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| Already in 1999 they knew about the danger: One of the industry’s own leading experts says "The public must be told". | |
| United Kingdom | Created: 19 Sep 2006 |
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PANORAMA: THE MOBILE MYSTERY PAUL KENYON: Tonight on Panorama, worrying new research on mobile phone safety. Two new studies, one from America and one from Europe, suggest there could be a link between mobiles and brain tumours. One of the industry’s own leading experts says "The public must be told". CARLO: We want to inform people of our findings. We have informed the government, we have informed the industry, and we believe that the decisions should be placed in the hands of the consumers. KENYON: We test the radiation from a range of phones and ask what’s the truth behind the mobile mystery? Steve Corney should be enjoying life as the father of a 10 month old baby boy. But his life has been dramatically changed by a mystery illness. It’s damaged his speech and his memory. STEPHEN CORNEY: I can still remember odd bits of the last three years, but very, very like foggy, you know, as if they were twenty, thirty years ago. KENYON: Steve used to play guitar in a pub band. He was lively, friendly and outgoing. He had a well-paid job travelling the country as a senior engineer with British Telecom. When a new type of mobile came on the market, Steve was asked to monitor its signal. Gradually he began to experience problems. CORNEY: You could be on the phone like 5 hours in one go, just keep swapping the batteries. As I was on the phone, it felt like I’d got a steel band round my head and the longer I used the phone it just felt like it was being tightened up, and.... KENYON: So there was actual pain there? There was pain? CORNEY: It ran right through my eyes, right through my ears in a complete sort of band right round my head. KENYON: At first, when Steve took the phone away from his head, the symptoms seemed to ease, then they didn’t. His girlfriend began to notice behaviour changes. LISA HUTCHINGS:He was ringing me because he was getting lost and he wasn’t talking to people as much as he used to. He was having difficulty just doing the simplest of things, and also he became quite frustrated with himself. He got quite irritated and started having sort of mood swings. KENYON: Steve tried to struggle on. But a year after he’d got his new mobile phone, his life finally ground to a halt. He realised when he stopped at a motorway service station. CORNEY: When I came out I couldn’t find my BT car and I was... SMTH: This is your company car you’d left only a few seconds before. CORNEY: Yes, I couldn’t find it. I was panicked because my pager was going off, my phone was ringing. What happened was, I was looking for my old yellow BT car which I’d had a few years before, instead of looking for the new grey Fiesta. KENYON: Steve went to his GP. He was signed off work. At first his doctor thought it was a nervous breakdown, then the focus shifted. Steve’s GP wrote to British Telecom about another possibility, the mobile phone. In the letter he said: I’m anxious to discover more about the possibility of microwave radiation damage from excess use of his two mobile phones for long periods of time. Steve was retired from BT on medical grounds just over a year ago. He’s not used a mobile phone since but his condition remains the same. He can even forget he’s got a baby. CORNEY: When he was first born, for a couple of months I’d forget all.. like he just didn’t like exist. If he wasn’t there in the room, I’d forget all about him. I’d even put all the lights off and gone to bed and left him downstairs. KENYON: Steve was so convinced his mobile was responsible for his condition he began legal proceedings against BT. They’ve always rejected the idea of a link. After two months Steve had to drop his case because of a lack of scientific evidence. But his story is just part of the growing mobile mystery. More and more people with conditions ranging from memory loss to brain cancer are starting to suspect their mobiles. Some scientists are now finding evidence that could support their theories, but the manufacturers, big names like Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia insist their products are safe. PETER HARRISON: Based on the scientific knowledge to date, there is no demonstrated health risk with mobile phones. KENYON: So mobile phones are safe as far as you're concerned? HARRISON: The consensus of scientific opinion is that mobile phones are safe, yes. Prof. HENRY LAI. University of Washington, Seattle I cannot agree at all with what they are telling the public and there is a concern, and probably it’s not safe. KENYON: The warnings so far have made little impression as we’re sold the glossy images of a mobile phone lifestyle. Ericsson, made for business, good for life Mobile phone sales just keep on booming. "Nokia - connecting people" One in four in the UK now have a mobile. "You’ll be glad you chose Motorola" The manufacturers play on the prestige and even sex appeal of the cell phone. It’s an image that’s appealing to an ever younger audience. Mobile phones have moved from being an executive power too to a school yard fashion statement in less than a decade. A new generation is hooked. TEACHER: Now I am going to ask each one of you, how many of you have got a mobile phone? Put you hand up if you’ve got a mobile phone. Quite a few of you. I would think possibly about half of you. SCHOOLGIRL: Most people just bring it in to show off, and like their friends are round the corner “Yea, yea, I’m gonna meet you And they meet up like together and they’re both on the phone "Yea". KENYON: How difficult do you think it would be for you to do without that phone now? SCHOOLGIRL 2: Oh God, I’ve had it for too long. I’d feel weird because I got my phone.. this phone nicked once and I was just lost. I was walking about just like"Where’s my phone?" I kept thinking I’d lost it. (Phone rings) SCHOOLGIRL 2: Hello? Fine. KENYON: Who was it? SCHOOLGIRL 2: It was someone over there. PAUL KENYON: The mobile phone has taken over our lives so swiftly, not many of us have paused to consider one of it’s unique characteristics. It’s the only device used by half a billion people world-wide which delivers up to 40% of it’s radiation directly into the head. Most of us have been exposed to X-rays, but only in short doses because scientists know over-exposure can lead to cancer. Less is known about mobile phone radiation. It’s a type of microwave like we use for cooking, but with a thousand times less power. A level traditionally seen as harmless. Hidden inside the case of the phone is a mass of electronics. It only emits radiation during conversation. The key to how much radiation your brain absorbs is this, the phones antenna. This is where the bulk of the radiation comes from. When you're speaking, the distance between this and you're brain is less than an inch. What happens to the 40% of the radiation that comes out of the phone and goes into your head? Where does that go? DR ALAN PREECE: University of Bristol Well some of it will get absorbed in the skin and in the skull, but about half of that will go through to the brain and be absorbed in the brain, and will certainly be converted into heat. [National Radiological Protection Board] KENYON: A group of scientists based here decide how much of that heat is safe for us. They use a computer model which maps the distribution of mobile phone radiation in the head. Heat is the only property of microwave radiation they measure. Dr JOHN STATHER: National Radiological Probation Board Guidelines are based on the heating effect of radio waves with body tissues and we set guidelines such that there won’t be any health effects caused by exposure of the body tissues to radio waves from mobile phones. KENYON: Do you acknowledge anything other than a heating effect? STATHER: No, we believe, as do international bodies that the heating effect of radio waves is what we should be basing our standards on. KENYON: But increasingly, scientists are wondering if heat really is the only property of mobile phone radiation. Some unexplained recent test results seem to suggest another mysterious property. Something causing mobiles to interfere with the behaviour of the human brain. PREECE: I’m probably the first one that’s got volunteers to undertake tests while they are operating a mobile phone in order to see what effect it has on them. KENYON: But mobile phones have been around for several years now. Millions of people use them