Germany warns citizens to avoid using Wi-Fi, cell and cordless phones

http://environment.independent.co.uk/lifestyle/article2944417.ece


Germany warns citizens to avoid using Wi-Fi

Environment Ministry's verdict on the health risks from wireless technology
puts the British government to shame. By Geoffrey Lean
Published: 09 September 2007

People should avoid using Wi-Fi wherever possible because of the risks it
may pose to health, the German government has said.

Its surprise ruling – the most damning made by any government on the
fast-growing technology – will shake the industry and British ministers, and
vindicates the questions that The Independent on Sunday has been raising over the past
four months.

Germany's official radiation protection body also advises its citizens to
use landlines instead of mobile phones, and warns of "electrosmog" from a wide
range of other everyday products, from baby monitors to electric blankets.

The German government's ruling – which contrasts sharply with the
unquestioning promotion of the technology by British officials – was made in response to
a series of questions by Green members of the Bundestag, Germany's
parliament.

The Environment Ministry recommended that people should keep their exposure
to radiation from Wi-Fi "as low as possible" by choosing "conventional wired
connections". It added that it is "actively informing people about
possibilities for reducing personal exposure".

Its actions will provide vital support for Sir William Stewart, Britain's
official health protection watchdog, who has produced two reports calling for
caution in using mobile phones and who has also called for a review of the use
of Wi-Fi in schools. His warnings have so far been ignored by ministers and
even played down by the Health Protection Agency, which he chairs.

By contrast the agency's German equivalent – the Federal Office for
Radiation Protection – is leading the calls for caution.

Florian Emrich, for the office, says Wi-Fi should be avoided "because people
receive exposures from many sources and because it is a new technology
and...research into its health effects has not yet been carried out".




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For those who might know the answers to my questions:

We are thinking of buying a 5th wheel rv. I have been searching for the past year, as I cannot travel by plane, train, or boat anymore due to my extreme allergy to pesticides. We can locate used rvs, but they all seem to either have pesticides or mold in them. So we have located a new one finally, that we like and I tolerate better than all others we have seen. The dealer will not turn on the systems to show us how they work until we actually buy it. So my questions are these:

For those who know a bit about rvs, what would I likely react to from an ES standpoint? I need to know since I am calling the manufacturer tomorrow to ask what I would be able to disable or remove, if need be. I react to magnetic frequencies worst, cell phones, cell towers, wi-fi and digital type electronics... I do not seem to react much to lights (florescents bother me some but I have no need to be near them often and know no one who uses halogens; my computer screen doesn't appear to bother me...) Would I have problems with the generator or solar panels? What should I look out for?

Also, the rv we are looking at has alot of real wood in it, so the out-gassing seems to bother me much less than with most rvs. However, the carpets are glued down and seem to need to stay. (I called the manufacturer before to see if we could rip them out.) Carpet out-gassing really bothers me. For those of you who have used ozone machines, do they work well for out-gassing of all types and particularly for carpet out-gassing??? If we bought the rv now and ozoned and aired out the rv, might it be out-gassed by winter or next spring? I know these are rather nebulous questions and any info you give me is more conjecture than anything. But I would appreciate as much info as possible. We are planning to full-time it in the rv until we can build a house I won't react to, since we are having no luck finding such a house already built.

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Diane


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Hi Diane,

Evie wrote:
> The dealer will not turn on the systems to show us how they work until we actually buy it.
>

That is unfortunate. I certainly have been there done that, and caution:
to look carefully WHERE the electrical panel is.

If you are electrical sensitive, you will not like the battery charger
transformer in the electrical panel. It throws a very large magnetic
field in all RVs I have checked.
Also, if the electrical panel is under the front bed, as most 5th wheels
are, it will conflict with sleeping.

I ended up getting a bumper-tow type, and disconnecting that wiring
inside the panel. So I made it possible to turn on the trailer, (or plug
in to AC), but I certainly was better with the trailer unplugged.

Therefore, point #2: How the refrigerator works without AC power.
The first trailer I bought, was very noisy, and I did not sleep well the
first night. The refrigerator had a compressor type cooling system
working on propane. The second trailer, I made sure I got an
ammonia-type system by Norcold. No moving parts. (relatively speaking)
That worked very nicely.

