Article From Scottish Newspaper

> Dear All,
>
> Some of you will be aware of the difficulties we've been having  
> finding
> a
> home which isn't iradiated by mobile phone masts, and the new police
> radio
> system TETRA. Well I got a mention in an article in The West Highland
> Free
> Press, a respected newspaper which covers most of the west coast of
> Scotland.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris
>
> Article text:-
>
> Health controversy grows as spread of telecoms masts continues apace.
> West Highland Free Press Newspaper
> http://www.whfp.com/ <http://www.whfp.com/>
> Friday, 24th February, 2005.
>
> MICHAEL RUSSELL on the debate over the proliferation of the TETRA
> microwave
> communication system, due to go live in Skye and Lochalsh next week
>
> Chris Butterfield suffers from a rare condition called
> electro-sensitivity.
> Put simply, the Fife-based photographer is allergic to mobile phone
> technology, specifically the microwave signals which let the rest of
> us
> talk, text and cook.
>
> As allergies go, this is about as bad as it gets. Skin rashes,
> headaches,
> disorientation and nosebleeds are what 30-year-old Chris has to con
> tend
> with whenever he passes a base station mast, or when someone nearby by
> uses
> the latest whizzbang 3G phone. It all makes for a very un comfortable
> and
> difficult life. A trip to the shops or a walk in the country can
> suddenly
> turn into a very painful experience.
>
> Naturally his mother, Liz, wants to help. Last month she visited the
> offices
> of the Free Press to place an advert seeking accommodation on Skye.
> "There
> are wide open spaces in the Highlands where there are no masts," she
> explained. "Chris is looking for somewhere he can live without being
> afraid
> to go for a drive or a walk."
>
> Fife to Skye is a long drive, es pecially for someone who herself
> suffers
> from ME. Evidently a son's health is more important than a mother's
> discomfort. She spent a few days house-hunting, placed the advert,
> then
> went
> back to Leven to wait for the good news.
>
> What she got, however, was bad news. Now she and Chris will be staying
> put,
> at least for the time being. The Highlands and Islands, it transpires,
> are
> no longer the safe haven sought by mother and son. They know what to
> blame
> for that.
>
> As of this month, Northern Constabulary started switching on its new
> "Airwave" system of microwave communication, promising police officers
> unprecedented access to data, encrypted security and inter-force
> capability.
>
> Activating a vast network of Airwave antennae across Northern
> Constabulary's
> eight area commands means a lot more masts, and a lot more radiation,
> for
> people like Chris Butterfield to dodge. The roll-out started in
> Lochaber at
> the beginning of this month, and is due to end when Skye and Lochalsh
> "goes
> live" next week.
>
> According to Northern Constabulary, the whole Integrated  
> Communiciation
> Development Programme - of which Airwave is the central element - has
> cost
> £4.5 million. Nationally, almost £3 billion of taxpayers' money
> has been
> spent to date on putting the basic Airwave system in place, so the
> Government is expecting big things from it. The rush to complete the
> national roll-out as soon as possible was driven by Gordon Brown's
> decision
> four years ago to sell all the police frequencies to an expectant
> mobile
> phone industry desperate to recoup the huge amounts spent on 3G
> technology.
> But many global players, both commercial and military, also want
> Airwave up
> and running because of its own intrinsic value.
>
> Already various upgrades and add-ons, many with future military
> applications, are coming on the market. American telecoms giant
> Motorola -
> which dominates the UK Airwave market - launched the next generation
> of
> masts just three months ago. Arms giants Thales, EADS and Northrop
> Grumman
> also offer Airwave products and services. Inevitably, the cost is
> bound
> to
> increase over the course of the 15-year contract. This is a
> world-first,
> after all.
>
> Over the last five years around 3,500 Airwave antennae, most of them
> site-sharing with other operators and thus free from the usual
> planning
> constraints, have been put up nationwide. Northern Constabulary Chief
> Constable Ian Latimer initially said the force needed 287 Airwave
> sites
> to
> cover the Highlands and Islands. That figure now stands at 150,
> raising
> concerns about how full coverage can be achieved with fewer masts. All
> the
> UK's 51 police forces are committed to Airwave, and this makes
> thousands of
> electro-sensitives like Chris nervous. They are not alone.
>
> Since the system was piloted in Lancashire in 2000, there has been a
> steady
> stream of complaints from both users (police officers) and communities
> near
> to transmitters. Violent reactions like those experienced by Chris
> Butterfield have occurred in people not known as electrosensitive.
> What
> is
> it about Airwave that might affect ordinary people in this way? And
> are
> its
> effects being ignored - or worse, covered up - by the industry?
>
> The health controversy centres on two aspects of the system - the
> alleged
> pulsing of the microwave signals from Airwave police handsets
>
> and base stations, and the fact that base station transmitters are on
> full
> power 24/7. Ordinary mobile phone masts, by contrast, respond to
> demand,
> adjusting their power output accordingly.
>
> Airwave is the light and fluffy brand name chosen for this technology
> by
> mobile company 02, which was formerly part of BT. The system is more
> accurately known as TErrestrial Trunked RAdio - TETRA.
>
> During the Lancashire pilot study, 177 police officers complained of
> the
> same symptoms described by Chris Butterfield. Behavioural and
> emotional
> changes were also noted. Such was the concern within the police
> service
> at
> the time that the Police Federation commissioned
>
> Government microwave expert Barrie Trower to investigate the
> technology. His
> findings were shocking.
>
> "Since the system was piloted in Lancashire in 2000, there has been a