every day. Are you saying that there’s really almost no science around to tell us they are safe? PREECE: I think that’s a true statement. There is no science around to tell us one way or the other. KENYON: These are some of the 36 human guinea pigs used by Doctor Alan Preece in his unique experiment at Bristol University. He wanted to see how mobile phone radiation would affect their mental abilities. If it did, conventional science wouldn’t be enough to explain it. Each member of the group had a mobile phone attached to their head. They then sat a number of tests looking at things like memory and spatial awareness. It seemed the mobile phone was having no effect until the test on reaction time. PREECE: What we did discover was a change in the ability to make choices which involves the visual cortex, the speech centres, and is actually processed by a part of the brain which is just behind and just above the ear, and that happens to be in our experiments where we had the maximum radiation which is at the base of the antenna effectively. KENYON: In fact, Dr Preece had discovered that mobile phones could improve reaction time. It sounds like good news, but it’s not. It seems to demonstrate that mobile phone signals can interfere with the brain’s function, something the manufacturers can’t accept. Heat alone isn’t thought sufficient to produce such an effect. So Dr Preece is left with something he can’t explain, something that could be a non-thermal effect. Dr ALAN PREECE: University of Bristol Well if it is a non-thermal effect, then repeated application of microwaves to the head could be introducing long-term changes and that can’t be a good thing because this is inducing a permanent change in the tissue which means it’s less able to respond. KENYON: Dr Preece’s results make uncomfortable reading for the manufacturers. Any acknowledgement of something other than heating, a non-thermal effect, could hit sales. Can a heating effect alone explain what Alan Preece found? PETER HARRISON: Nokia A heating effect alone, maybe. That’s one of the things that Alan suggested in his paper. But of course there may be other effects at play there and it clearly needs to be investigated further. KENYON: So there could be something other than a heating effect? HARRISON: Well it’s possible. At the moment he has this finding and it needs to be investigated further. KENYON: So we just don’t know? HARRISON: At the present time in that particular study - no. But there are many other studies which have had negative effects, so this is one of many studies which adds to the scientific database. KENYON: Other mysteries are even more worrying for the manufacturers. In the early 90s links between mobiles and brain tumours were being found by scientists in America. America was experiencing a mobile phone revolution well before us. Sales were booming and shares were high. Then an event sent a shudder through the entire industry. It came from this affluent corner of Florida. David Reynard was the man behind it. He worked in the telecommunications industry pioneering mobile phones along with his wife. In the early 90s, just after giving birth to their son, Suzy Reynard started suffering headaches and dizziness. DAVID REYNARD: At one point she was unable to put sentences together. She couldn’t do objects, verbs and nouns, and she was very frustrated with it. We went to see the doctor and the doctor performed a scan and that’s when they found the tumour. KENYON: It was a tumour the size of a golf ball. Her husband wanted answers. Gradually, as he asked scientists about possible cures, the question of cellphone use was raised, and the Reynard family had got into mobiles early on. They’d always known the devices emitted microwave radiation. They never thought it could be harmful. DAVID REYNARD: I think we’d all heard about the power lines and people were concerned that power lines might be causing cancer, and I don’t think people realised how much actual energy there is in microwave which is a much higher frequency. KENYON: It’s quite an unusual leap to make isn’t it. REYNARD: Not necessarily. Her antenna would have been used on the left side of her head and the tumour occurred directly where the antenna was located. KENYON: Suzy Reynard was so convinced her frequent phone use was to blame, she began a law suit against the manufacturers. She died before it concluded. David vowed to fight on. REYNARD: We wanted to make sure that people at least were knowledgeable about what they were buying, and I think that’s something that Suzy was more concerned about than who to blame or what to do. Make sure that people at least understand what it is they’re putting up to their head. KENYON: After her death, David took his views on mobile phones to the media. REYNARD: I got a call and the Larry King Live Show had asked me to come on and do an interview. It wasn’t until the next morning when I was absolutely inundated with calls by the news media, and at that point I spent.. I came home, packed, went to New York and spent two weeks there and that’s when the news media blitz came in to play. (Television News) ".. claiming that the cellular phone his wife used led to a brain tumour and ultimately her death...” "AT&T says phone calls towards 800 numbers are ???" Confused.. they really don’t know what to believe. We need about 5 years of research and we need at least a $100 million to try and settle this question Industry representatives deny allegations that the phones pose health hazards Cellular phones are ??. I guess we’ll just have to wait till enough white collar CEO workers die off from this and somebody will pay attention to it LOUIS SLESIN: Editor, Microwave News Suddenly America and the rest of the world was transfixed with the possibility that this new technology could present a really serious health risk. As a result, it was front page news. All investors appear worried too today, dumping the stocks of cellular... SLESIN: The Stock Market rocked, cellphone stocks plummeted and industry knew it had to do something immediately. KENYON: In Washington the politicians got involved. They wanted immediate research into mobile phones, and they wanted the manufacturers to pay for it. In this quiet Washington street began the world’s biggest research programme into mobile phone safety. The industry gave it $25 million and 5 years to come up with the answers, and this is the name of the guy put in charge. Dr GEORGE CARLO: Wireless Technology Research The fact was there were not data that could be directly reassuring to the public because there were no studies that were directly relevant to cellular phones. We were set up to identify any problems that did follow from the of cellular phones and to prescribe solutions to those problems so that they could be corrected before the public was adversely affected. KENYON: With the WTR research programme underway, public confidence was restored. But behind the scenes, controversy over the science continued. Across the other side of America, in Seattle, one scientist was making some worrying discoveries. Professor Henry Lai is a world expert on microwave radiation. In 1993 his work was being financed by the US government. He was testing the effects of microwave radiation on rats. The power he was using was less than that of a mobile phone. Conventional science indicated there could be no effect. The animals were exposed for 2 hours. Lai and his partner, Dr Singh, were monitoring the rats’ DNA, the chemical at the centre of life itself. Damaged DNA can lead to cancer. Lai and Singh were astonished. The rats DNA appeared to be breaking up. Prof. HENRY LAI:University of Washington, Seattle Well I think the first thing that went through my mind is that this cannot be true. We checked and did careful checking of what we did, and then of course we start doing more experiments to confirm what we observe. It’s a big find, and the other thing is that the consequence of DNA breaks is very serious. If too much of this damage accumulate, the cell can become cancerous. SLESIN: There was extraordinary interest in this work. They were path-breaking. I mean they were extremely important, especially for the fledgling cellular phone industry. KENYON: And what should the next move have been? LOUIS SLESIN: Editor, Microwave News The next move was obvious, I mean was to give them more money to flesh out the science and to fund two or three other laboratories immediately to set up shop and to find out whether they could repeat it. KENYON: In fact Panorama can reveal at least one of the manufacturer’s responded by trying to undermine