History

During the 1950s clinics were established in Moscow, Leningrad, and other cities in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to study and treat thousands of workers suffering from a new occupational disease. It was named radio wave sickness. These patients manufactured, inspected, repaired or operated microwave equipment. Some worked at radar facilities, others for radio or TV stations, or telephone companies. Still others operated radio frequency heaters and sealers being used in an expanding number of industries using technology developed during World War II.

The patients at these clinics suffered from headaches, fatigue, weakness, sleep disturbance, irritability, dizziness, memory difficulty, sexual dysfunction, skin rash, hair loss, decreased appetite, indigestion, and occasionally sensitivity to sunlight. Some had heart palpitations, stabbing pains in the region of the heart, and shortness of breath after exertion. Many developed emotional instability, anxiety or depression, and a few had mania or paranoia.

On physical exam they had acrocyanosis (blue fingers and toes), decreased sensitivity to odors, sweating, tremors, altered reflexes, unequal pupil size, heart arrhythmias, and unstable pulse and blood pressure. They had abnormal EEGs and EKGs and, in advanced stages, signs of oxygen deprivation to the heart and brain. Some developed cataracts. Blood work showed hyperactive thyroid, elevated histamine, elevated blood sugar, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, an increase in blood proteins, a decrease in the albumin-globulin ratio, decreased platelets and red blood cells, and abnormally high or low white blood cell count.

Although only about 15% of microwave workers complained of their illness, and only 2% ceased working (Sadchikova 1960, Klimková-Deutschová 1973), laboratory work revealed abnormalities in the majority of workers. Blood cholesterol was elevated in 40% of microwave workers (Klimkova-Deutschova 1974), triglycerides were elevated in 63% (Sadchikova et al. 1980), fasting blood sugar was increased in 74% (Klimkova-Deutschova 1974), and 70% had abnormal thyroid activity. Objective cardiac changes were found in 18% to 35% of microwave workers, depending on the length of time worked.

These workers were exposed to microwave radiation only during working hours. And they were exposed to levels of radiation that were less than what the general public is exposed to now for hours per day, or even all the time, from cell phone and wireless Internet technologies.

Because of the large number of publications about radio wave sickness coming out of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, a US/USSR scientific exchange on microwave radiation research was begun in the mid-1970s. And the US government contracted with Dr. Zorach Glaser to catalogue the world scientific literature—journal articles, books, conference proceedings—on reported biological and health effects of radio frequency and microwave radiation. By the end of the 1970s, Glaser’s bibliography included 5,083 documents (Glaser 1984).

Also during the 1960s and 1970s, ophthalmol­ogist Milton Zaret, under contract with the Army and the Air Force, examined the eyes of thousands of military and civilian personnel working at radar installations in the US and Greenland. Large numbers of them, he found, were developing cataracts. Most of these cataracts were caused by chronic exposure of the eye to radiation at power densities around one milliwatt per square centimeter—a level which is regularly exceeded by each of the eight billion cell phones in use today (Birenbaum et al. 1969; Zaret 1973).

During those years American biologist Allan Frey discovered that microwave radiation damages the blood-brain barrier (Frey et al. 1975), and he proved that humans and animals can hear microwaves (Frey 1961). One of the most active American researchers during the 1960s and 1970s, Frey caused rats to become docile by irradiating them at a power density of 50 microwatts per square centimeter (Frey and Spector 1976). He altered specific behaviors at 8 microwatts per square centimeter (Frey and Wesler 1979). He altered the heart rate of live frogs at 3 microwatts per square centimeter (Frey 1970). At only 0.6 microwatts per square centimeter, 100 times less than levels commonly encountered today at a normal operating distance from a wireless laptop, he caused frogs’ hearts to develop arrhythmias, and sometimes caused the hearts to stop beating, by timing the microwave pulses at a precise point during the heart’s rhythm (Frey and Seifert 1968).

In 1977 Paul Brodeur, in his book, The Zapping of America, warned that proliferating microwave towers and radar facilities were endangering public health. But compared to today, microwave and radio facilities were still very rare indeed.

When in 1977 Apple sold its first personal computers, exposure to high levels of electromagnetic radiation spread to the general population, and electromagnetic illness ceased being only an occupational disease. In that year deaths from asthma in the US, which had been declining steadily for decades, began to rise for the first time.