> steady
> stream of complaints from users and from
> communities near to transmitters"
>
> Microwaves from the UK's 40,000 mobile phone masts are bad news.
> Pulsed
> microwaves from TETRA are even worse. Mr Trower said both interfere
> with the
> electrical processes within the body and, depending on their
> frequency,
> can
> produce very specific effects and will even degrade immune systems in
> the
> long term. The 17.6 Hz frequency used by TETRA is especially
> significant:
> that is slap bang in the middle of the 15-20 Hz range which
> characterises
> the brain's electrical activity when engaged in complex mental tasks.
> Referred to in neuroscience as Beta Waves, this frequency range is
> also
> evident during the dream-state of sleep, which sufferers say is
> disrupted
> because of TETRA. Strobe lights are banned from flashing at this rate
> for
> this very reason, in case they induce an epileptic fit.
>
> When he was head of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones, Sir
> William Stewart, now chairman of the Health
>
> Protection Agency and formerly chairman of the National Radiological
> Protection Board, warned in 2000 that this frequency should be
> avoided.
> The
> Group noted that there "is now scientific evidence which suggests that
> there
> may be biological effects" occurring at exposure levels below official
> limits for microwaves from mobile phone (known in the industry as GSM)
> technology. Children under eight, said Sir William, should never use a
> mobile phone at all as they have thinner skulls than adults and their
> nervous systems are still developing.
>
> As a result of the IEGMP's findings, microwave emissions from mobile
> phone
> masts and TETRA transmitters now have to stick to stringent
> international
> limits, which came into force in the UK in 2004. In an effort to allay
> public fears, the NRPB told the telecoms regulator OFCOM in 2004 to
> put
> all
> emissions data from GSM and TETRA base stations on their website. So
> far,
> only four masts in Scotland have been listed on Of corn's Sitefinder
> facility. None of the four is north of Falkirk, and no TETRA masts are
> included.
>
> OFCOM spokesman Simon Bates told me that the Home Office had prevented
> the
> publication of any TETRA readings on security grounds. Verifying
> industry
> claims that TETRA complies with official microwave limits is therefore
> impossible.
>
> But crucially for Mr Trower, and a growing body of expert opinion,
> those
> offical limits - enforced by the International Commission on
> Non-Ionising
> Radiation Protection - are badly flawed because they only cover the
> body
> heating effects of the radiation.
>
> Since the Stewart Report of 2000, IEGMP consultees Dr Gerald Hyland
> and
> Dr
> Roger Coghill have published several papers which suggest, in common
> with Mr
> Trower, that key frequencies emitted by TETRA and mobile phone masts
> produce
> specific effects for entirely different reasons.
>
> In a paper prepared for the European Parliament, Dr Hyland wrote:
> "Unlike
> the heating effect exposure to microwaves which can, if excessive,
> cause
> actual material damage, non-thermal influences act in a more subtle
> way, via
> their potentiality to interfere with biological functionality - in
> particular, it would appear, with bioprocesses which are intended to
> afford
> (natural) protection against adverse health effects of various kinds."
>
> The industry, including its paid reseachers and political advocates,
> is
> unmoved. Recognising non-thermal effects, despite Sir William  
> Stewart's
> admission, is still some way off. In fact, the official line is that
> TETRA
> signals from base stations do not pulse.
>
> This assertion, say the Scottish Green Party, is a "hair-splitting"
> argument
> which averages out the signal over a set time period. Messrs Trower,
> Hyland
> and Coghill say the same. However, 02 do admit that the police
> handsets
> and
> car-mounted antennae do pulse. Makers of rival system TETRAPOL, which
> is
> used by the emergency services across Europe, say that UK TETRA base
> stations do pulse, though you might expect the competition to say
> that.
>
> SEEKING some kind of clarity, I spoke to a man who should be able to
> give a
> definitive answer to the pulsing question.
>
> Dr Michael Clark is a leading radiation expert who works for the
> Health
> Protection Agency, the body which absorbed Sir William Stewart's NRPB
> in
> April of last year. The HP A acknowledge that TETRA is different from
> other
> microwave technologies. But how different? Does it pulse?
>
> According to Dr Clark, any electrical signal has to drop to zero to
> qualify
> as pulsed. "That is the offical definition that has been recognised
> for
> 30
> years," he explained. "However, the TETRA signal does rise and fall at
> specific frequencies."
>
> Could this rising and falling produce a biological effect? "That
> cannot
> be
> ruled out," he replied.
>
> Dr Clark also acknowledged that all the current research being
> conducted by
> the Home Office was focused on the handsets and car-mounted antennae
> used by
> police officers. Not a single health study has been conducted on
> communities
> near any of the 3,500 TETRA sites in the UK. "We do need more research
> in
> this area," Dr Clark observed.
>
> Such a move would certainly be welcomed by concerned residents across
> the
> UK. Groups from as far afield as Bognor Regis and Perthshire have
> reported
> the same symptoms as those felt by Chris Butterfield. And very few of
> them
> qualify as electro-sensitives.
>
> Arthur Jarrett, an anti-TETRA activist from Wormit in Fife - where
> councillors refused 02 planning permission for a TETRA mast last year
> -
> said
> more and more ordinary people were reporting microwave symptoms  
> because
> the
> technology had changed so rapidly in such a short space of time. The
> proliferation of masts and phones (the latter increasing in number
> tenfold
> in the UK between 1995 and 2005) and the advent of 3G meant, he said,
> that
> power outputs had increased considerably to give full coverage and to