the findings. That attack came in a memo meant only for the top people in Motorola. The author was Motorola’s head of global strategy, Norm Sandler. In it he discussed ways of putting a damper on the research of Lai and Singh by undermining their methodology. He finishes by saying: I think we’ve sufficiently war-gamed the Lai/Singh Issue. What do you think ‘war-gaming’ means in that context? LAI: Well, war-gaming means that they want to do war with us. KENYON: Maybe they wanted to do war because they didn’t trust your findings. LAI: Well you don’t do war with people if you don’t trust their findings. You just do more research. KENYON: To call it a war game, that was an unfortunate phrase wasn’t it? NORM SANDLER: Motorola I think that it merely reflected the fact that we knew that this was going to create a great deal of attention in the public arena and within the scientific community. KENYON: Is it a phrase that you regret using now? SANDLER: Not necessarily. Again I think it reflects in part the environment in which we found ourselves at the time. The pressure that we presumably were going to be under to respond to questions and to offer up our expertise and assessment of that research as it became public. KENYON: But it does suggest, doesn’t it, putting a corporate spin if you like, on what really is science? SANDLER: We have never attempted to put a corporate spin on science. KENYON: Over the years the people at Motorola have produced a number of handy little booklets for those of us worried about the potential health effects of mobile phones. In this one they boast about their leading role in research, their participation at professional meetings and their work with independent scientists, like this guy here. In real life it was this man, Dr Ross Adey, who Motorola were turning to. In the 60s he tested the effects of space travel on monkey’s brains. By 1994 it was rats, mobile phones and cancer. His rats were exposed to mobile phone radiation for two hours a day over their entire lives. Motorola asked him to see if there was an increase in the animal’s brain tumours. And did you find there was an increase? Dr ROSS ADEY: Former Motorola Scientist No. We found that there was a decrease that was very significant in animals that died before the end of the experiment. KENYON: The results appeared to suggest the rats actually benefited from mobile phone radiation. LEWIS SLESIN: Motorola you might think would be on the mountain tops screaming "Hey, they’re good for you" but there was no press release, there was no press conference, there was no press coverage. KENYON: For Motorola these must have been uncomfortable findings. It was more evidence that mobile phones appear to be having a biological effect. ROSS ADEY: Going up or down, with respect to tumour numbers, is less significant than that there is an effect. LEWIS SLESIN: Because once you open that Pandora’s box and allow that microwave, at these levels, can have these effects, then you have to ask the next question - what else can it do? KENYON: But Dr Adey says Motorola didn’t want to ask that particular question. They decided not to continue his work. Were they genuinely interested do you think in finding out the truth about mobile phones? ADEY: I think the scientists are, yes. KENYON: But Motorola as an organisation? ADEY: No. KENYON: What were they interested in? ADEY: Sustaining the case that there is no public health risk in the use of mobile phones. KENYON: Motorola dispute that and say they fund more research than other manufacturers. They did repeat Henry Lai’s work but used a different testing method and found nothing. They say Dr Adey’s work was designed to find an increase in tumours, not a decrease. To that end, it found nothing. NORM SANDLER: Motorola The Motorola programme to date has been designed not to validate what we already know but to challenge what we know, and to that extent we are constantly looking for adverse affects that may be related to the safety of our products, and to date that research has not found any evidence to support the view that there is any risk associated with the use of mobile phones or other radio products of this kind. KENYON: Since their breakthrough discoveries, the two pioneers of mobile phone research have found themselves out in the cold. Dr Ross Adey has had no funding at all since his experiments. Dr Henry Lai had to wait 5 years for money to repeat his. LAI: If the cellphone industry look at the whole thing in a different way instead of counteracting what we discovered, I think by this time we should have known what kind of advice we can give to cellphone users on whether.. how long does it take to have an effect and how long they can use the cell phone. But basically we wasted all this time and not come up with anything. KENYON: Whilst the debate has continued here in America about the possible link between mobile phones and brain tumours, Panorama has uncovered some worrying new research which the manufacturers will find difficult to ignore. And it comes not from a multi-million dollar laboratory here in America, but from a small town in the west of Sweden. Here in Orebro scientists have carried out a unique study. It wasn’t based in a laboratory but on the streets of Sweden where one in three people use a mobile phone. It’s the first ever statistical research into a possible link between mobiles and brain tumours. The cancer specialist, Dr Lennart Hardell led the investigation. He went back in time to investigate the cellphone use of 200 brain tumour patients. The results surprised him. There was no increased risk of cancer overall, but when he focused on the part of the brain closest to the phone’s antenna, there was a correlation between phone use and cancer. Prof. LENNART HARDELL: Orebro Medical Centre There is an increased risk in the area where the microwaves are absorbed. KENYON: For those using a phone on the right side of the head, the risk of a brain tumour in that area increased by 2½ times. For those using the phone on the left, there was a similar increase on that side of the head. HARDELL: I was very surprised at the results because microwaves are not recognised as a human carcinogen. KENYON: How close is this to demonstrating that microwaves could cause cancer? HARDELL: There is no statistical significance in our results, and also one can say that the numbers are quite low, but there is a biological indication that there is a problem which should be studied much more, and that’s because we find an increased risk in the area where the microwaves are absorbed in the brain. KENYON: Sweden’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, Ericsson, has been keeping an eye on Dr.Hardell’s study. The company says it has a lot of respect for the scientist but can’t share his conclusion because of the small numbers the study was based on. ALBERTSON: Dr Hardell is a respected medical doctor and also a scientist in Sweden. KENYON: In his recent studies he says that an increased risk was found both for right and left-sided brain tumours with exposures from mobile phones. BO ALBERTSON: Ericsson Well that’s not as I interpret it really. It’s if you go back to his publishing the research, it says that he could find no effects between mobile phones and the occurrence of cancer. However, he had an increased risk factor in certain areas using certain standards. HARDELL: I think this is an important indication and as a manufacturer I would be actually worried. I would ask for much more research, and this should be obviously done very soon because so many people use the microwaves. KENYON: In the meantime, Dr Hardell believes his results should make us change the way we use mobile phones. He is particularly concerned about children and mobiles because it is thought their growing tissue is more sensitive to cancer risks. HARDELL: I think that until we have the definite conclusion, the definite results of much larger studies, we need to minimise exposure to human beings. KENYON: And by minimising exposing, what do you mean? HARDELL: We need to use mobile phones which give a low exposure to the brain. We need to be cautious about the use of phones in children or young adults. KENYON: Dr Hardell’s advice is likely to be vigorously opposed by the manufacturers. But if consumers do decide to follow the advice and minimise their exposure to mobile phone radiation, how can they? If you're really determined to find out exactly how much radiation was coming out of your phone, do you think you could? Well this is London’s Oxford Street. There are loads of mobile phone shops here. Somebody will be able to tell me - surely. (HIGH STREET SHOPS) ASSISTANT: Who has got the highest or lowest, I will never know that. KENYON: Is there any way we can find out? ASSISTANT: There’s no way of me finding that out. KENYON: It looked like the answers weren’t going to be readily available. 