cell tower blues

Cell phone headaches, cell tower blues
from the Peterborough Examiner.

by Magda Havas

Imagine a world identical to our own with one exception--everyone is
deaf. There is no radio and television remains at the level of the
silent movie. Telephone communication is visual but beyond that the
world is very much like            our own.

What would such a world be like?

It would probably be very noisy, since there would be no need for noise
control and no regulations to limit noise. Car engines would still
roar, perhaps louder than they do now, tires would squeal, birds would
sing, and thunder            would rumble across the sky but wewould
not be able to hear any of this.

Now, imagine that some people in this world can hear. They don't
realize they are any different except in a few subtle ways. They can
predict the coming of storms. They claim to "hear" thunder at a
distance. They have difficulty sleeping. In the middle of the night
they hear roaring engines, squealing tires, horns blaring and other
things that are silent to the rest of us. Because of their poor sleep,
they are tired during the day. They            become anxious and
worried. The noise frightens them but only they can hear it so they
begin to question their sanity.

One sufferer, John, confides in a friend who is sympathetic and tells
him to visit his family doctor. But the doctor doesn't know what to
make of this. The sleeping pills and tranquilizers she prescribes don't
stop the noise during the day. Another, less sympathetic doctor
recommends a psychiatrist for mental problems. But John doesn't think
he's crazy, or is he?

Now, instead of noise, imagine a world where people can't sense radio
frequency energy.  That is the world we live in. We hear radio
frequencies only when they  are converted to sound by our radios,
televisions, or telephones. If            we could hear them this would
be a very noisy planet. In the middle of a street in any major city you
would hear thousands of simultaneous telephone conversations, hundreds
of radio and television stations. It would probably drive most of us
crazy.

Fortunately most  of us can't "hear" radio frequencies, but some people
can sense them. And just like in our make believe world of the deaf,
the few individuals who can sense these frequencies can't sleep,
develop headaches, and  are under constant stress.

The syndrome is called "Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity" and some
people are gravely   affected. Those who see their doctor are often
dismissed, given sleeping  pills or sent to a psychiatrist. These
people are not crazy. They just  happen to be more sensitive than the
rest of us to the electromagnetic noise pollution generated by our
technological advances.

Below is a quote  from a man in Abbotsford, B.C. who has some of the
classic symptoms of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome.

"We live one property away from a cell phone tower and have another a
half mile down the road...I have been having strange unexplained health
issues for three or four years that conventional medical tests cannot
solve. Along with these   I developed cancer on my right breast when a
brown spot that had been there for 35 years suddenly went bad. The
following are symptoms that have been occurring over a period of time
since these towers were installed and have had no relief to date:
headaches, nausea, unsteadiness, pressure  in head over eyes, ears,
cheeks and back of head. Sometimes blurred vision. General feeling of
fatigue and aches for no apparent reason.   Have undergone complete
blood workup, X-ray, CT Scan. Have tried various alternative medical
practices, chiropractic, acupuncture, herbal remedies,   exercise,
watching diet closer, lose weight and drinking plenty of water. 
Nothing seems to work. Don't know if the towers are responsible for 
the above mentioned but I do feel somewhat better when I leave the area
for a period of time."

Electromagnetic hypersensitivity has not yet been accepted by our
medical professionals. Just like chronic fatigue syndrome, chemical
hypersensitivity, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) it will take
some time and many complaining patients before that changes. In the
meantime, those suffering need  to reduce their exposure to radio
frequency radiation not a simple thing to do in our highly technical
society.

Our government  can play a vital role by restricting the installation
of antennas for  cell phones on high rise buildings and by increasing
the distance of  cell phone and broadcast antennas on towers near built
up areas. We            need "cell phone restricted" areas on trains,
buses, and in buildings  that have regular phone lines. The levels
allowed for radio frequency radiation need to be reduced. Our
guidelines are among the worst in  the world, along with Great Britain,
the U.S.A., Germany and Japan. The more we come to rely on the cell
phone, the more antennas that are  needed for their use. We have more
than 300 transmitting antennas in  the City of Peterborough. In
Toronto, the number exceeds 10,000 and most were erected since 1980.
There is some evidence to suggest that as our exposure to
electromagnetic energy increases so will our sensitivity.           
Sweden recognizes this disorder and has a Web site to provide suffers 
with information. If you think you are sensitive to electromagnetic 
energy, please contact me for more information.

Magda Havas is an associate professor at Trent University in the
Environmental and Resource Studies program. She can be reached by
e-mail at [hidden email]  or by phone at 705 748-1011 x 1232.


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

This one is so good. If it doesn't help my one friend understand
better, I don't know what will. :) At least he's polite enough not to
laugh and say how crazy he thinks I am while I'm around... I can tell,
but he tries to keep from poking fun.

~ Snoshoe

--- In [hidden email], SArjuna@... wrote:
>
>
>
> Cell phone headaches, cell tower blues
> from the Peterborough Examiner.
>
> by Magda Havas