> "do
> all the wonderful things" the industry promises. "TETRA is an added
> nuisance," Mr Jarret commented.
>
> For some it is more than a minor irritant. When a TETRA mast went live
> just
> a few hundred yards from Littlehamptom Primary School in Sussex in
> 2004,11
> children were sent home with headaches and nosebleeds.
>
> Originally from Ness in Lewis, Graham Morrison now stays in Partick,
> Glasgow, and last week chaired a public meeting in the local baptist
> church.
> "It was the cheapest venue we could afford," he said.
>
> There's nothing funny about his microwave symptoms, or those of around
> 50
> fellow sufferers who stay in just two streets in Thornwood. "It
> started
> about a year ago with headaches, tiredness and muscular pains," Mr
> Morrison
> added. "The doctors couldn't find anything wrong, but the problems
> persisted. Then others came forward with the same symptoms."
>
> According to Mr Morrison, all the Thornwood sufferers began reporting
> microwave symptoms at the same time as two masts, 3G and TETRA, were
> put up
> in the area. "There are now 15 masts in the Partick area," he added.
> "The
> worst affected are those who live in the cross-lines between the 3G
> and
> TETRA masts.
>
> "People here are getting angry because they feel they are being
> ignored.
> Everyone wants to know why the authorities won't recognise what's
> going
> on -
> why are they covering this up?"
>
> David Baron, who lives in Chichester, told me that five local police
> officers had complained of similar symptoms when using TETRA handsets
> there.
> "They have been told not to go anywhere near the press because they
> will
> lose their jobs," he added.
>
> Rural police users of TETRA, it seems, may have more to fear from the
> technology than their urban counterparts. Home Office research
> conducted by
> the University of Birmingham in 2004 warned that PCs working night
> shift in
> rural areas should be given "special attention" as their usage of
> TETRA
> equipment is likely to be heavier in comparison to city police forces,
> where
> staffing levels are higher.
>
> These concerns were given added weight by a study conducted by
> Sweden's
> University Hospital last year which found that the risk of developing
> a
> brain tumour was six times higher among mobile phone users in rural
> areas
> than in cities. The reason stated by the authors was the greater
> distance
> between base stations in rural areas, and thus the higher power output
> of
> masts to achieve full coverage.
>
> The University of Birmingham report, entitled "Airwave Patterns of Use
> Study", also warns that microwave exposure levels for the general
> public
> could exceed official ICNIRP limits if a person's head were within a
> "few
> centimetres" of a police car's antenna. However, the report then goes
> on
> to
> state that no data on microwave emissions was forthcoming from the  
> only
> manufacturers of the car-mounted antennae chosen to take part in the
> study,
> Welsh firm Cleartone.
>
> Other police health studies, such as the long-term project being
> conducted
> by Imperial College London, bemoan the difficulty in obtaining
> accurate
> call-duration records from 02 so that exposure can be measured. The
> latest
> ICL study also found that linking an individual TETRA user's
> subscriber
> number with a PC's collar ID was an "immediate concern" and far from
> staightforward.
>
> LOCHCARRON councillor Ewen Mackinnon, who has served on the Northern
> Joint
> Police Board for several years, acknowledged there did seem to be a
> degree
> of uncertainty with regard to the health effects of TETRA on both
> users
> and
> the public. However, the board's main concern had been the financial
> implications of the new system, he said. Indeed, he told me last week
> that
> members were still awaiting clarification from the Scottish Executive
> about
> fully funding Airwave through Grant Aided Expenditure.
>
> As the council tax accounts for 20 per cent Northern Constabulary's
> total
> budget, Mr Mackinnon wanted assurances that the cost of Airwave -the
> jewel
> in the crown of the force's Integrated Communications Development
> Programme - would not be passed on to taxpayers. This, he said, was
> especially significant in the Highlands and Islands as the basic TETRA
> package cannot give full coverage over our mountainous terrain.
>
> Northern Constabulary say that 98 per cent of the funding for ICDP has
> come
> from the executive in the GAE settlement.
>
> Mr Mackinnon added: "Northern Constabulary had no option about taking
> Airwave. The Scottish Executive forced them and said 'this is what's
> going
> to happen'."
>
> This view is reinforced by a look at the minutes of the Northern
> Police
> Board.
>
> On 25th January 2002, the minutes noted: "A contract for central
> procurement
> had been offered to this force, among others, through a Consortium,
> inviting
> Forces to commit to its terms by 26th February 2002.
>
> "The chief constable was currently seeking legal advice, sight of the
> contract documents and advice from the Scottish Executive on the
> financial
> implications of the proposed contract before making a recommendation
> to
> Members on the proposed procurement arrangement."
>
> But at the next Board meeting on 11th April the deal was done and
> dusted,
> without members getting a look at the documents or getting to meet
> Justice
> Minister Jim Wallace - a move agreed at the meeting of 25th January.
>
> Board members had been given one month to consider taking Airwave
> before the
> 26th February deadline, but were given no contract information and no
> costings on which to base their conclusions.
>
> The minutes of 11th April make it clear that only the Chief Constable
> had
> access to any kind of detailed information in the interim, which
> included a
> meeting with the Scottish Executive.
>
> Was he given no choice, as Mr Mackinnon maintained, but to accept
> TETRA
> at
> this meeting?
>
> This leads on to another question: who is pushing TETRA so hard, and
> why?
>
> TO BE CONCLUDED
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