2nd ASSISTANT: Well no to be honest, I’ve got no idea which one would have more or less. 3rd ASSISTANT: I can’t even tell you now which one of the phones nowadays probably gives off more or less. KENYON: Sometimes the answer was just plain wrong. 4th ASSISTANT: The radiation is coming from where a satellite is in a position with your call, that’s where it comes from. I wouldn’t say there was much difference between the phones. KENYON: Some shops have their own ideas about why the manufacturers don’t publicise the figures. 5th ASSISTANT: That’s not something they’re going to promote. They want to sell their phones so they’re not going to say well this one’s got lower and this one’s got higher because otherwise that’s counterproductive isn’t it. KENYON: We asked the manufacturers for the radiation figures but they refused. So we went to the government’s radiation standards body, the NRPB. When we asked the manufacturers they all said "There are no figures for radiation coming out of our phones". Is that acceptable? Dr JOHN STATHER: National Radiological Protection Board I would think, if the public wants to know about how phones operate and what their potential exposures are, and that can be provided to them in a way that they public can understand, then I don’t see why they shouldn’t be provided with that sort of information. KENYON: And would you recommend the manufacturers do that? STATHER: I certainly think the manufacturers should maybe talk to government about the extent they should give information to members of the public about how phones operate. KENYON: The NRPB said to us they couldn’t understand why the manufacturers wouldn’t publish the radiation levels. PETER HARRISON: Nokia Well there are many parameters that are involved in the design of a phone, hundreds of parameters that we could publish. KENYON: But the NRPB said specifically they couldn’t see a reason why you wouldn’t publish the radiation levels. HARRISON: Well to date we haven’t seen a need to do that. We haven’t had a requirement to do that. KENYON: Haven’t had a requirement from whom? HARRISON: From our customers, we haven’t heard that. KENYON: So if people phone in and ask, you're happy to publish. HARRISON: I’m not saying that, no. I’m saying that our phones meet the safety recommendations. KENYON: So we went to the Government’s National Physical Laboratory to test the amount of radiation entering the brain from a number of popular mobile phones. The measurement used is in watts per kilogram. It’s called the SAR, or ‘specific absorption rate’. The UK safety limit is ten watts per kilogram, our results showed all 7 phones fell well beneath it, but there was a huge difference between the lowest and the highest. The lowest was the Motorola Star Tac 70. With the antenna extended, it had an SAR of 0.02. The report pointed out that the two lowest emission phones, the Motorola V3688 and the Star Tac 70 have a design where the antenna is kept further away from the head. The two highest emission phones in the test were from Nokia. The new 5110 had an SAR of 0.37. And a popular older model, widely used but no longer on the market, the 2110 had a reading of 0.44 with its aerial extended. That’s more than 20 times higher than the lowest phone in the test. PREECE: I was somewhat startled to see such a large difference between the highest levels and the lowest. KENYON: Why? Should we be worried about that? Dr ALAN PREECE: University of Bristol Well it seems to me that if you want to reduce the exposure to the head or any part of the body, then it looks as though the design is somewhere in the manufacturers’ hands, that they have different designs which can bring about these different results. It would be better to use, my feeling, those phones with the antennas sticking out away from the head. KENYON: But we can’t guarantee that the ones that we’ve tested that came out with the higher levels of radiation, we can’t guarantee that even though they are below the national limit, they won’t have an effect on people. PREECE: Well no, they do have an effect, according to the tests that we did. KENYON: We found that one of the Nokia models was at the higher end. PREECE: I think the tests you showed me showed that we had a value of .4 I think which is well inside the UK guideline of 10. KENYON: But it’s about 20 times higher than the lowest radiation model that we tested. PREECE: But as I said to you before. It doesn’t indicate that one phone is better or worse in terms of safety than the other because they all meet the same guideline. KENYON: For those who already have a mobile phone there are products on the market which can cut radiation. The most successful in our test was the hands-free set with an earphone connected to the hand-set. The manufacturers say it’s not necessarily for safety but it is convenient to use. In our test a hands-free set cut radiation to the head by 98%. What would your advice be to users of mobiles? PREECE: Keep the exposure as short as possible; use a hands-free device, but certainly if you can keep the exposure from a phone to less than 10 minutes or so at a time, according to our tests you're not likely to have any problem. KENYON: And now that advice to minimise our exposure has taken on a fresh urgency. There has been an important new development in the mobile phone mystery. Panorama has learnt that last Wednesday representatives of the cellphone industry came here for a special meeting at the headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration in Washington. It is understand they discussed not only the Swedish research but also a new piece of unpublished American work which showed similar results. The industry’s own research project - WTR - has done the work. It’s boss, Dr George Carlo, showed the data to Panorama. In one test on human blood they discovered damage to chromosomes. In another they found a correlation between the side of the head the phone was used and brain tumours, but only on the right side. GEORGE CARLO: Wireless Technology Research We have evidence of possible genetic damage in experiments using human blood. We have evidence of possible increase in tumour risk. The science that we have to day clearly shows that this is not black and white, that we have moved now into a grey area that suggests that there could be a problem that needs to be looked at very, very carefully. KENYON: Dr Carlo says consumers must be alerted to this latest research so they can make decisions about their phone use. The US Government is also taking it seriously. Panorama understands it is now asking the industry for millions of dollars for more research. For the manufacturers this is watershed moment. There is more research on the way from Europe and American, but now there’s a difference between their position and the research body they fund. PETER HARRISON: Nokia There are studies showing a problem, but there are hundreds of studies which have had negative results as well, and when we look at the science, we need to look at the totality of the science and the science conducted over decades has shown that there is no conclusive health risk with mobile phones. KENYON: So as far as you're concerned, there is no problem. HARRISON: The scientific consensus is there is no problem. KENYON: But when the manufacturers turn to us and say there is no problem, is that right? CARLO: At this stage that is not a responsible position to take. We clearly have results here that suggest there could be something more here than meets the eye. KENYON: For those who believe they’ve suffered from the effects of mobile phones there is a small consolation. The manufacturers may now have to accept there could be a problem. The rest of us have a dilemma. How should we use our mobiles whilst we wait for an answer to the mobile mystery. RECORDED FROM TRANSMISSION: BBC-1 DATE: 24:05:99 ........................................................................ NB: THIS TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A TRANSCRIPTION UNIT RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT: BECAUSE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF MIS-HEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY, IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE BBC CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS ACCURACY. |
