No To Electromagnetic Radiation
Sign Now
NO TO ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
Dear Mr. President: greetings!
We are individuals and families variously affected by electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted from cellsite towers. We are writing in behalf of ourselves, our neighborhoods, our communities, and in behalf of all victims of EMR nationwide. We are writing to you, hoping against hope that you will consider our life-and-death situation as an important addendum to the many national problems you are trying your best to solve.
More and more Filipinos are being affected by EMR emanating from cellsite towers erected by Smart, Globe, Sun, and by government agencies all over the Philippine. As citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, we are asking you for executive action.
Cell towers are dangerous to health. EMR damages the health of humans and animals.
A study into the effects of a cell tower on a herd of dairy cattle was conducted by the Bavarian state government in Germany and published in 1998. The erection of the tower caused adverse health effects resulting in a measurable drop in milk yield. Relocating the cattle restored the milk yield. Moving them back to the original pasture recreated the problem.
A human study (Kempten West) in 2007 measured blood levels of seratonin and melatonin (important hormones involved in brain messaging, mood, sleep regulation and immune system function) both before, and five months after, the activation of a new cell site.
Twenty-five participants lived within 300 meters of the site. Substantial unfavorable changes occurred with respect to both hormones, in almost all participants.
Over 100 scientists and physicians at Boston and Harvard Universities Schools of Public Health have called cell phone towers a radiation hazard.
Cell towers are cancer risks.
A study performed by doctors from the German city of Naila monitored 1000 residents who had lived in an area around two cell phone towers for 10 years. During the last 5 years of the study they found that those living within 400 meters of either tower had a newly-diagnosed cancer rate three times higher than those who lived further away. Breast cancer topped the list, but cancers of the prostate, pancreas, bowel, skin melanoma, lung and blood cancer were all increased.
Another study by researchers at Tel Aviv university compared 622 residents who lived within 350 meters of a cell phone tower with 1222 control patients who lived further away. They found 8 cancer cases in the group affected by the cell tower, compared with only 2 cases amongst the controls.
Very few studies have specifically concentrated on cancer risk from cell phone towers. This lack of studies is in itself a cause for concern, especially since anecdotal evidence is plentiful. For example, in a case known as "Towers of Doom", two cell masts were installed (in 1994) on a five story apartment building in London. Residents complained of many health problems in the following years. Seven of them were diagnosed with cancer. The cancer rate of the top floor residents (closest to the tower) was 10 times the national average.
We agree that more research is needed, but it may be slow in coming. Those who might fund major studies are the very same organisations who would be disadvantaged if a definite link between cell towers and cancer were established. In the meantime, it is reasonable to apply the precautionary principle.
If cell towers are causing cancer, we would expect that several years of exposure (with only minor effects on people's health) might be required, followed by an unexpectedly high occurrence of the disease amongst the exposed population.
The damage from radiation exposure accumulates over many years, but the breakdown in health happens only after all body defences and repair mechanisms have been exhausted.
At an international health conference, 33 delegates from seven countries declared cell phone towers a public health emergency.
Limit cellsite radiation.
The current US standard for cell site radiation in the US is 580-1000 microwatts per square centimeter. Many other countries have set levels hundreds of times lower.
The reason for the disparity is that no one really knows what level of cell tower radiation is safe. Current limits have been influenced more by economic and political imperatives than by research into health and safety.
More important than the intensity of electromagnetic radiation emitted at the tower is the strength of the resulting EMF wherever people live and work. This depends on the intensity at the source - and one's distance from it.
Build cell towers at a safe distance.
Different cellsites emit different amounts of radiation. Radiation levels from a single cell site vary, depending on usage. Even maintenance issues can affect how much radiation a cell site is currently producing.
Radiation around a single cell tower may not be uniform - there can be hot and cold spots. Measurement with a suitable meter is the only way to know how much radiation you are receiving at a particular spot.
But it seems that 400 meters is a safe distance for most people, and smaller distances may also be safe in some cases.
Health effects of cell towers.