> a
> home which isn't iradiated by mobile phone masts, and the new police
> radio
> system TETRA. Well I got a mention in an article in The West Highland
> Free
> Press, a respected newspaper which covers most of the west coast of
> Scotland.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris

> a
> home which isn't iradiated by mobile phone masts, and the new police
> radio
> system TETRA. Well I got a mention in an article in The West Highland
> Free
> Press, a respected newspaper which covers most of the west coast of
> Scotland.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris

> a
> home which isn't iradiated by mobile phone masts, and the new police
> radio
> system TETRA. Well I got a mention in an article in The West Highland
> Free
> Press, a respected newspaper which covers most of the west coast of
> Scotland.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris

> Well, surely it ES still rare, in the severe form that many (most?) of the
> people in this group have. Otherwise I am sure that there would be a
> little
> more awareness of it and support groups would be bigger! Around here in
> the
> UK my best estimate is between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 10000 people, because we
> have found only a handful of other sufferers locally, and some hundreds or
> thousands nationally out of a population of 60 million. Both Sue and I
> felt
> very isolated and out on a limb until we went to Breakspear Hospital and
> found there were other people like her.
>
> That being said, I think that current sufferers are the early warning
> signs
> - the tip of a huge future iceberg.
>
> The proportion in Sweden is considerably higher - several thousand in
> their
> FEB group from a population of a few million, with Government recognition
> of
> the effect and that the actual number of sufferers is far higher. But
> many
> of them are simply reporting facial and skin effects, much of which can be
> attributed to heavy VDU use over the years. This is much less socially
> affecting than the more severe types of ES. This distinction is drawn
> quite
> well by the UK Health Protection Agency report, which recognises the
> "major
> social consequences" of this more general/severe type.
>
> Ian
>