In 1981, Representative Al Gore chaired the first of a number of Congressional hearings on the health effects of video display terminals (VDTs). These were held because two editors at The New York Times, young men in their 20s and 30s, had developed cataracts; half of all surveyed UPI and AP employees were complaining of visual problems or headaches; an unusual number of babies with birth defects had been born to employees at The Toronto Star; and clusters of miscar­riages were occurring among female VDT operators all over the U.S. and Canada.

The newspaper industry had been the earliest industry to be transformed by computer technol­ogy. During the 1981 hearings by the House Committee on Science and Technology, Charles A. Perlik, Jr., president of the Newspaper Guild, testified that had his member­ship known that VDTs were capable of dangerous emissions, “We would not have quietly permitted the transformation of an essentially benign workplace into a hazardous one.”[1] In 1985 Canadian author Bob DeMatteo published a popular book titled Terminal Shock: The Health Hazards of Video Display Terminals.

In the mid-1980s Olle Johansson, a neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, discovered a new skin disease. Since only people who worked in front of computer screens got it, he named it screen dermatitis. Such patients

Source: Idaho Observer, September 2007 https://www.proliberty.com/observer/20070910.htm

Prior to 1996, the wireless age was not coming online fast enough, primarily because communities had the authority to block the siting of cell towers. But the Federal Communications Act (1996) made it virtually impossible for communities to stop construction of cell towers —even if they pose threats to public health and the environment. Since the decision to enter the age of wireless convenience was politically determined for us, we have forgotten well-documented safety and environmental concerns and, with a devil-may-care zeal that is lethally short-sighted, we have incorporated into our lives every wireless toy that comes on the market as quickly as it becomes available. We behave as if we are addicted to radiation. Our addiction to cell phones has led to harder “drugs” like wireless Internet. And now we are bathing in the radiation that our wireless enthusiasm has financed. The addicted, uninformed, corporately biased and politically-influenced may dismiss our scientifically-sound concerns about the apocalyptic hazards of wireless radiation. But we must not. Instead, we must sound the alarm. By Amy Worthington

Illa Garcia wore jewelry the first day she went back to work as a fire lookout for the state of California in the summer of 2002. The intense radiation from dozens of RF/microwave antennas surrounding the lookout heated the metals on her body enough to burn her skin. “I still have those scars,” she says. “I never wore jewelry to work after that.”

Likely Mountain Lookout, on U.S. Forest Service land with a spectacular view of Mount Shasta, is one of thousands of RF/microwave “hot spots” across the nation. A newly-erected cellular communications tower was only 30 feet from the lookout. “One antenna on that tower was even with our heads,” recalls Garcia. “We could hear high-pitched buzzing. There were also three state communications antennas mounted on the lookout, only 6 feet from where we walked. We climbed past them every day.”

Motorola company manuals for management of communications sites confirm that high frequency radiation from these antennas is nasty stuff. Safety regulations mandate warning signs, EMF awareness training, protective gear, even transmitter deactivation for personnel working that close to antennas. Garcia and co-worker Mary Jasso were never warned about the hazards which, they say, demonstrates extreme malfeasance on the part of agencies and commercial companies responsible for their exposure.

By the end of fire season, Garcia and Jasso were so ill they were forced to retire and the lookout was closed to state personnel. Garcia, 52, is now severely disabled with fibromyalgia, auto-immune thyroiditis and acute nerve degeneration. Medical tests confirmed broken DNA strands in her blood and abnormal tissue death in her brain.

Dr. Gunner Heuser, a medical specialist in neurotoxicity, states that Garcia’s disorders are a result of chronic electromagnetic field exposure in the microwave range and that “she has become totally disabled as a result.” Dr. Heuser said, “In my experience patients develop multisystem complaints after EMF exposure just as they do after toxic chemical exposure.”

Jasso, who worked the lookout for 11 seasons, is now disabled with brain and lung damage, partial left side paralysis, muscle tremors, bone pain and DNA damage. Jasso discovered that all lookouts who worked Likely Mountain since 1989 are disabled. At only 61 years of age, she has lost so much memory that she cannot remember back to when her first three children were born. She fears that communications radiation may be a major factor in the nation’s phenomenal epidemics of dementia and autism.

Both women say they have been unjustly denied worker’s comp and medical benefits. Their pleas for help to state and federal agencies have been fruitless. Between them they have racked up over $150,000 in medical bills, although there is no effective treatment for radiation sickness.

Twenty-two other members of Garcia and Jasso’s two families received Likely Mountain radiation exposure. All suffer serious and expensive illnesses, including tumors, blood abnormalities, stomach problems, lung damage, bone pain, muscle spasms, extreme fatigue, tremors, numbness, impaired motor skills, cataracts, memory loss, spine degeneration, sleep problems, low immunity to infection, hearing and vision problems, hair loss and allergies.

