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ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD SAFETY
Cell Phone and Tower RF-Microwave Radiation
60-cycle Powerline Fields
Microwave Ovens and WI-FI
How Do You Know What Exposure Levels Are Safe?
If you trust government standards (click here for the opinion of the FCC) then the levels emitted by nearly all powerlines, Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, cell phones and RF towers are defined as "safe". However, the laws which incorporate these standards were passed by the federal government over the objections of a significant dissenting scientific opinion. One also finds tremendous differences in laws regulating exposure levels from one nation to the next. As a means to insure the growth of the cell-phone and microwave communications industry, new laws were passed in the USA during the Clinton years to "harmonize" the laws governing exposures in the different states and counties, which also were often different from each other. The law now reads, that local communities, counties and states may NOT set their own more conservative and safer standards, which leaves ordinary people with very few options if they determine they are subject to a higher-than-desired exposure. As noted, many scientists dissent from the federal exposure standards, given newer studies which demonstrate clear biological effects at lower exposures, and also because some people are more sensitive than others, which is not taken into account in the setting of the government standards which rely upon a non-existent "average person" given an "average exposure". Our feeling is, for long-term health and safety, one should reduce to as low as practically possible one's long term exposures to all forms of unnatural electromagnetic frequencies. A very short exposure at high levels is probably not going to do the average person any harm, but chronic exposure to significant low-level EM fields, as during sleep or while at work, is risky-business in our opinion.
For comparison, maximum allowable exposure for any public areas or microwaves as from Cell Phones and Towers, are 10 microwatts/cm2 for continuous exposures, or 580 microwatts/cm2 for short-term exposures of up to 30 minutes. These are levels we personally feel are at minimum, 1000 times higher than should be allowed near to any residential neighborhood or school, much less for workers putting in 40 hours a week under such exposures. Typical city background (over a mile from any major transmitter) is around 0.100 microwatts/cm2. Typical background in the countryside near to a larger city is 0.010 microwatts/cm2 or less. At our rural facility in the Oregon mountains, several hundred miles from any major city, we have an exposure typically at 0.002 microwatts/cm2, which is very low and close to the calibration limits of the instrument. But when we drive into the nearby town, even there the levels climb to around 0.100 with occasional spikes to much higher levels. If we were to move back into town, then we would surely wish to find a place to work and live that was exposed to the lowest possible levels. Our opinions, however, do not carry any weight as regarding the legal issues involved, and representatives from the cell-phone companies will try to calm everyone into accepting the too-high federal standard of 10 to 580 microwatts/cm2. There are scientists who would agree with us, that this is too high a level, and others who will disagree. We cannot recommend to anyone what they "should do" or "shouldn't do" in the case of a particular exposure. What we do recommend is that people firstly measure what their exposures are, locate the sources of those emission-exposures, and then educate themselves about what is technically or legally possible to do about it, and then make educated decisions.
FIRSTLY: Educate Yourself!
Natural Energy Works carries several excellent books on these subjects, here. Other books and articles are available from other resources, as given in the various websites below. The work Orgone Accumulator Handbook by James DeMeo also carries a specific "What You Can Do" chapter, with many suggestions, based upon both standard EM measurement, and life-energetic principles.
SECONDLY: Make the Measurements where you live and work!
Go to our Catalog Home Page and select the meters on the right-hand side, to make the appropriate measurements -- or use the links on the top left side of this webpage. We strongly recommend that everyone have a standard Trifield Meter or something similar for standard 60-cycle powerline fields, which can create "hot sopts" both inside and outside the home. This meter also has a circuit for microwave detection, which is good for checking out microwave ovens (in our opinion, you should never use them, even if they don't "leak" microwave radiation). But the Trifield Meter is not so good for cell phone and tower radiation. For that, we recommend our Cell Phone and Tower RF Meter.