> Well, surely it ES still rare, in the severe form that many (most?) of the
> people in this group have. Otherwise I am sure that there would be a
> little
> more awareness of it and support groups would be bigger! Around here in
> the
> UK my best estimate is between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 10000 people, because we
> have found only a handful of other sufferers locally, and some hundreds or
> thousands nationally out of a population of 60 million. Both Sue and I
> felt
> very isolated and out on a limb until we went to Breakspear Hospital and
> found there were other people like her.
>
> That being said, I think that current sufferers are the early warning
> signs
> - the tip of a huge future iceberg.
>
> The proportion in Sweden is considerably higher - several thousand in
> their
> FEB group from a population of a few million, with Government recognition
> of
> the effect and that the actual number of sufferers is far higher. But
> many
> of them are simply reporting facial and skin effects, much of which can be
> attributed to heavy VDU use over the years. This is much less socially
> affecting than the more severe types of ES. This distinction is drawn
> quite
> well by the UK Health Protection Agency report, which recognises the
> "major
> social consequences" of this more general/severe type.
>
> Ian
>

> Well, surely it ES still rare, in the severe form that many (most?) of the
> people in this group have. Otherwise I am sure that there would be a
> little
> more awareness of it and support groups would be bigger! Around here in
> the
> UK my best estimate is between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 10000 people, because we
> have found only a handful of other sufferers locally, and some hundreds or
> thousands nationally out of a population of 60 million. Both Sue and I
> felt
> very isolated and out on a limb until we went to Breakspear Hospital and
> found there were other people like her.
>
> That being said, I think that current sufferers are the early warning
> signs
> - the tip of a huge future iceberg.
>
> The proportion in Sweden is considerably higher - several thousand in
> their
> FEB group from a population of a few million, with Government recognition
> of
> the effect and that the actual number of sufferers is far higher. But
> many
> of them are simply reporting facial and skin effects, much of which can be
> attributed to heavy VDU use over the years. This is much less socially
> affecting than the more severe types of ES. This distinction is drawn
> quite
> well by the UK Health Protection Agency report, which recognises the
> "major
> social consequences" of this more general/severe type.
>
> Ian
>

> Well, surely it ES still rare, in the severe form that many (most?) of the
> people in this group have. Otherwise I am sure that there would be a
> little
> more awareness of it and support groups would be bigger! Around here in
> the
> UK my best estimate is between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 10000 people, because we
> have found only a handful of other sufferers locally, and some hundreds or
> thousands nationally out of a population of 60 million. Both Sue and I
> felt
> very isolated and out on a limb until we went to Breakspear Hospital and
> found there were other people like her.
>
> That being said, I think that current sufferers are the early warning
> signs
> - the tip of a huge future iceberg.
>
> The proportion in Sweden is considerably higher - several thousand in
> their
> FEB group from a population of a few million, with Government recognition
> of
> the effect and that the actual number of sufferers is far higher. But
> many
> of them are simply reporting facial and skin effects, much of which can be
> attributed to heavy VDU use over the years. This is much less socially
> affecting than the more severe types of ES. This distinction is drawn
> quite
> well by the UK Health Protection Agency report, which recognises the
> "major
> social consequences" of this more general/severe type.
>
> Ian
>

> charles
> Sent: 28 February 2006 22:36
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [eSens] Re: Article From Scottish Newspaper
>
>
> Hello Ian,
>
> I see it different.
>
> I do many house investigations as a building biologist, and are in

>
> Greetings,
> Charles Claessens
> member Verband Baubiologie
> www.milieuziektes.nl
> www.milieuziektes.be
> www.hetbitje.nl
> checked by Norton Antivirus
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ian Kemp" <ianandsue.kemp@...>
> To: <[hidden email]>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 19:22
> Subject: RE: [eSens] Re: Article From Scottish Newspaper
>
>
> > Well, surely it ES still rare, in the severe form that many

> > "major
> > social consequences" of this more general/severe type.
> >
> > Ian
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> SPONSORED LINKS
> Health
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?

> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
>
>
> _____  
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

> charles
> Sent: 28 February 2006 22:36
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [eSens] Re: Article From Scottish Newspaper
>
>
> Hello Ian,
>
> I see it different.
>
> I do many house investigations as a building biologist, and are in

>
> Greetings,
> Charles Claessens
> member Verband Baubiologie
> www.milieuziektes.nl
> www.milieuziektes.be
> www.hetbitje.nl
> checked by Norton Antivirus
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ian Kemp" <ianandsue.kemp@...>
> To: <[hidden email]>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 19:22
> Subject: RE: [eSens] Re: Article From Scottish Newspaper
>
>
> > Well, surely it ES still rare, in the severe form that many

> > "major
> > social consequences" of this more general/severe type.
> >
> > Ian
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> SPONSORED LINKS
> Health
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?

> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
>
>
> _____
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>