Individuals differ in their response to similar levels of EMF radiation. For some people, short term effects from cell tower radiation exposure may include headaches, sleep disorders, poor memory, mental excitation, confusion, anxiety, depression, appetite disturbance and listlessness.
This list is not intended as a diagnostic aid, as each symptom here can have many causes. But if you and your family do not experience any of these symptoms you are probably not being overwhelmed by cell tower radiation.
Cell tower safety is a public concern.
In the long term, we need to find ways of providing cell phone convenience without exposing people to the existing dangers of cell tower radiation.
When these so-called towers of technological progress were being planned and erected near our places of residence, we were never consulted. We were not even asked if we were willing to die from the deathly effects of those cellsite towers.
Our right to represent ourselves was negated and our fundamental right to health and safety as enshrined in the Philippine Constitution and elsewhere has been culpably violated.
The State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. [Section 15, Article II, 1987 Constitution]
Health is defined as the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease infirmity." [III RECORD at 119, Deliberations of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, cited in Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines: A Commentary, 2009, page 1270]
The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services to all the people at affordable cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged sick, elderly, disabled, women, and children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers. [Sec. 11, Art. XIII, Constitution]
The State shall establish and maintain an effective food and drug regulatory system and undertake appropriate health manpower development and research, responsive to the countrys health need and problems. [Sec. 12, Art. XIII, Constitution]
The recently established Writ of Kalikasan is a welcome development. The Writ of Kalikasan according to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno aims to protect the right of Filipinos to a healthy environment. Puno said, the Writ of Kalikasan and the establishment of green courts are pursuant to Article II, Section 16 of the Constitution, which provides that the State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.
As a country, we are a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 which recognizes health as a fundamental human right.
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. [Section 25, UDHR of 1948]
So does the Alma Conference Declaration of 1978.
The Conference strongly reaffirms that health, which is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, is a fundamental human right and that the attainment of the highest possible level of health is a most important world-wide social goal whose realization requires the action of many other social and economic sectors in addition to the health sector." [I Declaration of Alma-Ata]
Governments have a responsibility for the health of their people which can be fulfilled only by the provision of adequate health and social measures. A main social target of governments, international organizations and the whole world community in the coming decades should be the attainment by all peoples of the world by the year 2000 of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life. Primary health care is the key to attaining this target as part of development in the spirit of social justice." [V Declaration of Alma-Ata]
Primary health care is essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. It forms an integral part both of the country's health system, of which it is the central function and main focus, and of the overall social and economic development of the community. It is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and community with the national health system bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work, and constitutes the first element of a continuing health care process. [VI Declaration of Alma-Ata]
Primary health care
"reflects and evolves from the economic conditions and sociocultural and political characteristics of the country and its communities and is based on the application of the relevant results of social, biomedical and health services research and public health experience;
"addresses the main health problems in the community, providing promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services accordingly;
"includes at least: education concerning prevailing health problems and the methods of preventing and controlling them; promotion of food supply and proper nutrition; an adequate supply of safe water and basic sanitation; maternal and child health care, including family planning; immunization against the major infectious diseases; prevention and control of locally endemic diseases; appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries; and provision of essential drugs;
"involves, in addition to the health sector, all related sectors and aspects of national and community development, in particular agriculture, animal husbandry, food, industry, education, housing, public works, communications and other sectors; and demands the coordinated efforts of all those sectors;
"requires and promotes maximum community and individual self-reliance and participation in the planning, organization, operation and control of primary health care, making fullest use of local, national and other available resources; and to this end develops through appropriate education the ability of communities to participate;
"should be sustained by integrated, functional and mutually supportive referral systems, leading to the progressive improvement of comprehensive health care for all, and giving priority to those most in need; and
"relies, at local and referral levels, on health workers, including physicians, nurses, midwives, auxiliaries and community workers as applicable, as well as traditional practitioners as needed, suitably trained socially and technically to work as a health team and to respond to the expressed health needs of the community. [VII Text on the Alma-Ata Declaration]
The State shall protect and advance the right of the people through Executive and Legislative actions, as well as Judicial interventionto a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.
Mr. President, we ask you, nay we strongly urge you, to act now. Or, we perish as a nation.
