Santa Fe Group Wants Wi-Fi Banned in Public Places

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Santa Fe Group Wants Wi-Fi Banned in Public Places

©iStockphoto.com/Sean Locke

Some people say computers and cell phones make them sick.

INTERNET EXPOSURE: Some people say their allergic response to wireless Internet and cell phone signals warrants a ban of Wi-Fi in Santa Fe's public areas.

by Hilary Watts
Informify Staff Writer
May 27, 2008

Citing their disabling reactions to wireless Internet signals, a group in Santa Fe wants the city to ban wireless Internet in the public domain. So far, few studies exist documenting human health responses to technology that emits electromagnetic fields (EMF), and one authority says illness and EMFs are not linked. What will Santa Fe do?

Electromagnetic Huh? What is EHS?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or EHS, is the reported sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, given off by computer monitors, cell phones and their base stations (towers). The WHO says EHS is not a medical diagnosis nor does it represent a specific medical problem.

Still, some people say they are disabled by EMFs. Symptoms of EHS are non-specific, and include:

tiredness
tingling and burning sensations of the skin
difficulty concentrating
dizziness
nausea
heart palpitations
digestive disturbances

Wi-Fi-allergic Santa Fe group member Arthur Firstenberg said, "I get chest pain and it doesn't go away right away." (KOB.com, 5/21/08)

WHO Says EMF Elimination Unnecessary

In 2005, WHO estimated the number of people with EHS to be a few individuals per million. Approximately 10% of those cases were considered severe. But in a report from studies of EHS individuals' symptoms near EMF sources in controlled lab conditions, WHO found:

EHS individuals could not feel EMF exposure any more precisely than non-EHS people.
Controlled double-blind studies showed that symptoms were not attributable to EMF exposure.

Other possible explanations for their symptoms include:

flicker from fluorescent lights
glare and other eye strain issues from computer monitors
bad ergonomic design of computer workstations
poor indoor air quality
stressful working or living environment
pre-existing psychiatric conditions
stress from worrying about EMF health effects

The WHO concluded that treatment for EHS individuals is best if focused on health symptoms and the clinical environment rather than reducing or eliminating EMF in the workplace or home.

Santa Fe's Computer Quandary

The group of EHS individuals in Santa Fe has asked the city attorney to find out whether publicly installed Wi-Fi could be considered a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

City Councilor Ron Trujillo said, "It's not 1692, it's 2008. Santa Fe needs to embrace this technology, it's not going away." (KOB.com, 5/21/08).

Sources

Group wants Wi-Fi banned from public buildings (KOB.com, 5/21/08)

Allergic to WiFi? Group fights Internet hotspots in Santa Fe (USA Today, 5/23/08)

Wi-Fi causes allergic reactions in Santa Fe (TGDaily, 5/23/08)

Electromagnetic fields and public health (World Health Organization, December 2005)

WiFi (UK Health Protection Agency, 1/8/08)

Question for Readers:

Are you sensitive to Wi-Fi and other electro-magnetic fields?

Appliances and other devices that use electricity or radio waves emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs). They also occur naturally.

Although EMFs exist everywhere on the planet, we cannot see them. Natural sources of EMFs include:

atmospheric build-up of electric charges related to thunderstorms
earth's magnetic field (that's what causes compass needles to point North)

Human sources of EMFs include:

X-rays used in health diagnoses
electricity that flows out of outlets
microwaves
computer monitors
radio waves used to send information via TV and radio transmitters, communication satellites, cell phones, cordless phones and their base stations

Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity, and refers to a type of technology that uses radio frequency (RF) signals to connect computers in a network. If you've ever sat in a coffee shop and been able to surf the Internet on your laptop, you've used Wi-Fi.

RFs are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. As Wi-Fi becomes more commonplace in our homes, schools, offices, and towns, we're exposed to RFs. We don't need to use a Wi-Fi device to be exposed—just being in the vicinity of Wi-Fi equipment exposes us to the RF.

However, there is no scientific evidence as yet showing that Wi-Fi and its RFs adversely affect health. In fact, RF exposure from Wi-Fi is lower than from cell phones, and is about the same as listening to FM radio or watching TV.

Today's Other Stories

I love wifi. I got it last year for my birthday. Free internet service around town, I thought, who could beat that!! Then we started turning it off at night and our 5 year old son's unending all-night-long headaches suddenly disappeared. It's been months since and he sleeps through the night now. Sometimes he even screams in his sleep until we shut it off. He doesn't suffer from any of the possible other ailments listed in this article. He gets crazily distracted near wifi transmitters in restaurants. He has no idea when we turn it on or off.

That's enough proof to make me and all my friends wonder why their isn't any research and just a general "oh those people are crazy" attitude. I understand wanting wifi, I just don't get why people stop questioning what they are told. And in Santa Fe, no less, where we question everything.

lol

July 18, 2008

Double blind study

TCL from Australia said:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi...6/886?ehom

Linda - the symptoms are real, but the trigger is not.

It's a pretty easy experiment for you to try yourself.

If you are open minded, you are prepared to change your mind in the face of quality evidence.

June 01, 2008

EMF/EMR are not benign

linda from toronto, canada said:

I started experiencing symptoms including major buzzing or vibration in my brain, tinnitus, and noise sensitivity from EMF/EMR last year, much to my surprise. Wireless technology for computers and cellphones (phones and cell towers) is not benign. Sweden has has even started providing safe housing and areas for people who have started to become negatively affected.

Check who paid for the studies showing no harm, check what they include and don't include, what questions they ask and how they set the research up to come to their conclusions, as the industry funded studies follow the same deny and throw doubt strategies that the tobacco scientists used so successfully.

For some unbiased info, this video is excellent:

Cindy Sage, environmental consultant, talks about the The BioInitiative Report - Biological Standards for Wireless
38 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tZDor-_co0

and the report is at bioinitiative.org

May 28, 2008

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