THIRD: The "Antenna Search" website can help identify some of the RF-Microwave antenna sources in your locality.
http://www.antennasearch.com
Large power-lines and other radiating sources can be identified by direct visual observation. You can simply walk your neighborhood, meter in hand, and make your own "mental map" of where such radiating devices are located, and how strong the fields are close to your home or workplace. Also be sure to evaluate your children's school rooms and playground. Often, these have dramatically high exposures!
FOURTH: Get connected with others in your region and neighborhood who have similar concerns, and exchange information. Learn from the local experts and citizen's organizations, to see what solutions others may have found. What follows is a good list of those organizations we already know about. If you have other suggestions, please let us know so they can be added here.
Citizen's organizations and additional articles dealing with the problem of Cell Phones & Towers
Organizations Dealing with Low-Level EM & RF Radiation Dangers:
Cellular Phone Task Force
http://www.cellphonetaskforce.org
Families Against Dangerous Electronic Radiation (UK)
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/faderuk/index.html
Powerwatch (UK)
http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/
MastVictims.Org: A website dedicated to an international community of people suffering adverse health effects from cellphone masts in the vicinity of their homes.
http://www.mast-victims.org/
Mobilfunk-Newsletter - EMF-Omega-News
http://groups.google.com/group/mobilfunk_newsletter/
WEEP Initiative: The Canadian Initiative to stop Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution.
http://weepinitiative.org
and WEEP News-Blog:
http://weepnews.blogspot.com/
Mast Sanity (UK)
http://www.mastsanity.org
Planning Sanity (UK)
http://www.planningsanity.co.uk
Articles on Low-Level EM & RF Radiation Dangers:
Vomiting and Diarrhea Plague Japanese Kindergartens
http://www.mast-victims.org/index.php?content=news&action=view&type=newsitem&id=2885
Reported Biological Effects From Radiofrequency Non-Ionizing Radiation
http://www.wave-guide.org/library/studies.html
Microwave And Radiofrequency Radiation Exposure: A Growing Environmental Health Crisis?
http://www.sfms.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=1770&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&SECTION=Article_Archives
The Effects of Wireless Communication Signals on Self-reported Symptom and Sleep (EEG)
http://piers.mit.edu/piersonline/piers.php?volume=3&number=7&page=1148
Knesset bans placing cellular antennas on residential buildings
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/916666.html
UK Powerwatch News Warning on Chilren Using Cell Phones
http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20050109_stewart2.asp
Health Effects from Cell Phone Tower Radiation
http://www.mountshastaecology.org/17other01cellphones.html#3
Electromagnetic radiation and health risks: cell phones and microwave radiation in New Zealand.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Electromagnetic+radiation+and+health+risks:+cell+phones+and+microwave...-a018539356
Radiation Poisoning of America
http://www.cprnews.com/worldnews.cfm?id=213
Health Effects of Microwave Radiation
http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/radiation/health_efx_western.htm
Cell Phone Convenience or 21st Century Plague?
http://www.earthpulse.com/src/subcategory.asp?catid=4&subcatid=3
Cell Phone Radiation Poses a Serious Biologic Health Risk
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/neilcherrycellphonerisks07may01.shtml
Cell Phone Radiation - Maximum Exposure Levels
http://www.emfpollution.com/articles/cell-phones/cell-phone-radiation-exposure
Comparative International Standards for Cell Phone Radiofrequency/Microwave Radiation
http://www.emfacts.com/wlans.html
* Saltzberg (pulsed).................... 0.1 microwatts/cm2
* China......................................6.6 microwatts/cm2
* Russia.....................................10 microwatts/cm2
* Italy......................................10 microwatts/cm2
* Switzerland................................4.2 microwatts/cm2
* Auckland, New Zealand..............50 microwatts/cm2
* United States .............................10 to 580 microwatts/cm2
* Canada.....................................around 580 microwatts/cm2
One could easily find dozens of similar articles by a simple internet search. Clearly, there is a growing concern for people who live or work close to cell phone towers and antennas, irrespective of whatever soothing words are spoken by the cell-phone companies and federal government agencies.