01 December 2010
Dear Mr. President: greetings!
We are individuals and families variously affected by electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted from cellsite towers. We are writing in behalf of ourselves, our neighborhoods, our communities, and in behalf of all victims of EMR nationwide. We are writing to you, hoping against hope that you will consider our life-and-death situation as an important addendum to the many national problems you are trying your best to solve.
More and more Filipinos are being affected by EMR emanating from cellsite towers erected by Smart, Globe, Sun, and by government agencies all over the Philippine. As citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, we are asking you for executive action.
Cell towers are dangerous to health. EMR damages the health of humans and animals.
A study into the effects of a cell tower on a herd of dairy cattle was conducted by the Bavarian state government in Germany and published in 1998. The erection of the tower caused adverse health effects resulting in a measurable drop in milk yield. Relocating the cattle restored the milk yield. Moving them back to the original pasture recreated the problem.
A human study (Kempten West) in 2007 measured blood levels of seratonin and melatonin (important hormones involved in brain messaging, mood, sleep regulation and immune system function) both before, and five months after, the activation of a new cell site.
Twenty-five participants lived within 300 meters of the site. Substantial unfavorable changes occurred with respect to both hormones, in almost all participants.
Over 100 scientists and physicians at Boston and Harvard Universities Schools of Public Health have called cell phone towers a radiation hazard.
Cell towers are cancer risks.
A study performed by doctors from the German city of Naila monitored 1000 residents who had lived in an area around two cell phone towers for 10 years. During the last 5 years of the study they found that those living within 400 meters of either tower had a newly-diagnosed cancer rate three times higher than those who lived further away. Breast cancer topped the list, but cancers of the prostate, pancreas, bowel, skin melanoma, lung and blood cancer were all increased.
Another study by researchers at Tel Aviv university compared 622 residents who lived within 350 meters of a cell phone tower with 1222 control patients who lived further away. They found 8 cancer cases in the group affected by the cell tower, compared with only 2 cases amongst the controls.
Very few studies have specifically concentrated on cancer risk from cell phone towers. This lack of studies is in itself a cause for concern, especially since anecdotal evidence is plentiful. For example, in a case known as "Towers of Doom", two cell masts were installed (in 1994) on a five story apartment building in London. Residents complained of many health problems in the following years. Seven of them were diagnosed with cancer. The cancer rate of the top floor residents (closest to the tower) was 10 times the national average.
We agree that more research is needed, but it may be slow in coming. Those who might fund major studies are the very same organisations who would be disadvantaged if a definite link between cell towers and cancer were established. In the meantime, it is reasonable to apply the precautionary principle.
If cell towers are causing cancer, we would expect that several years of exposure (with only minor effects on people's health) might be required, followed by an unexpectedly high occurrence of the disease amongst the exposed population.
The damage from radiation exposure accumulates over many years, but the breakdown in health happens only after all body defences and repair mechanisms have been exhausted.
At an international health conference, 33 delegates from seven countries declared cell phone towers a public health emergency.
Limit cellsite radiation.
The current US standard for cell site radiation in the US is 580-1000 microwatts per square centimeter. Many other countries have set levels hundreds of times lower.
The reason for the disparity is that no one really knows what level of cell tower radiation is safe. Current limits have been influenced more by economic and political imperatives than by research into health and safety.
More important than the intensity of electromagnetic radiation emitted at the tower is the strength of the resulting EMF wherever people live and work. This depends on the intensity at the source - and one's distance from it.
Build cell towers at a safe distance.
Different cellsites emit different amounts of radiation. Radiation levels from a single cell site vary, depending on usage. Even maintenance issues can affect how much radiation a cell site is currently producing.
Radiation around a single cell tower may not be uniform - there can be hot and cold spots. Measurement with a suitable meter is the only way to know how much radiation you are receiving at a particular spot.
But it seems that 400 meters is a safe distance for most people, and smaller distances may also be safe in some cases.
Health effects of cell towers.
Individuals differ in their response to similar levels of EMF radiation. For some people, short term effects from cell tower radiation exposure may include headaches, sleep disorders, poor memory, mental excitation, confusion, anxiety, depression, appetite disturbance and listlessness.
