I’m very glad I live where a cell phone won’t work. Although I moved here to commune with the redwoods, I’ve learned that minimizing my exposure to cell phone radiation is a good thing.
The FDA disagrees. To the question “Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?” the FDA answers that “the available scientific evidence does not show that any health problems are associated with using wireless phones. There is no proof, however, that wireless phones are absolutely safe.”
This carefully constructed statement is intended to reassure us that there’s not problem here. The first sentence declares a lack of scientific evidence even associating harm with cell phones. The second sentence uses strong language: “proof” and “absolutely safe.” You can’t be absolutely certain of anything in this old world, but by golly we here at the FDA feel just as confident as can be that cell phones are safe. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just, well, not scientific. Irrational. Hysterical even.
This is a set up. Especially since the first sentence is false. And easily shown to be so.
The FDA is mandated to protect us from harm. It is the national agency directed by Congress to pay attention to the health risks from cell phones. Despite abundant research to the contrary, the FDA doesn’t see a problem and so sees no reason to investigate.
“Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.”
This is the agency that thought Prozac for kids was just peachy until one of their own blew the whistle.
The FDA isn’t going to protect us. But lots of local governments are taking action to protect us from cell phone companies breeding cell antennas like minks. Oakland, for example, recently passed a moratorium on cell antennas. Unfortunately, local governments have been tied up since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which delegates siting decisions to local governments but forbids health issues from playing a role in those decisions.
But still, concerned local governments spurred on by determined activists have passed or are considering ordinances that limit the spread of cell phone radiation exposures. Especially here in progressive California. Think again.
State Senator Christine Kehoe, a Democrat from San Diego, sponsored SB1627 also known as the T-Mobile bill which removes virtually all cell phone siting discretion from local governments. This bill slithered out of the Senate and into the State Assembly before activists could respond. The Association of Local Governments joined the activists in opposition.
Yet SB1627 made it through the Local Governments Committee unscathed. Resistance was mounted at the Natural Resources Committee, where a deal was cut with the Association of Local Governments that made them a happy but not activists. As Doug Loranger of the San Francisco Antenna-Free Union put it “the political powers that be in Sacramento are such that it couldn’t be defeated.” SB1627 goes before the Appropriations Committee after the August recess and on to the full Assembly soon after.
What this means is that Californians will be exposed to cell phone radiation at the discretion of cell phone companies. I hope I don’t have to remind you that your health is not uppermost in their minds. With the passage of SB1627 into law it will be even harder for you and your community to make an informed decision about what risks you want to take. T-Mobile will decide that for you.
The issues in this article are developed (with references) in issue #8 of the Progressive Health Observer in the article titled “The WiFi Blues.”
Related resources are available on the Radiation page.