Third point, running the furnace on 12V DC.
The second trailer was badly wired, using the frame as ground/negative,
so it took me some time to remove the magnetic field generated
throughout the trailer when the heater was on.
Another rewiring job, using transformer filters usually associated with
powering boom-boom sound systems for autos, and direct wired to the fuse
panel.

Those are the 3 major things I had to watch for.

>
> I react to magnetic frequencies worst, cell phones, cell towers, wi-fi and digital type

like me, yes.

> I do not seem to react much to lights (florescents bother me some

avoid florescent ballasts, as those transformers throw magnetic fields,
and lots of noise onto the AC lines (reference to GS filters and meters
in previous threads)

> Would I have problems with the generator or solar panels?

I was fine with a solar panel. It does not cause emissions.
The generator or converter does.


> Carpet out-gassing really bothers me.

even old carpets? I was lucky that way, I can tolerate older carpet.

> those of you who have used ozone machines, do they work well for out-gassing of all types and particularly for carpet out-gassing???

I did run the ozone generator full time, for a while.
I think it helped. But I'm not sure if ozone is a perfect solution, as
too much is supposedly a bad thing too.

> If we bought the rv now and ozoned and aired out the rv, might it be out-gassed by winter or next spring?

That would indeed be a vague answer. It depends. But if you can mitigate
the magnetic issues, it would be likely that the odor problem can be
overcome.

Do you have a simple directional gauss meter, like Dr.Gauss?

When I looked far and wide for a trailer, I focused on placement of
electrical, in relation to location of living and bed.
I like: Bed in back, Kitchen in front, Bath in middle. Electrical panel
in front, near batteries, which I am also sensitive to.

Good luck,
Stewart

Thanks, Stewart!
   
I am SO glad I asked! These are things I would have never thought to look for. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with me.
   
Diane

"Stewart A." <[hidden email]> wrote:
Hi Diane,

Evie wrote:
> The dealer will not turn on the systems to show us how they work until weactually buy it.
>

That is unfortunate. I certainly have been there done that, and caution:
to look carefully WHERE the electrical panel is.

If you are electrical sensitive, you will not like the battery charger
transformer in the electrical panel. It throws a very large magnetic
field in all RVs I have checked.
Also, if the electrical panel is under the front bed, as most 5th wheels
are, it will conflict with sleeping.

I ended up getting a bumper-tow type, and disconnecting that wiring
inside the panel. So I made it possible to turn on the trailer, (or plug
in to AC), but I certainly was better with the trailer unplugged.

Therefore, point #2: How the refrigerator works without AC power.
The first trailer I bought, was very noisy, and I did not sleep well the
first night. The refrigerator had a compressor type cooling system
working on propane. The second trailer, I made sure I got an
ammonia-type system by Norcold. No moving parts. (relatively speaking)
That worked very nicely.

Third point, running the furnace on 12V DC.
The second trailer was badly wired, using the frame as ground/negative,
so it took me some time to remove the magnetic field generated
throughout the trailer when the heater was on.
Another rewiring job, using transformer filters usually associated with
powering boom-boom sound systems for autos, and direct wired to the fuse
panel.

Those are the 3 major things I had to watch for.

>
> I react to magnetic frequencies worst, cell phones, cell towers, wi-fi and digital type

like me, yes.

> I do not seem to react much to lights (florescents bother me some

avoid florescent ballasts, as those transformers throw magnetic fields,
and lots of noise onto the AC lines (reference to GS filters and meters
in previous threads)

> Would I have problems with the generator or solar panels?

I was fine with a solar panel. It does not cause emissions.
The generator or converter does.

> Carpet out-gassing really bothers me.

even old carpets? I was lucky that way, I can tolerate older carpet.

> those of you who have used ozone machines, do they work well for out-gassing of all types and particularly for carpet out-gassing???

I did run the ozone generator full time, for a while.
I think it helped. But I'm not sure if ozone is a perfect solution, as
too much is supposedly a bad thing too.

> If we bought the rv now and ozoned and aired out the rv, might it be out-gassed by winter or next spring?

That would indeed be a vague answer. It depends. But if you can mitigate
the magnetic issues, it would be likely that the odor problem can be
overcome.

Do you have a simple directional gauss meter, like Dr.Gauss?

When I looked far and wide for a trailer, I focused on placement of
electrical, in relation to location of living and bed.
I like: Bed in back, Kitchen in front, Bath in middle. Electrical panel
in front, near batteries, which I am also sensitive to.

