the World Health Organisation. However, in 2005 he issued a further report, Mobiles Phones and Health, in which he said young children should probably not be exposed to mobile phones. He has also said care should be taken that masts do not direct their strongest beams at schools. “I can’t believe that for three-to eight-year-olds they can be readily justified,” he said. On phones in general, he added: “Just because there are 50m of them out there, doesn’t mean they are absolutely safe.” Despite these worries, a BBC survey three years ago found that one in 10 schools were overlooked by a phone mast. According to another survey in London almost every school has a nearby mast. In the case of both St Edward’s, one of the top primaries in the country, and Woodlands, children and teachers have spent their daily lives being subjected to the output of a suspect mast sited just 40m away. Two years ago - prompted by reports of people developing cancer - the parents of children attending St Edward’s, together with the school authorities and a group of residents, began pushing for the mast to be removed. They organised surveys of health problems among the schoolchildren, teachers and nearby residents. “There was a lot of foot-slogging and door-knocking and speaking to people at the school gates, but what we found was shocking,” said Jacqui Slater, one of the organisers. The results were indeed startling. In addition to the plethora of cancers, over half the children surveyed at St Edward’s suffered headaches and more than a quarter reported regular nosebleeds and nausea. Among the staff at both schools almost all those asked felt fatigued and had sleep problems, with nearly half suffering dizzy spells and humming in their ears. A survey of 1,300 nearby residents threw up a further surprise. In a single street, Castle Drive, and part of adjacent roads, 31 cases of cancer were found, a total of around one in every second person in the immediate area. “When I saw the results I felt sick myself,” said Pat Jones, another campaigning resident. “There is big money in mobile phones and yet the operators don’t seem to want to know what is happening to people.” The raw data was passed to Dr John Walker, a physicist and member of the Electromagnetic Radiation Research Trust who has studied several similar instances of cancer clusters around other mobile phone masts elsewhere in the UK. “The masts typically throw out microwaves in three directions, and where the beams hit the ground is where you will usually find the cluster of cancers or disease,” he said. “Coleshill has the largest single cluster I have yet seen, and this may be explained by the fact that Castle Drive is sited at the point where the beams from two masts converge, one of them at the school and another on the other side of the town. “Residents and teachers are more likely to have health problems because they tend to be exposed to the microwaves for more years than pupils, who eventually leave the school.” For a while, tensions ran very high among the community. Parent protests were organised, with one day “strikes” in which they kept their children away from school. For 12 months the campaign intensified. Letters declaring an intent to sue O2 if the medical evidence became stronger in the future were sent to the company, while the diocese sent protest letters too. Mike O’Brien, the area’s MP, was then asked by the campaigners to help. He approached the operators but deliberately fought shy of leading off with the residents’ health concerns. “I said to O2 that I wasn’t going to put the case on medical grounds, which they don’t accept are an issue, but on the fact that the school wanted the land on which the mast stands and the fact that it is an old mast and rather ugly and due for replacement,” he said. His approach, backed up by the strident voices of the campaigners and their extraordinary research, has now resulted in O2 agreeing to tear down their mast. Alternative sites have been found far away from the two schools. But conflicts over existing and planned masts look set to increase as the rolling out of third-generation (3G) technology, which allows mobile phones internet access, necessitates further antennae across the country. However, some feel that mutually satisfactory agreements between mobile phone companies and angry residents can be made if they follow the model of Coleshill. O’Brien said: “There is perhaps a precedent here. A lot of the problem stems from residents feeling that something is being done to them that they are unaware of and have no say in.” However, for Hines-Randle and her neighbours who have already developed tumours, the fight goes on. “I don’t know whether my cancer was caused by the masts,” she said last week. “But it is worth someone looking further into it.” The march of the mobile masts - About 60m mobile phones are used in the UK, supported by approximately 47,000 masts, also known as base stations. It is estimated that protests by residents unhappy over their proximity to masts number up to 1,000 at any one time - Since mobile phones were launched in the 1980s, the market has mushroomed. The licences to operate the latest generation of phones, known as third generation or 3G, were sold by the government for £22.5 billion seven years ago - The British government has adopted guidelines issued by the International Commission on NonIonizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) which state that base stations should not emit more than 10 watts per square metre of electromagnetic energy, depending on the frequency used. In reality most give out only a minute fraction of this amount - Some scientists have suggested, however, that ICNIRP’s guidelines should be reduced more than a thousandfold as evidence of links to cancer exist well below its threshold - Sir William Stewart, chairman of the UK’s Health Protection Agency, has called for more discussion on the issue and urged a “precautionary approach” to the technology. But he does not accept that there are any proven links with ill-health - The existence of phone masts at and near schools has become particularly controversial. The Mobile Operators Association says that fewer than 2% of masts are sited at schools, but many are positioned nearby instead. One recent survey claimed that every school in London was within a short distance of a mast.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Daniel Foggo and Maurice Chittenden: The Sunday Times

Phone mast 'blamed' for illness
United Kingdom	Created: 23 Apr 2007
A woman who has been diagnosed with leukaemia believes a mobile phone mast may have played a role in her illness. Ailsa Foster, 77, from Wigston near Leicester, is convinced a phone mast near her home is one of the causes of her chronic lymphatic leukaemia. Mrs Foster said several people in the area had been diagnosed with leukaemia since the mast was erected in 2001. The mobile phone company O2 said research has not shown the masts cause any adverse health effects. The mast is located about 100m (328ft) from Mrs Foster's garden. It is such a coincidence that so many people around here have felt unwell since they put the mast up Ailsa Foster: She said her GP had told her it is not possible to tell for sure if the disease - which was diagnosed in 2003 - was caused by the radiation from the mast or not. O2 spokesperson Angela Johnson said: "These are very low-powered radio transmitters - hundreds of times lower than a mobile phone. She added: "There has recently been a very reassuring message from the World Health Organisation. "It said that considering the very low levels and research results collected there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak radio frequency signals from these base stations and wireless networks cause any adverse health effects." Mrs Foster added: "My cancer is under control at the moment but you feel very tried and weak. "There is not any evidence that mobile phones are safe - it is such a coincidence that so many people around here have felt unwell since they put the mast up. "There are no answers as to exactly how much radiation is emitted from the mast - we asked through the council but didn't get a proper answer." Ken Campbell of Leukaemia Research said although some people suffering from leukaemia were concerned about radiation from the masts, there was no clear scientific evidence to show a link. He added that the form of leukaemia that Mrs Foster had developed was not generally linked to exposure to radiation.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Sylvie

«First  ‹Previous   Page 290 of 290