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| Source: Catherine Gamba | |
| Den dolda sanningen om den allt mer ökande ohälsan! | |
| Sweden | Created: 19 Sep 2006 |
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”Var tredje har problem med hälsan” var överskriften i en artikel på första sidan i lördagens UT (9/9). I ett helt uppslag i tidningen beskrivs den ökande ohälsan, som till stor del inte kan diagnostiseras. Gissningar om orsaker till den på senare år allt mer ökande ohälsan framförs i artiklarna, och med bilder förtydligas snusning, rökning och alkoholkonsumtion. Vad som däremot inte nämns med ett ord är den verkliga orsaken till den ökande ohälsan, som speciellt märks hos ungdomen, nämligen den elektromagnetiska strålningen som den alltmer utbyggda trådlösa tekniken sprider i vår livsmiljö. En ”strålningsdimma” som vi inte kan se, höra eller känna, men som tätnat allt mer de senaste åren. Mobiltelefoner och dess basstationer (GSM, 3G), trådlösa datanätverk (WLAN), trådlösa telefoner (DECT), bredband via radio (WiMAX) o s v är alla tekniker som direkt påverkar allt levande negativt. I människans kropp finns en enorm ”kabelhärva” av nervtrådar i vilka det ständigt löper kemisk-elektriska signaler. De viktigaste signalerna strömmar till och från kroppens alla delar, via ryggmärgen till och från hjärnan och hjärnans verkliga uppgift är att med dessa informations- och styrsignaler hålla kroppen frisk. Elektrisk aktivitet i hjärnan och i hjärtat kan avläsas med elektronisk utrustning på våra sjukhus, s k EEG- och EKG-mätning. Det man mäter är elektromagnetisk strålning och det kan ske utanpå kroppen, eftersom kroppens signalsystem ”läcker”, precis som man kan mäta elektrisk och magnetisk strålning i luften, långt från en ”läckande” kraftledning. Om man kan mäta kroppens egna elektriska aktivitet (strålning) utanför själva kroppen, är det då inte troligt att utifrån kommande likartad elektromagnetisk strålning kan tränga in och störa kroppens signalsystem så att ohälsa uppstår. Det är precis vad som sker med den trådlösa tekniken och de som påverkas mest är barn och ungdom, vilka ännu inte växt färdigt. Att vi i valtider får höra de etablerade politikerna ta upp strålningen som ett stort problem är inte tänkbart, det är inte troligt att de förstår det allvarliga med den trådlösa tekniken. Tvärtom, vi har fått höra den ena politikern efter den andra överträffa varandra med bl a löften om trådlös bredbandsutbyggnad. Vi har myndigheter som i första hand värnar om telekomindustrin, i stället för att värna om medborgarnas hälsa, sådana myndigheter är SSI och Socialstyrelsen. Några har dock förstått, det har t o m bildats ett nytt riksdagsparti för att stoppa den trådlösa hälsovådliga tekniken, nämligen Folkets Vilja. Men de som borde förstå den allvarliga strålningspåverkan vi alla utsätts för är de läkare som dagligen mäter EEG och EKG, de borde förstå att allt levande påverkas av den trådlösa tekniken, eftersom frekvensinnehållet i dessa är likartad de vi har i våra nervbanor. I de flesta nationer sker nu samma ökning av ohälsan. I de nationer man kartlagt ohälsan visar statistiken att mellan 7-12 procent av befolkningen är påverkade negativt av strålningen. Enligt forskarna i Sahlfordgruppen i Lund är nu troligen 1 miljon svenskar påverkade negativt av strålningen från moderna trådlösa tekniker. Om man gör diagram av de sjukdomar som ökar mest och tidsmässigt jämför med den trådlösa utbyggnaden, så ser man ett klart samband. Sambandet är så tydligt att det är fullständigt oförklarligt varför inte den ”strålande” utbyggnaden totalstoppas omedelbart. Varför slår inte läkarna larm, var finns ansvaret för att forskarnas larmrapporter inte tas på allvar? Kalle Hellberg Debatt UT 2006-09-12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| Source: Kalle Hellberg | |
| TDC's 3G-satsning i slæbegear | ||
| Denmark | Created: 18 Sep 2006 | |
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Intet tyder på, at mobilfolket ligefrem står i kø for at få fingrene i TDC's særlige mobilløsning, 3G-telefoni. TDC gik i luften med fremtidens 3G-telefoni sidste efterår, og selv om kunderne har haft 12 måneder til få øjnene op for lyksalighederne i TDC’s 3G-univers, har selskabet ikke fundet anledning til at sætte turbo på udbygningen af det milliarddyre 3G-sendenet. I første omgang gik TDC i luften med 3G-telefoni i landets fire største byer. Siden er der helt efter planen kommet yderligere 22 byer til. TDC oplyser, at man de kommende måneder vil åbne for 3G-telefoni i yderligere seks byer, heriblandt Viborg, Ishøj, Værløse og Søllerød. Dermed vil TDC holde planen og nå 32 byer inden udgangen af 2006. Modsat selskabet 3, som gerne oplyser om antallet af 3G-kunder, har TDC hidtil afvist at løfte sløret for antallet af 3G-kunder. |
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| Click here to view the source article. | ||
| Source: Jyllands Posten, MICHAEL STENVEI, 18 Sep 2006 | ||
| Letter to the Editor: Will We All Become Electrosensitive? | |||
| Sweden | Created: 18 Sep 2006 | ||
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ÖRJAN HALLBERG [1] AND GERD OBERFELD [2] [1] Hallberg Independent Research, Trångsund, Sweden [2] Public Health Department Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 25: 189–191, 2006 Copyright © Informa Healthcare ISSN 1536-8378 print DOI: 10.1080/15368370600873377 Dear Editor, Each year an increasing number of people claim to suffer from electrosensitivity (see, e.g., compilation of references given in Table 1), also known as being electrically hypersensitive (EHS). There are also other diseases, such as fibromyalgia and burn-out syndrome, that have symptoms similar to those exhibited by people suffering from electrosensitivity. In Sweden, electrosensitivity is recognized as a handicap, but there is still controversy surrounding the diagnosis of the disease. The mainstream view by governmental and medical authorities is that this handicap is a psychological phenomenon with no basis in physical or medical mechanisms (Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, SNBHW, 1995), whereby perpetuating the misconception that only a small fraction of the population is concerned about electrosensitivity or the proximity of new radio transmission masts. The number of reported cases of electrosensitivity has been steadily increasing since it was first documented in 1991. Data presented here are estimates and are based on large sample inquiries where different sets of questions have been used. To determine whether the statistics indicate a sub-population of electrosensitivity or if the total population is at stake, we plotted reported prevalence estimates over time in a normal distribution diagram (Table 1 and Figure 1). (click images on bottom of page) Contrary to the views of mainstream medical authorities, Figure 1 shows that the group of electrosensitive people around the world, including Sweden, is not just a small fraction that deviates from the rest of the healthy population. Instead, it points at the possibility that electrosensitivity will be more widespread in the near future. The extrapolated trend indicates that 50% of the population can be expected to become electrosensitive by the year 2017. Data presented here were collected in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. References: Anonymous estimate: 50,000 in 1994. Elöverkänsligas Riksförbund. (2005). Funktionshindret Elöverkänslighet. Fox, E. (2004). Rapporteurs Report. WHO Workshop on Electrical Hypersensitivity, Oct. 25–27. Hillert, L., Berglind, N., Arnetz, B. B., Bellander, T. (2002). Scand J Work Environ Health. 28(1):33–41. Infas. (2003). Ermittlungen der Befürchtungen und Ängste der breiten Öffentlichkeit hinsichtlich möglicher Gefahren der hochfrequenten elektromagnetischen Felder des Mobilfunks–jährliche Umfragen. B. f. Strahlenschutz. Bonn, Institut für angewandte Sozialwissenschaft GmbH: 1–34. Infas – Institut für angewandte Sozialwissenschaft GmbH Friedrich-Wilhelm-Straße 18, 53113 Bonn. Ermittlung der Befürchtungen und Ängste der breiten Öffentlichkeit hinsichtlich möglicher Gefahren der hochfrequenten elektromagnetischen Felder des Mobilfunks–jährliche Umfragen–Abschlussbericht über die Befragung im Jahr 2004. Leitgeb, N. (1995). Electrosensibilität. VBÖ J 1:51–55. Leitgeb, N. (1998). Electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Proc Int Workshop on EMF and Non-Specific Health Symp. pp. 8–16, Graz, Austria. Leitgeb, N., Schröttner, J., Böhm, M. (2005). Does “electromagnetic pollution” cause illness? An inquiry among Austrian general practitioners. Wien Med Wochensehr, 153:237–241. Levallois, P. et al. (2002). Study of self-reported hypersensitity to electromagnetic fields in California. Environ Health Persp 110(4):619–623. Medicine Social et Preventive de l’Unirvesité de Berne, 2005. Proof of mobile health risk (2005). This is London, Feb. 9. Schroeder, E. (2002). Stakeholder-Perspektiven zur Novellierung der 26.BlmSchV. Ergebnisse der bundesweiten Telefonumfrage im Auftrag des Bundesamtes für Strahlenschutz (BfS). Spiß, B. (2003). Pilotstudie zu Mobilfunkstrahlung und Gesundheit–Modellierung der Immission mit den Programmen NIRView und CORLA. Diplomarbeit an der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Salzburg, Oktober 2003, Salzburg, Austria. Swedish Labour Union Sif Estimate, 2003. Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. (1995). Elektriska och Magnetiska fält och Hälsoeffekter. Report, 1. Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. (1998). Environmental Health Report. Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. (2001). Environmental Health Report. Swedish National Encyclopedia. (1991). Nationalencyklopedin. elöverkänslighet, 5. |