What we recommend, is to use the RF meter to measure a base-line determination somewhere outside your field of anticipated exposure, such as out in the countryside away from towns or facilities, to see how much is occurring by nature or only by exposures from a great distance. Then compare that to your home or workplace. If you face a problem such as exposure from a cell phone antenna on the roof of your building, or from an adjacent building, we suggest to make measurements away from all the buildings and antennas, then at the ground floor level, and progressively upwards until you are in the rooms of the apartment with the possible high exposure, both near to the windows and out on any balcony. You will then be in a position to judge for yourself, what kinds of unnatural exposures you may be subject to, and make informed decisions.
A Final Word of Advice on "EM Protection Gadgets": Be aware there are many devices on the market which claim to reduce radiation intensity or eliminate radiation health effects from power line fields, TV sets, cell phones and towers. While there are many reports of people claiming to "feel better" when using these devices, we have never seen any scientifically-defendible proof of such claims. So long as you can measure the emission fields of such devices, the effects will continue to exist. Remember also, a cell phone will give you a much higher dose of RF energy right near your head than what you might get from even a relatively close cell tower. So if you are concerned about cell phone tower radiation, then you should be 100 times more worried about using a cell phone, or even the portable in-house wireless phones which use a base-station inside the home to connect with your ordinary telephone wire. We suggest, ordinary telephones with a hard-wire work perfectly fine, and are less complicated anyhow. Likewise, a gas-fired or electric stove works just as good as a microwave oven, even better if one considers the subjective taste factor. Ordinary incandenscent bulbs also remain much better for health than the electromagnetically-disturbing fluorescent or "compact fluorescent" bulbs, which put out an unsatisfying dull light in any case. Life continues quite well when we are "unplugged" and get our emails only once a day, or return phone calls hours later, rather than "right away". A cell phone may be necessary for some people, given their work, but most can do perfectly well without them. Alternatively a pager device can be used, which only receives a signal and does not transmit. We also have a cell phone, but it is kept inside a bag in the car and used only for emergencies, such as getting stranded in a snowstorm on our rural roads, or in case of mechanical breakdowns. Using the ATT "Go Phone" system we pay about $100 per year just to have a stand-by emergency service. There are probably other such services... we just learned that WalMart sells cheap cell phones which can be used for emergency only. Otherwise, we always go back to using our hard-wired telephone. Giving a cell-phone to a child or loved one is also to irresponsibly gamble with their health, especially teenagers who yak on the phone quite a lot, and then drive their car while yakking in a manner that makes them appear like a drunk driver clutching a bottle of whiskey. People who feel addicted or dependent upon a cell phone are advised to limit their exposure to less than one minute and no more than once a day, and have the hard-wire phone available for all longer calls.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER There is considerable scientific controversy regarding the issue of low-level electromagnetism as from power lines, computers, fluorescent lights, cell phones, Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, cell phone and radio broadcasting towers. The federal government standards are set in accordance with opinions offered by select groups of mainstream scientists with whom the government consults, along with representatives of industry. There also is, however, a considerable minority scientific viewpoint, backed by good evidence, in opposition to those standards. Many ordinary people can also feel and react to levels of EM radiation which are considered "too low to be of concern" by the mainstream opinion. The information you will get from Natural Energy Works represents this minority viewpoint, which we believe is the more accurate one. However, it is your responsibility to make informed decisions and to evaluate both sides of the issue before taking concrete steps about your particular circumstances, such as buying or selling a house, or staying in or moving out of an apartment. The instruments we offer, made by many different reputable manufacturers, can help you to determine your exposure to low level radiations, but we cannot advise anyone on what to do in the case of a given exposure level. Neither Natural Energy Works nor the manufacturers of our products are responsible for any claims arising from use, misuse or loss-of-use of our devices and products, nor in the event of malfunction or delays in shipping. Our Warranty is limited solely to replacement and repair of any meters or devices which may malfunction, within the limitations given on our "Warranty and Returns" webpage (see the link on the left side).