Jasso’s husband, who often stayed at the lookout, has a rare soft tissue sarcoma known to be radiation related. Garcia’s husband, who spent little time at the lookout, has systemic cancer that started with sarcoma of the colon. Garcia’s daughter Teresa was at the lookout for a total of two hours during her first pregnancy. Her daughter was born with slight brain damage and immunity problems. “That baby was always sick,” says Garcia. Teresa spent only three days at the lookout during her second pregnancy. Her son was born with autism.

Garcia and Jasso also have a terminal condition known as “toxic encephalopathy,” involving brain damage to frontal and temporal lobes. This was confirmed by SPECT brain scans. Twelve others in the two-family group who also had the scans were diagnosed with the affliction. “All of us with this condition have been told that we’re dying,” says Garcia. “Our mutated cells will reproduce new mutated cells until the body finally shuts down.”

Nuclear bombs on a pole

Painful conditions endured by the families of Garcia and Jasso are identical to those suffered by Japanese victims of gamma wave radiation after nuclear explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Five decades of studies confirm that non-ionizing communications radiation in the RF/microwave spectrum has the same effect on human health as ionizing gamma wave radiation from nuclear reactions. Leading German radiation expert Dr. Heyo Eckel, an official of the German Medical Association, stated, “The injuries that result from radioactive radiation are identical with the effects of electromagnetic radiation. The damages are so similar that they are hard to differentiate.”1

Understanding what happened at Likely Mountain is critical to understanding the public health threat posed by radiation in the United States. The families of Garcia and Jasso, plus previous lookout workers and multitudes of tourists who visited Likely Mountain for

1993: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The FCC’s exposure standards are “seriously flawed.” Official comments to the FCC on guidelines for evaluation of electromagnetic effects of radio frequency radiation, FCC Docket ET 93-62, November 9, 1993.

1993: Food and Drug Administration (FDA): “FCC rules do not address the issue of long-term, chronic exposure to RF fields.” Comments of the FDA to the FCC, November 10, 1993.

1993: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): The FCC’s standard is inadequate because it “is based on only one dominant mechanism—adverse health effects caused by body heating.” Comments of NIOSH to the FCC, January 11, 1994.

1994: Amateur Radio Relay League Bio-Effects Committee: “The FCC’s standard does not protect against non-thermal effects.” Comments of the ARRL Bio-Effects Committee to the FCC, January 7, 1994.

2000: UK Department of Education: Children under 16 should not use cell phones except in an emergency.

2002: Interdisciplinary Society for Environmental Medicine (3000 physicians in Germany) recommends banning cell phone use by children and banning cell phones and cordless phones in preschools, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, events halls, public buildings and vehicles. http://cellphonetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Freiburger-Appeal-English.pdf

2003: American Bird Conservancy and Forest Conservation Council: Brought a lawsuit against the FCC because millions of migratory birds were being disoriented by microwave radiation and crashing into cell towers.

2004: International Association of Fire Fighters opposes communication antennas on fire stations. https://mdsafetech.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/iaff-cell-tower-resolution-health-and-safety-fact-sheets-copy.pdf

2005: Salzburg, Austria’s Public Health Department bans WLAN and DECT phones in public schools.

August 2005: Austrian Medical Association: Warns against Wi-Fi, cordless phones, and cell phone use by children.

August 2005: Vienna Medical Association warns against Wi-Fi, and cell phone use by children up to age 16.

2006: Frankfurt, Germany’s government states it will not install WiFi in its schools until it has been shown to be harmless. https://www.icems.eu/docs/deutscher_bundestag.pdf

2006: UK schools remove their wireless networks: Prebandal Preparatory School, Chichester, West Sussex; Ysgol Pantycelyn School in Carmarthenshirem, Wales; and Stowe School, in Buckinghamshire, England. London Times, November 20, 2006.

2007: Ballinderry Primary School, Ireland: Removed Wi-Fi to protect young children.

2007 Bavaria, Germany’s Parliament recommends against Wi-Fi in schools. https://www.icems.eu/docs/deutscher_bundestag.pdf

2007 Australian Democrats: The “explosion in wireless communications technology” is causing widespread illness.

2007: European Environmental Agency, Europe’s top environmental watchdog, calls for immediate action to reduce exposure to radiation from Wi-Fi, mobile phones and their masts. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10463870

2008: International Commission on Electromagnetic Safety (comprised of scientists from 16 nations): Recommends limiting cell phone use by children, teenagers, pregnant women and the elderly. https://www.magdahavas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Venice_Resolution-2008.pdf

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2007: Therold, Ontario closes down its citywide Wi-Fi pilot scheme.