Good luck,
Stewart



                         

       
---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> those of you who have used ozone machines, do they work well for
> out-gassing of all types and particularly for carpet out-gassing???

Since I don't seem to be bothered much by carpet that is older than
a couple weeks, I'm probably not the best person to comment. However,
I do have a lot of experience with ozone air purifiers. My favorite
solution is to run them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The problem
with this is that most ozone generators on the market put out too
much ozone for this type of use, so you need to find one of the
weaker models. Especially if you're dealing with a small space
like an RV. The ones which generate ozone via a UV light are
pretty weak, and perhaps suitable for such a task. Biozone
Scientific models are okay, although I'm sure there are other
brands. Of course, if your ES is so bad that you don't want
to have an electrically powered device running 24/7, then this
won't work for you (the Biozones use a 12 volt AC/DC transformer,
but don't raise the readings on a Stetzer meter).

Marc

I would definitely try metal screens or scotchtint amber metallic on
the windows if you'll be places that have cell towers.

The solar system if it is AC (using an inverter) probably makes spikes like
a huge dimmer
switch. Not recommended, but some people tolerate that fine. Conceivably
it could be addressed with ferrite cores or Stetzer filters (but the latter
create
a magnetic field).

For the outgassing maybe you can run a little fan while you're letting it
outgas.

Bill

On 9/10/07, Evie <[hidden email]> wrote:

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Diane wrote:
> The dealer will not turn on the systems to show us how they work until we
> actually buy it.
>
Shivani responds:
Ridiculous. Unscruplous. Suspicious!
>
> Diane asked:
> For those who know a bit about rvs, what would I likely react to from an ES
> standpoint?
>
Shivani replies:
The inverter! The high frequencies it creates will be broadcast from
the wiring. The area right around the invertor will be intense indeed.
(This must cause serious health problems in RVers. One woman told me her
mother lived in an RV for a time, till she got cancer and died. The invertor had
been right under her bed, but nobody had ever had a 2nd thought about it.)
>
> Diane wrote:
> ....the carpets are glued down and seem to need to stay. (I called the
> manufacturer before to see if we could rip them out.) Carpet out-gassing really
> bothers me.
>
Shivani responds:
Why buy a new RV? A slightly used one will cost a whole lot
less, and have undergone outgassing already. We bought a little used camper
that did not outgas whatsoever. With the price of gas ever climbing, used RVs
must be good deals these days.
You mentioned solar panels. If the RV has a solar panel to keep the
battery charged, then when you disconnect from utility power the electricity in
the camper will be even "dirtier."
We ran our camper on just the 12-volt from the battery. We charged the
battery either when we were not present, or by plugging a battery charger
into utility power and clamping the clamps right on the battery - therefore not
activating the inverter.
We ran an extension cord from a nearby building so that I could use an
electric heater that we kept far from our bodies. (If you are going to be
in it in winter, and you live in a cold place, heating it without using
electricity will be a problem.)
The Stetzer filters will help a lot with the utility dirty electricity.
But they will cause meltdown of most inverters. (You can have an
invertor made by a Canadian company with a filter built into it.)

My own first enlightening experience regarding EMF/EMR occurred when we
bought a camper and I spent my first summer in it. I could not fall asleep
for hours, then in the morning woke with great difficulty, feeling literally
drugged. I happened to read an article about EMF, which mentioned inverters.
That night, before I went to bed I unplugged the camper from the utility
pole. I fell asleep easily and next day woke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
even before the alarm went off. An "Aha!" experience.

Good luck,
Shivani
www.LifeEnergies.com



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Bill wrote:
The solar system if it is AC (using an inverter) probably makes spikes like
a huge dimmer switch. Not recommended, but some people tolerate that fine.
Conceivably
it could be addressed with ferrite cores or Stetzer filters (but the latter
create a magnetic field).

Shivani replies:
Using Stetzer filters with an inverter can destroy your inverter, which
is working hard to create frequencies that the filters are doing away with.
There is a slight increase in magnetic field in the 3-4 inches
immediately around a filter. However, that field no longer contains the high
frequencies which are what cause ES symptoms. Research to date shows that it is
the frequencies that cause ES symptoms, not the field strength. Dr. Graham
(co-inventer of the filters) has filters plugged in right behind his bed. He
knows of no negative health effects from clean 50/60 Hz electricity.

Regards,
Shivani


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Does anyone know of a UK supplier of either natural wool carpets without
chemicals or carpet that has been offgassed for some months? The only
supplier that we know of, Construction Resources, has gone into liquidation.
We're not sure of some other firms how "natural" their floors really are.

