3/30/2007 12:40:00 PM Sun Exclusive Scientist, cops raise alarm over tower Emission levels at Prospect site are ‘too high’
A new telecommunications tower is being erected near Police headquarters at Prospect and Canadian scientist Dr. Magda Havas said radio frequency emissions pose a threat to officers’ health.
Photo by Ras Mykkal
Meredith Ebbin
Police officers are raising fresh concerns about potential health risks caused by high levels of radio frequency radiation at their headquarters at Prospect, Devonshire.
Canadian scientist Dr. Magda Havas, who last year tested the radio frequency radiation levels at Prospect - where a new telecommunications tower is located - said police officers could be at risk and Government needs to take their concerns seriously.
She said police officers and their headquarters should be tested for exposure to radio frequency radiation levels.
Members of the police union - the Bermuda Police Association - called an emergency meeting this week to thrash out their concerns with deputy police commissioner Roseanda Young.
The meeting came about after police got a tip, the Bermuda Sun has been told, from an anonymous caller about the potential health risks posed by antennae attached to the tower.
Fears that the Prospect area could be environmentally hazardous have been expressed from time to time because a number of police officers have died of cancer within "five or ten years of retirement", a source within the Police Service told the Bermuda Sun this week.
Concerns were heightened because a tower at Prospect is currently being replaced.
Mrs. Young would not return a telephone call and e-mail inquiry from the Bermuda Sun this week. Neither did Carl Neblett, head of the Police Association.
The new tower is close to CedarBridge Academy and although we put questions to Government on the matter, we received no response.
Police spokesman Dwayne Caines confirmed that representatives of the Police Association had met with top police officers this week to discuss the concern, but referred us to the association.
Members of the association are believed to have met with two environmental experts on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Dr. Havas told the Bermuda Sun in an e-mail and telephone interview she was in Bermuda last year and did some measurements near the police station and elsewhere on the island.
She said: "The radio frequency levels are high and the fact that the police station is so close, virtually underneath the towers and guy wires, make it that much worse."
She said she was brought in by Eugene Young who markets products that limit exposure to radiation levels, but said she derives no financial benefit from the products and only agreed to come if she were allowed to do lectures to educate the public. She said she met with some health officials while in Bermuda.
No one from the Health Department or the Telecommunications Ministry would respond to Dr. Havas' comments.
Charlie Marshall, president of Telecommunications Bermuda and West Indies Ltd, the company that is erecting the new tower said it is a replacement for a 50-year-old one.
He said: "The purpose of the tower is to provide our customers with their communications requirements.
"In September 1999 and May 2001, studies were done on behalf of the Bermuda Government by a company called Comgate Telemanagement Ltd. All the towers in Prospect done in that study were well within the FCC regulations."
Dr. Havas, an environmentalist toxicologist and an assistant professor at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, said the guidelines in place in the U.S. and Canada are outdated. Austria, Russia, China and the Czech Republic are among the countries that have adopted new guidelines that call for much lower levels.
In 2000, Toronto had adopted lower guidelines for telecommunications to follow, but they are not legally enforceable. Only the federal Government can do that.
She said Health Canada, an agency of the federal Government, does not support a growing number of scientists' conclusions that high radio frequency radiation levels are bad for your health.
She added: "It's been like this with every environmental contaminant."
It takes governments between 20 to 30 years to act on warnings raised by scientists.
She said radio frequency radiation exposure is associated with two conditions - cancer, mostly leukemia, brain tumours and breast cancer - and a collection of symptoms that include chronic fatigue and dizziness, which are referred to as "electromagnetic hypersensitivity".
She said: "We ask police officers to risk their life to protect the population. We should not ask them to risk their health because the telecommunications tower is so close. The frequencies can be shielded and officers need to be protected."
Reader Comments
Posted: Monday, April 02, 2007
Comment by:
Tara Miller
The government is ignoring environmental issues period. Radio frequency is only part of the environmental hazards lurking on this island and many other places in the world. It is up to us, meaning the people who care about these issues to come together and make the government make the environment a priority. Example, did you know that there is a company that works with the Caribbean to install solar energy paneling. Why in the world do we not utilize solar energy here? How many people complain about the ever rising cost of electric bills during the summer? The island is just too small to ignore these issues. We will all suffer if changes are not made soon. The good news, we can make a difference! Visit http://www.kesslersun.com/?page_id=91
Posted: Sunday, April 01, 2007
Comment by:
Stuart R. Nadelson
I have been licensed by the United States Federal Communication Commission for the past 47 years and have a great deal of experience with regard to the propagation of radio frequency energy (RF) and radio waves.