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| Source: ÖRJAN HALLBERG AND GERD OBERFELD | |||
| Discord in the air over mobiles | |
| Created: 17 Sep 2006 | |
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Airlines are divided over the use of mobile phones on flights, following the announcement by Ryanair last week that it will equip its planes with mobile-phone technology by the end of next year. Air France will be first to allow in-flight calls during a six-month trial in February. Bmi and Tap Air Portugal will follow shortly after. EasyJet, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have so far resisted introducing the technology, which has yet to be approved by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT). Virgin Atlantic said it had no plans for mobiles, while BA said it was consulting passengers. "There is a whole world of difference in using mobiles on a mid-week 7am business flight to Paris and a 10-hour flight to Tampa in the school holidays," said a BA spokeswoman. An EasyJet spokesman said the airline was looking at the issue, but so far feedback from travellers said that most would rather not be pestered by constant phone calls. Ryanair's announcement may yet prove premature, if the introduction of the technology is not approved. However, the airline is confident that it will get the go-ahead. Tests have shown the technology does not interfere with aircraft equipment, but there are still concerns about interference with ground-based mobile-phone networks. Passengers, however, appear to be divided on the issue. A recent survey by the ONAir telecommunications company of 2,500 travellers flying from Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle and Hong Kong International airports revealed that 65 per cent of people travelling for business reasons would turn their devices on during flights, and that, of these, 94 per cent would take calls and check emails in the air. But in a separate survey of 1,500 travellers conducted by Monarch Airlines, 67 per cent of passengers claimed that having to listen to other people's ringtones would be one of the most annoying inflight experiences. |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: Margaret White: Daily Telegraph | |
| Fråga om vår strålmiljö | |
| Sweden | Created: 16 Sep 2006 |
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Fråga om vår strålmiljö (skickat till alla riksdagspartier och några till) För närvarande pågår det ett arbete hos Post- och telestyrelsen (PTS) i syfte att dela ut licenser för trådlöst bredband (WiMax). Tanken är att flera parallella nät skall upprättas i landets alla kommuner (se vidare http://www.pts.se/Nyheter/nyhet.asp?Itemid=6061). WiMax-systemet har dock redan testats i Götene kommun där effekten blev att flera överkänsliga personer omedelbart fick fly från sina hem då sändningarna påbörjades. Erfarenheterna därifrån är att WiMax-strålningen är ännu mer ohälsosam för överkänsliga än vad 3G-strålningen är. Precis som faller var vid utdelningen av 3G-licenser uppfyller inte PTS åtgärder de krav försiktighetsprincip ställer. Hälsoriskerna har t.ex. inte utretts i enlighet med EU:s riktlinjer. Detta trots att Sverige förbundit sig att tillämpa dessa riktlinjer vid alla åtgärder som vidtas av våra myndigheter och berör miljön eller människors hälsa. (Se Europeiska rådets resolution om användning av försiktighetsprincipen. Finns tillgänglig som bilaga III i Ordförandeskapets slutsatser från mötet i Nice 2000, http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/sv/ec/00400-r1.%20ann.s0.htm) Miljöbalken ställer även krav på att bästa möjliga teknik skall användas om en verksamhet kan antas medföra olägenhet för människors hälsa eller miljön (MB 2:3). Att strålnivåerna höjs vid en utbyggnad av WiMax-systemet och därmed försämrar vår strålmiljö kan inte ifrågasättas. Så gott som alla hushåll kan redan i dag använda Internet via det trådbundna telenätet. Via ADSL erhåller också användaren en billigare, snabbare och tekniskt sett bättre lösning än den som WiMax-systemet kan erbjuda. Trådlöst bredband erbjuder inte heller någon funktionalitet som inte finns tillgänglig via dess trådbundna motsvarighet. WiMax erbjuder t.ex. ingen mobil kommunikation via Internet. Det är därför mycket svårt att se hur en utbyggnad av WiMax är förenlig med miljöbalkens krav på att bästa möjliga tekniken skall användas. Frågan om vår strålmiljö har även debatterats i riksdagen. Även för de fall då strålnivåerna ligger långt under gränsvärdet uttalade sig miljöministern på följande sätt. ”Det som spelar roll och som SSI nu arbetar mycket med är att man i alla sammanhang ska få ned strålnivåerna så långt som över huvud tagit är möjligt. Man pratar ju om ”as low as reasonably achievable”, det vill säga att man alltid ska se till att göra det som en tumregel. Jag tycker att det är viktigt att vi i praktiken når ned till så låga strålnivåer vi kan, att vi följer forskningen och att vi är så öppna och transparenta som möjligt”. (Anf. 32 i interpellationsdebatt 2005/06:333. Finns tillgänglig på http://www.riksdagen.se/webbnav/index.aspx?nid=101&bet=2005/06:114). Har Ert parti för avsikt att verka för att miljölagstiftningen följs i denna fråga? Mvh Mats Dämvik Juristfirman Unité Kyrkogatan 22 A 434 30 Kungsbacka Tel. 0300-10570 www.unite.se Svaren som inkommit t o m 15/9 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Centerpartiet Hej Mats! Tack för ditt mail. Den forskning som idag finns kring strålningsrisker av t.ex. telemaster och telefoner är inte tillräcklig för att Centerpartiet ska se en anledning att stoppa utbyggnaden av 3G. Men eftersom vi tar frågan om riskerna på allvar anser vi att det är det viktigt att vara försiktig. Vi vill därför se en satsning på ökad forskning på området. Det är olyckligt att inte någon nationell miljöprövning genomförts innan utbyggnaden av 3G-master startade. Miljöbalken bör revideras så att även elektromagnetisk strålning blir prövningsklassad. Centerpartiet ser också positivt på ökat samarbete mellan operatörer där de i betydligt högre grad samutnyttjar master. Detta ger en både ekonomisk och miljömässig vinst. Med vänlig hälsning Malin Törnquist Politisk sekreterare malin.tornquist@centerpartiet.se tfn 08-786 43 38 ………………………………… Hej Malin! Tack för ditt svar. Jag håller verkligen med dig om att en nationell miljöprövning borde ha genomförts innan utbyggnaden av 3G startade. Min fråga gäller dock inte 3G (trådlös telefoni) utan WiMax (trådlöst bredband). PTS har alltså för avsikt att dela ut licenser för ett helt nytt system; även denna gång utan att genomföra en nationell miljöprövning. Nu finns det dock tid att rätta till detta misstag och det är därför jag ställer min fråga. Då det gäller forskningen har det inte redovisats en enda studie över hälsoeffekter vid exponering för den frekvens WiMax-systemet utstrålar. Det ända vi vet är att systemet givet upphov till ohälsa där det har testats (dvs i Götene kommun). Frågan är då om man i detta läge bör försämra strålmiljön helt i onödan. Som jag nämnde i min tidigare fråga finns det bättre alternativ till bredbandskommunikation och som inte alls påverkar strålmiljön eller människors hälsa. Detta gäller trådbunden kommunikation. Det fasta telenätet är redan utbyggt till så gott som alla svenska hushåll och, där det inte redan är gjort, kan telestationerna uppgraderas för bredbandskommunikation som blir både billigare och bättre för användarna. Som jag