The National Research Council published research recently that says Wi-Fi and Wi-Max transmissions and smart grids are worrisome, even though all these sources use relatively low power. Cell towers use a few hundred watts, while commercial radio uses tens of thousands.
It says the arrival of new wireless technology such as Wi-Max - which carries wireless Internet signals to a wide area - increases people's exposure to radiation, and makes precautions more difficult.
It says symptoms include:
. Nausea and visual disruptions in people living within 10 metres of a cellphone tower
. Irritability, depression and memory loss between 10 and 100 metres
. Headaches, poor sleep and skin problems between 100 and 200 metres.
The new study adds to a wide body of research, some suggesting potential harm from cellphone transmissions, others arguing it's safe.
From an article in the Winnipeg Free Press article, Cellphone Radiation Harmful: Study Nov. 5, 2010 bioengineering professor Henry Lai of the University of Washington and medical writer Blake Levitt went back through 50 years of research for the study and discovered an intriguing fact: Today's radio waves are "remarkably similar" to the steady irradiation of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow prior to 1976 by the Soviets. Effects on Americans stationed there have been studied in the long term.
Four main symptoms emerged from the Moscow personnel: eczema, psoriasis, allergic reactions and inflammatory reactions. As well, there were reports of neurological problems, including mood changes and depression,k difficult pregnancies and births, and tumours (malignant in women but benign in men).
The researchers concluded, "Yet obsolete government standards protect only against short-term exposure to strong blasts of radiation, not long-term effects from low levels."
Deanna Waters
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