There are numerous factors, which should be evaluated before determining whether or not the radio frequency energy is dangerous to humans. I need to know the exact frequency or frequency spectrum that the transmitter transmits on, the amount of "RF" power the transmitter is sending out, the type of antenna..., whether it is a gain or non-gain type of antenna, whether it is directional or non directional, the height of the antenna, the proximity of the antenna in terms of vertical and also horizontal distance from humans, the amount of time a human will spend in the "zone of influence", how long the transmissions are, the type of transmissions such as FM or Frequency Modulation, etc., and numerous other important factors. There is also very precise laboratory equipment which can help determine whether the RF levels are safe or dangerous. Low frequency transmissions pose almost no threat to persons even with a dozen feet from the antenna, yet very high frequency RF or worse...microwave transmissions pose a much greater threat. If someone can send me some information and a photo of the antenna site, I might be able to venture a guess. My wife will be celebrating our one year wedding anniversary next month in Bermuda,and will be on the rock for nine days at the Hamilton Princess. Should anyone need to contact me, my e-mail address is sn654321@aol.com.
Posted: Friday, March 30, 2007
Comment by:
Shivani Arjuna
"A study done in France by Santini showed significant associations between symptoms fitting to the microwave sickness and the distance to mobile phone base stations [11]. It should be noted that the health related symptoms were most frequently reported at a distance of 50 - 100 m, which fits perfectly to the area with the highest microwave exposure in urban areas, where the main beam of the antennas usually hits the first houses. The second study done in Austria showed significant positive associations between the frequency selective measured electric field (GSM 900/1800) in the bedroom and cardiovascular symptoms.... In 1987.... in Hawaii.... Drs. Anderson and Henderson of the Hawaii Department of Health found in residential areas with 12 communication towers, a relative risk for cancer, including leukaemia, of 1.375 (37.5% increase." ("The Microwave Syndrome: Further Aspects of a Spanish Study", by Gerd OBERFELD et al. 1 May 2004.)
[Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, has a similar "antenna farm." Also a "mysteriously high" breast cancer rate. —Shivani]
A study of cancers around the BBC Sutton Coldfield transmitter mast (Dolk, et al, 1997) found a statistically significant doubling of adult leukaemia within 2 km radius.
The Naila Study, Germany (November 2004) - This study, conducted over 10 years was released by The Federal Agency for Radiation Protection, Germany. Medical doctors compiled case histories since 1994 - 2004, looking at heightened risk of taking ill with malignant tumours. They discovered a threefold increase after five years exposure to microwave radiation from a mobile phone mast transmitter for up to 400 metres distance, compared to those patients living further away. ["If the city-wide WiFi system being planned for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, is erected, aWiFi broadcaster 20 feet from a Milwaukee home will be the equivalent of a microwave tower 600 feet away, roughly 200 meters." — Arthur Firstenburg]
A study carried out by Ronni Wolf MD and Danny Wolf MD, Kaplan Medical Centre, Israel (April 2004) discovered a fourfold increase in cancer within 350 metres after long-term exposure to microwave radiation from a mobile phone mast and a tenfold increase specifically among women, compared to patients living away from the mast.
In 1980, Dr. John Holt had a letter published. This showed that between 1951-59, 50% of patients with CML in Queensland survived for 55 months following diagnosis. In 1960 and 1961 three large TV broadcast stations were commissioned in the area. In the period 1963-67, 50% of patients with CML only survived for 21 months. This dramatic change could not be explained by any medical personnel, protocol or therapy changes.
"Bamberg, Germany 26-April, 2005
Dr. C Waldmann-Selsam, Dr. U. Säeger, Bamberg , Oberfranken evaluated the medical complaints of 356 people who have had long-term [radiation] exposure in their homes from pulsed high frequency magnetic fields (from mobile phone base stations, from cordless telephones, amongst others).
People suffer from one, several or many of the following symptoms: Sleep disturbances, tiredness, disturbance in concentration, forgetfulness, problem with finding words, depressive mood, ear noises, sudden loss of hearing, hearing loss, giddiness, nose bleeds, visual disturbances, frequent infections, sinusitis, joint and limb pains, nerve and soft tissue pains, feeling of numbness, heart rhythm disturbances, increased blood pressure episodes, hormonal disturbances, night-time sweats, nausea. Dr. John Walker's research clearly shows the clusters of illness appear in radiation at exposures of around 1.5v/m, which is below the guidelines significantly permitting around 40 to 50 v/m (varying according to microwave frequency)." ("Mobile Phone And Mast Radiation - How Dangerous Are These," Eileen O'Connor for EM Radiation Trust, Oct. 1, 2005)