This list is not intended as a diagnostic aid, as each symptom here can have many causes. But if you and your family do not experience any of these symptoms you are probably not being overwhelmed by cell tower radiation.
Cell tower safety is a public concern.
In the long term, we need to find ways of providing cell phone convenience without exposing people to the existing dangers of cell tower radiation.
When these so-called towers of technological progress were being planned and erected near our places of residence, we were never consulted. We were not even asked if we were willing to die from the deathly effects of those cellsite towers.
Our right to represent ourselves was negated and our fundamental right to health and safety as enshrined in the Philippine Constitution and elsewhere has been culpably violated.
The State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. [Section 15, Article II, 1987 Constitution]
Health is defined as the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease infirmity." [III RECORD at 119, Deliberations of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, cited in Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines: A Commentary, 2009, page 1270]
The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services to all the people at affordable cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged sick, elderly, disabled, women, and children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers. [Sec. 11, Art. XIII, Constitution]
The State shall establish and maintain an effective food and drug regulatory system and undertake appropriate health manpower development and research, responsive to the countrys health need and problems. [Sec. 12, Art. XIII, Constitution]
The recently established Writ of Kalikasan is a welcome development. The Writ of Kalikasan according to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno aims to protect the right of Filipinos to a healthy environment. Puno said, the Writ of Kalikasan and the establishment of green courts are pursuant to Article II, Section 16 of the Constitution, which provides that the State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.
As a country, we are a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 which recognizes health as a fundamental human right.
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. [Section 25, UDHR of 1948]
So does the Alma Conference Declaration of 1978.
The Conference strongly reaffirms that health, which is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, is a fundamental human right and that the attainment of the highest possible level of health is a most important world-wide social goal whose realization requires the action of many other social and economic sectors in addition to the health sector." [I Declaration of Alma-Ata]
Governments have a responsibility for the health of their people which can be fulfilled only by the provision of adequate health and social measures. A main social target of governments, international organizations and the whole world community in the coming decades should be the attainment by all peoples of the world by the year 2000 of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life. Primary health care is the key to attaining this target as part of development in the spirit of social justice." [V Declaration of Alma-Ata]
Primary health care is essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. It forms an integral part both of the country's health system, of which it is the central function and main focus, and of the overall social and economic development of the community. It is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and community with the national health system bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work, and constitutes the first element of a continuing health care process. [VI Declaration of Alma-Ata]
Primary health care
"reflects and evolves from the economic conditions and sociocultural and political characteristics of the country and its communities and is based on the application of the relevant results of social, biomedical and health services research and public health experience;
"addresses the main health problems in the community, providing promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services accordingly;
"includes at least: education concerning prevailing health problems and the methods of preventing and controlling them; promotion of food supply and proper nutrition; an adequate supply of safe water and basic sanitation; maternal and child health care, including family planning; immunization against the major infectious diseases; prevention and control of locally endemic diseases; appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries; and provision of essential drugs;
"involves, in addition to the health sector, all related sectors and aspects of national and community development, in particular agriculture, animal husbandry, food, industry, education, housing, public works, communications and other sectors; and demands the coordinated efforts of all those sectors;
"requires and promotes maximum community and individual self-reliance and participation in the planning, organization, operation and control of primary health care, making fullest use of local, national and other available resources; and to this end develops through appropriate education the ability of communities to participate;
"should be sustained by integrated, functional and mutually supportive referral systems, leading to the progressive improvement of comprehensive health care for all, and giving priority to those most in need; and
"relies, at local and referral levels, on health workers, including physicians, nurses, midwives, auxiliaries and community workers as applicable, as well as traditional practitioners as needed, suitably trained socially and technically to work as a health team and to respond to the expressed health needs of the community. [VII Text on the Alma-Ata Declaration]
The State shall protect and advance the right of the people through Executive and Legislative actions, as well as Judicial interventionto a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.
Mr. President, we ask you, nay we strongly urge you, to act now. Or, we perish as a nation.
01 December 2010
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