2008: Lakehead University, Ontario bans Wi-Fi on campus. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2010/08/15/ontario-wifi.html

2008: Madhya Pradesh, India: Bans cell phones in schools by both students and teachers.

2008: National Library of France: Removes Wi-Fi because of health concerns and limits installation to cable connections. http://cellphonetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/France-National-Library-Gives-Up-Wifi.pdf

2008: Paris, France removes Wi-Fi from four public libraries because of health concerns. https://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/6385/2016-02-23/french-national-library-banned-wi-fi-2008.html

2008 Sainte-Geneviève University, Paris: Removes Wi-Fi from its library because of health concerns.

2008: Progressive Librarians Guild recommends against wireless technology in libraries.

2008: Russian National Committee for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection warns that cell phones are unsafe even for short conversations. Children under 16, pregnant women, epileptics, and people with memory loss, sleep disorders and neurological diseases should never use cell phones. https://www.radiationresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/021235_grigoriev.pdf

2008 Sebastopol, California: Reneges on its contract to install citywide Wi-Fi. https://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/24/town-of-sebastopol-c.html

2008: University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute: Children should never use a cell phone except in an emergency. https://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08205/898803-114.stm

2008: Voice (UK Teachers Union) calls for a ban on Wi-Fi in schools.

2009: Hérouville Saint-Clair, France: Bans Wi-Fi in public schools.

2009: Irish Doctors Environmental Association: Warns that current safety guidelines are “not appropriate.”

2009: Karnataka State, India: Bans cell phones in all schools and pre-university colleges.

May 2009: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service urges Congress to focus on the potential connection between electromagnetic fields and “Bee Colony Collapse”. https://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/emf-and-warnke-report-on-bees-birds-and-mankind/

December, 2010: French Parliament passes a law prohibiting advertising cell phones to children under 14; prohibits children up to age 14 from using cell phones in pre-schools and public schools; requires cell phones to be labeled with SAR values and a recommendation to use headsets. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexteArticle.do;jsessionid=1E9805FB777CC9228F41FE523855508D.tpdjo14v_1?idArticle=JORFARTI000022471515&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000022470434&dateTexte=29990101&categorieLien=id

May 27, 2011: Council of Europe passes a resolution recommending wired Internet connections in schools, and the creation of radiation-free zones to protect electrosensitive people. https://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/ta11/eRES1815.htm. http://cellphonetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/eres1815.pdf

August 30, 2011: The Israeli Ministry of Education publishes guidelines strictly limiting the use of mobile phones on all school grounds, citing children’s and youths’ increased risk of malignant tumors and the “passive exposure” experienced by children who do not use phones. https://norad4u.blogspot.com/2011/09/israeli-ministry-of-education-is-going.html

September 8, 2011: Pretty River Academy in Collingwood, Ontario removes WiFi from campus as a precaution, joining Roots and Wings Montessori school in Surrey, British Columbia.

Feb 13, 2012: Citing safety concerns, the Ontario English Catholic Teacher’s Association representing 45,000 teachers, is calling for a ban on new Wi-Fi installations in the province’s 1,400-plus Catholic schools and advocating that computers in all new schools should be hardwired as well. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/02/13/toronto-oecta-wifi.html

March, 2012: the Austrian Medical Association (ÖAK) releases guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of health problems caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields. https://magdahavas.com/electrosmog-exposure/austrian-medical-association-guidelines-to-diagnosing-and-treating-patients-with-electrohypersensitivity/

June 19, 2012: The Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection has officially recommended that WiFi not be used in schools. https://youtu.be/5CemiJ-yIA4.

25 Aug 2012: Israeli Minister of Health Rabi Yaakov Litzman states that he supports calls to action for a ban on Wi-Fi in schools. https://www.mast-victims.org/index.php?content=news&action=view&type=newsitem&id=5723

5 July 2013: Supreme Court of India upholds a decision of the High Court of the State of Rajasthan to remove all cell towers from the vicinity of schools, colleges, hospitals and playgrounds because of radiation “hazardous to life.” The over 200-page November 27, 2012 Rajasthan decision reviews worldwide evidence