redan nämnt strider PTS planerade åtgärd mot såväl EG-rätten som miljöbalken. Min fråga är hur centerpartiet tänker agera i frågan. Mvh Mats Dämvik …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. FOLKETS VILJA har i sitt partiprogram bland annat följande punkter: STOPP FÖR VIDARE UTBYGGNAD AV TRÅDLÖSA KOMMUNIKATIONSSYSTEM En rad vetenskapliga studier visar att strålningen från moderna tekniker såsom mobiltelefoni, trådlösa telefoner (Dect), trådlösa nätverk (WLAN), digitala radiosystem (Tetra eller i Sverige kallat Rakel), trådlösa bredband (WiMAX, xMax) skadar allt levande. Eftersom de etablerade politiska partierna inte vill se och förstå eller göra något, så tänker vi verka för bättre folkhälsa genom att förhindra vidare utbyggnad av trådlösa tekniker samt minska nivåerna av den redan befintliga strålningen till dess att oberoende forskning säkerställt att de inte kommer att ge några negativa hälsokonsekvenser på sikt. Tills vidare kräver Folkets Vilja att gränsvärdet för tillåten mikrovågsstrålning omedelbart sänks till den nivå som rekommenderas av Salzburg Health Department i Österrike: 1 miljondels Watt per kvadratmeter i strålningstäthet (1µW/m2). Barn är mycket känsligare för elektromagnetisk strålning än vuxna. På dagis och skolor ska trådlösa system omgående tas bort. En utbyggnad med fiberoptisk teknik ska istället främjas. FOLKETS VILJA värnar om den svenska offentlighetsprincipen och att miljöbalkens försiktighetsprincip skall tillämpas i alla samhällsfrågor. Utförligare beskrivning finns på vår hemsida: www.folketsvilja.se Med vänlig hälsning Donald Forsberg …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Kristdemokraternas svar på din fråga är otvetydigt ja. Att trådlöst bredband utnyttjas för att nå en acceptabel överföringskapacitet i hela landet är viktigt, men det måste ske med ett större mått av miljöhänsyn än vad som t.ex. var fallet vid utdelningen av 3G-licenserna. Kristdemokraterna har riktat skarp kritik mot att miljöaspekter saknades i den "skönhetstävlingen" och att krav på samordning uppställts först i efterhand. Det misstaget får inte upprepas. mvh Anders Hallberg politiskt sakkunnig, Kristdemokraternas riksdagskansli …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Socialdemokraterna Hej Mats! Tack för ditt mail. Vi Socialdemokrater för en aktiv dialog med de elöverkänsliga om de frågor du tar upp i ditt mail. Vi gör inte anspråk på att kunna allt och dessa kontakter är mycket värdefulla för oss i vårt arbete att göra Sverige till ett varmare, mer mänskligt land för alla. Nu närmast har två av våra ledamöter gjort hembesök hos elöverkänsliga i Värmland för att möta de elöverkänsliga i den vardag de lever. Frågor som togs upp var tillgängligheten i vården, bemötandet av sjukvården och försäkringskassan, sjukersättningen och frågan om en fredad zon i varje kommun där de elöverkänsliga kan uppleva hälsa. Mötet var mycket givande för våra ledamöter och vi kommer att bära med oss deras erfarenheter i vårt fortsatta arbete med att förbättra situationen för de elöverkänsliga. Vi Socialdemokrater tar de elöverkänsligas situation på största allvar och vi gör mycket för att förbättra deras livssituation. Vi har gett Socialstyrelsen och Försäkringskassan i uppdrag att utforma och komma med förslag om en mer kvalitetssäkrad, enhetlig och rättssäker bedömning. Av Försäkringskassans årsredovisning för 2005 framgår att gemensamma processer, arbetsmetoder och tillämpningsstöd har vidareutvecklats i syfte att öka likformigheten i försäkringstillämpningen och en korrekt handläggning av försäkringen. Försäkringskassan har även satsat på fortsatta utbildningar, seminarier och diskussionsforum i syfte att öka likformigheten i tillämpningen. Allt för att elöverkänsliga ska kunna känna sig trygga med att deras arbetsförmåga bedöms korrekt och likformigt över hela landet. Vi jobbar även i för att få till stånd ett mer sammanhållet forskningsprogram om EMS. Med vänliga hälsningar Robin Zachari Socialdemokraterna (S)var Direkt ----------------------------------------- Intresserad av vår politik? Prenumerera på vårt nyhetsbrev, anmäl dig på http://www.sap.se/Templates/Page____2655.aspx ……………………… Hej och tack för ditt svar. Det tycks dock föreligga något missförstånd. Ni svarade på en annan fråga än den jag ställde. Det är följande fråga jag önskar svar på. För närvarande pågår det ett arbete hos Post- och telestyrelsen (PTS) i syfte att dela ut licenser för trådlöst bredband (WiMax). Tanken är att flera parallella nät skall upprättas i landets alla kommuner (se vidare http://www.pts.se/Nyheter/nyhet.asp?Itemid=6061). WiMax-systemet har dock redan testats i Götene kommun där effekten blev att flera överkänsliga personer omedelbart fick fly från sina hem då sändningarna påbörjades. Erfarenheterna därifrån är att WiMax-strålningen är ännu mer ohälsosam för överkänsliga än vad 3G-strålningen är. Precis som faller var vid utdelningen av 3G-licenser uppfyller inte PTS åtgärder de krav försiktighetsprincip ställer. Hälsoriskerna har t.ex. inte utretts i enlighet med EU:s riktlinjer. Detta trots att Sverige förbundit sig att tillämpa dessa riktlinjer vid alla åtgärder som vidtas av våra myndigheter och berör miljön eller människors hälsa. (Se Europeiska rådets resolution om användning av försiktighetsprincipen. Finns tillgänglig som bilaga III i Ordförandeskapets slutsatser från mötet i Nice 2000, http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/sv/ec/00400-r1.%20ann.s0.htm) Miljöbalken ställer även krav på att bästa möjliga teknik skall användas om en verksamhet kan antas medföra olägenhet för människors hälsa eller miljön (MB 2:3). Att strålnivåerna höjs vid en utbyggnad av WiMax-systemet och därmed försämrar vår strålmiljö kan inte ifrågasättas. Så gott som alla hushåll kan redan i dag använda Internet via det trådbundna telenätet. Via ADSL erhåller också användaren en billigare, snabbare och tekniskt sett bättre lösning än den som WiMax-systemet kan erbjuda. Trådlöst bredband erbjuder inte heller någon funktionalitet som inte finns tillgänglig via dess trådbundna motsvarighet. WiMax erbjuder t.ex. ingen mobil kommunikation via Internet. Det är därför mycket svårt att se hur en utbyggnad av WiMax är förenlig med miljöbalkens krav på att bästa möjliga tekniken skall användas. Frågan om vår strålmiljö har även debatterats i riksdagen. Även för de fall då strålnivåerna ligger långt under gränsvärdet uttalade sig miljöministern på följande sätt. "Det som spelar roll och som SSI nu arbetar mycket med är att man i alla sammanhang ska få ned strålnivåerna så långt som över huvud tagit är möjligt. Man pratar ju om "as low as reasonably achievable", det vill säga att man alltid ska se till att göra det som en tumregel. Jag tycker att det är viktigt att vi i praktiken når ned till så låga strålnivåer vi kan, att vi följer forskningen och att vi är så öppna och transparenta som möjligt". (Anf. 32 i interpellationsdebatt 2005/06:333. Finns tillgänglig på http://www.riksdagen.se/webbnav/index.aspx?nid=101&bet=2005/06:114). Har Ert parti för avsikt att verka för att miljölagstiftningen följs i denna fråga? Mvh Mats Dämvik …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Detta är de hittills inkomna svaren och det lär nog inte bli fler. Ta del i debatten, følg link |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: Kalle Hallberg | |
| Youth can't do without phones, alcohol & drugs | ||
| United Kingdom | Created: 15 Sep 2006 | |
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Three studies published today show that young people seem to be drinking too much, smoking tobacco and using mobile phones a great deal. Obviously they can only afford to do this thanks to the fact that all their music is stolen these days. Psychologist Dr. David Sheffield got 100 students to fill in forms normally used to assess gambling addiction, and found that 16 of them (one in six, as the headlines would have it) showed addictive behaviour. Apparently 90 per cent of the students said they took their mobile phone with them everywhere, and a third would phone a friend when they felt down: both clear signs of addiction. By these criteria it would seem we’re all addicts, but Dr. Sheffield also established that one in seven of the students (~15) became bad tempered if denied access to their phone, and would lie about how much they used it. Taking phones away from another group of students lowered their blood pressure within days, and reduced irritation in their lives, but at the cost of social exclusion as they were unable to keep up with social arrangements. Dr David Sheffield concludes that none of this proves users are addicted to their phones; it may just be so central to modern life that doing without it is a strain, but he does recommend occasional breaks from the ever-present connectivity just to make sure addiction doesn’t develop. Meanwhile the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is calling for lower drink-driving limits, bans on alcohol advertising on TV and an increase in the legal age for smoking from 16 to 18, all to curb the use of drink and drugs amongst youth. The government has spent 70 million quid on drugs education in the last 10 years, but the ACMD reports that the impact of school-based schemes has been "slight or non-existent" and could even be counter-productive. Consumption of cannabis seems to have dropped off in recent years, but alcohol use has just about doubled since 1996, particularly amongst young women. Most of the recommendations made by the ACMD will probably be considered and rejected; though the call to increase duty on alcohol would have the happy side-effect of raising money for the treasury, so might be more welcome: for the good of the children. |