We are giving up on our new wool carpet after 8 months trying to offgas it.
Still don't know whether it is treatments in the carpet or the green dye
that has caused Sue the problem. We tried everything including steam
cleaning, air filters and ozone generators. All reduced the problem, but
not enough.

Ozone generators have worked fine for us on smaller spaces such as the
interior of cars - eliminating in one case upholstery shampoo, in another
case mould smells, which were impregnated in the upholstery or roof, and
which nothing else would touch.

Ian



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

It is plausible to me that you are right. But if so, one should be
careful about other capacitative loads, like my new Panasonic
exhaust fan. I don't think the inverter is "trying" to create high
frequencies--it's just doing a crude job of making 60 Hz.

I could imagine putting a ferrite filter, and I don't see how that could
cause a problem if you use one designed for 60 Hz, like model 475
from iceradioproducts (did I mention I have no connection with them--
it's just the only place I know to get a serious 60 Hz filter). One filter
that size might get overloaded so check out the amps first...

Bill


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The following is as cheap as it can be. I have done it twice with  
success. Go buy some onions, the strongest, stinkiest ones you can  
find. Cut them in thin slices and distribute them around your  
carpet. Probably 5-6 sliced thinly would be enough.

I have done this myself twice. My boss had a lecture hall recarpeted  
the day before there was a lecture scheduled. I came in at noon and  
almost passed out. I am not a real sensitive but in those days I was  
more sensitive than I am now. I made a phone call to a medical  
intuitive and she suggested this. I had nothing to lose so I gave it  
a a try. I have since recommended to several people who have had  
varying degrees of success with it.

The second time was recently when we bought a new mattress. This time  
I put the slices on paper plates as I did not want the onion juice  
soaking into the fabric. It cut it quite a bit the first day. The  
second day it was better and on the third day we made the bed and  
slept in it.

Hope this helps,

Yolanda
On Sep 12, 2007, at 6:01 PM, Ian Kemp wrote:



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I should also add that it is by no means a given that clean 50/60 Hz is
safe.
The bioInitiative report recommends 1 milligauss or less, and a couple
Stetzer filters behind the bed could exceed that, especially if the wiring
is
not great. For the most part I think Stetzer filters will give a benefit
and
the magnetic fields will be less than what is already there. But at night
it's better to turn of the breakers or have a switch to turn off all the
bedroom
outlets.

Bill

On 9/12/07, [hidden email] <[hidden email]> wrote:

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks Marc, SArjuna, Bill, Stewart,

And any others who I have forgotten who wrote info regarding buying an rvor ozone for the remediation of out-gassing. I appreciate your info and am busy processing or implementing it. Thanks again.  
   
Diane
Evie <[hidden email]> wrote:
For those who might know the answers to my questions:

We are thinking of buying a 5th wheel rv. I have been searching for the past year, as I cannot travel by plane, train, or boat anymore due to my extreme allergy to pesticides. We can locate used rvs, but they all seem to either have pesticides or mold in them. So we have located a new one finally, that we like and I tolerate better than all others we have seen. The dealer will not turn on the systems to show us how they work until we actually buyit. So my questions are these:

For those who know a bit about rvs, what would I likely react to from an ESstandpoint? I need to know since I am calling the manufacturer tomorrow toask what I would be able to disable or remove, if need be. I react to magnetic frequencies worst, cell phones, cell towers, wi-fi and digital type electronics... I do not seem to react much to lights (florescents bother me some but I have no need to be near them often and know no one who uses halogens; my computer screen doesn't appear to bother me...) Would I have problems with the generator or solar panels? What should I look out for?

Also, the rv we are looking at has alot of real wood in it, so the out-gassing seems to bother me much less than with most rvs. However, the carpets are glued down and seem to need to stay. (I called the manufacturer before to see if we could rip them out.) Carpet out-gassing really bothers me. For those of you who have used ozone machines, do they work well for out-gassing of all types and particularly for carpet out-gassing??? If we bought the rv now and ozoned and aired out the rv, might it be out-gassed by winter ornext spring? I know these are rather nebulous questions and any info you give me is more conjecture than anything. But I would appreciate as much info as possible. We are planning to full-time it in the rv until we can builda house I won't react to, since we are having no luck finding such a housealready built.

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Diane

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