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| Click here to view the source article. | ||
| Source: The Register, Bill Ray, 14 Sep. 2006 | ||
| Sworn Testimony of Physicians, Research Scientists, Engineers and Attorneys | |
| USA | Created: 15 Sep 2006 |
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Sworn Testimony of Physicians, Research Scientists, Engineers and Attorneys on Adverse Health Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation Exposure Levels Below Current FCC Human Safety Limits in Jefferson County, Colorado District Court Cases. You may cite this sworn testimony in your proceedings by using the case name and the record number. Sworn Testimony of Physicians, Research Scientists, Engineers and Attorneys on Adverse Health Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation Exposure Levels Below Current FCC Human Safety Limits in Jefferson County, Colorado District Court Cases. 1999 and 2003 Posted below and on the following pages is the sworn testimony in the two rounds of Jefferson County (Colorado) Commission hearings on an HDTV (digital) broadcast super-tower proposal to be sited on Lookout Mountain just outside Denver. These hearings led to two separate court cases. The first round of hearings took place in February through August, 1999. The second round took place in July and August, 2003. Some key testimonies are provided here with the citation to the record. Eighteen physicians opposed the Lookout Mountain super-tower proposal because the broadcast radiation poses significant health risks. 1999 Court Record. The case arising from the 1999 rezoning is “District Court, Jefferson County Colorado” Lake Cedar Group, LLC, v Board of County Commissioners of Jefferson County and Canyon Area Resident for the Environment, a Colorado nonprofit, Defendants-Interveners” 2003 Court Record. The 2003 forward case is “District Court, Jefferson County Colorado 03-CV-3045”, City of Golden, CARE, et al v Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners and Lake Cedar Group, LLC. To accurately cite a witness’s testimony, include the name of the witness, the case title, and the page number of the record, i.e., 1999 testimony of Attorney Bruce DeBoskey, “District Court, Jefferson County Colorado, Lake Cedar Group, LLC, v Board of County Commissioners of Jefferson County and Canyon Area Residents for the Environment, a Colorado nonprofit, Defendants-Interveners”, R 6143-50. *For research purposes we are providing a color-coded Word file that tracks each citation as being either a part of the 1999 case or the 2003 case. This document provides you with the entire text from this and the next six Web pages in this series. Sworn Testimony of Physicians, Research Scientists, Engineers and Attorneys on Adverse Health Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation Exposure Levels Below Current FCC Human Safety Limits in Jefferson County, Colorado District Court Cases. You may cite this sworn testimony in your proceedings by using the case name and the record number. Sworn Testimony of Physicians, Research Scientists, Engineers and Attorneys on Adverse Health Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation Exposure Levels Below Current FCC Human Safety Limits in Jefferson County, Colorado District Court Cases. 1999 and 2003 Read the story at link: www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/testimony1.htm |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: Agnes | |
| NURSE PETITIONS THE U.S. SUPREME COURT TO BLOCK ADVANCED WIRELESS SERVICES | |
| USA | Created: 15 Sep 2006 |
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HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPPORT Maria Gonzalez, a critical-care nurse and mother of two daughters who attend public school in Astoria, Queens, NY has petitioned the United States Supreme Court to block licenses from commencing operations at frequencies designated for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) in the August 2006 FCC auction. In her Supreme Court Docket # 06-175 Petition for Writ of Mandamus, Mrs. Gonzalez asks the Court to require that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit direct the FCC to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) addressing human health risks before authorizing licenses to commence operations. In a comment filed with the FCC, Mrs. Gonzalez said, “Serious studies need to be undertaken to determine the effects of these towers on human health. These studies will take time and it is totally unacceptable for anyone to think that we will allow our children to be guinea pigs in the interim. Obviously if 5 or 10 years from now it is determined that there is a safety issue it will be too late for children who have been exposed for all that time.” NEPA requires all federal agencies to prepare a detailed statement delineating the impacts of major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. The FCC’s August, 2006 AWS spectrum auction offered 1,122 licenses for market areas nationwide for an estimated dollar amount in excess of $13 billion. At the heart of the case are the FCC’s existing RF safety standards based on the thermal impact of RF radiation – the level at which the electrical energy is high enough to heat human flesh. Mrs. Gonzalez, along with The EMR Policy Institute, The American Skin Association, and others oppose the FCC’s current RF standards as short-sighted and inaccurate and have urged the FCC to initiate thorough and comprehensive research and study of the impacts of AWS transmissions on human health using a biological approach. An Amicus Curiae brief has been filed by Healthy Schools Network in support of Mrs. Gonzalez’s Petition. A national organization dedicated to assuring every child and school employee an environmentally safe and healthy school, HSN promotes children’s environmental – “occupational” – health in their “ workplaces” – schools. HSN’s web site is: www.healthyschools.org In its Amicus Brief HSN says the organization is concerned that, “a significant threat to the health of school children and personnel is posed by RF radiation from cell towers placed on or near schools or day care centers.” If the FCC does not conduct an EIS evaluating the risks of the new RF radiation it is about to unleash, it can reasonably be expected that no other agency or local school administrator or parent will step in to produce or to finance an EIS that would generate protection. Hence the significance of a Court-mandated EIS in this case. The Supreme Court is expected to act on the Petition after it returns in October from its summer recess. The full text of the Petition for Writ of Mandamus and the HSN Amicus Curiae brief for can be found at: www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/index.htm Contact: Janet Newton - The EMR Policy Institute Tel: (802) 426-3035 Email: JNewton@emrpolicy.org |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: Iris: Washington, DC - - September 14, 2006 -- | |
| nuovo indirizzo e-mail del Comitato Anti-Elettrosmog Catanzarese | |
| Italy | Created: 14 Sep 2006 |
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Per chi ne fosse eventualmente interessato, Vi comunichiamo il nuovo indirizzo e-mail del Comitato Anti-Elettrosmog Catanzarese: simonalb2@yahoo.it. Cordiali saluti |
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| Source: Comitato Anti-Elettrosmog Catanzarese | |
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