Two environmental health advocates in Boston and New York have initiated petitions to stop area launches of personal communications services networks and shut down existing networks pending a public hearing and epidemiologic studies on potential health effects.
The Boston petition, introduced by Susan Clarke, has gained media attention in the Boston area because more than 40 faculty members of Harvard University’s School of Public Health have signed it. Many faculty members at Boston University’s public health school, along with independent scientists, have signed the petition as well, said Clarke. So far, she said she has collected about 100 signatures.
The petition calls upon the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to intervene and halt the activation of “communications transmissions employing ground-level, horizontally transmitted pulsed microwaves in Boston.” Specifically, it asks to stop Sprint Spectrum L.P. from activating its service there later this month.
“Given the biological plausibility of negative health impact, particularly to the human nervous system, as well as the anecdotal evidence of illness and death from such exposures in cities where transmission has already been implemented, and the voluminous medical studies indicating human and ecological harm from microwaves, we urge the suspension of that implementation pending full public notification of its safety by the scientific community,” states the petition.
Sprint PCS said it is not concerned, saying the Federal Communications Commission is satisfied with current testing, and power emitted from base station antennas is far too low to produce any health hazards. “We fall well below all safety thresholds,” said Tom Murphy, Sprint PCS spokesman.
The Boston Globe reported Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health said it is highly unlikely the agency will stop Sprint PCS from activating the network, citing lack of evidence indicating public health problems. Clarke said the health department has not returned her calls.
Beverly Freeman, spokeswoman for Harvard’s public health school, said the petition does not represent an official Harvard position. “She (Clarke) asked a bunch of staff and students to sign it. Only a handful of faculty signed it, and they are by no means experts on the question of cellular phone technology.”
The public health school offers space for radio and microwave antennas on its building and is in discussions with a cellular carrier to install an antenna on its property, said Freeman.
Arthur Sirstenberg of New York is circulating a petition similar to Clarke’s through his organization called the Cellular Phone Task Force, whose members claim their illnesses are attributed to electromagnetic radiation emitted from PCS networks. Sirstenberg said his organization has collected about 1,000 signatures from the general public since the beginning of May. The petition is asking the health departments in New York City, New York and New Jersey to shut downs all PCS sites in the area until a public hearing is held and an epidemiologic study is conducted. Sirstenberg started the Cellular Phone Task Force last July, when he and two other colleagues became alarmed by the wireless industry’s increased presence in communities. The organization is currently conducting an informal epidemiologic study.
“What is really driving this movement is the large number of people who are sick,” said Sirstenberg. He said many people have become ill with flu-like symptoms since Omnipoint Communications Inc. launched its network in New York in November. Sprint PCS launched its network there just last week.
Sirstenberg, who said he is electromagnetically sensitive, said he became severely ill a week after Omnipoint’s launch. “I was so convinced that this was not affecting just a few people, so I placed an ad in the newspaper seeking people with the same symptoms … People have been ill with this stuff since this winter. It has been misdiagnosed as the flu, allergies and Lyme disease. Doctors have never seen this before.”
Symptoms include vision problems, chest pains, dizziness, insomnia and even death from brain hemorrhages, claims Sirstenberg.
“The (current) standards are not adequate to protect the more vulnerable persons in any population. Indeed those persons were not even considered in deliberations.” said Clarke, a 10-year environmental advocate who has successfully tackled issues such as chemical injury and airline cabin air quality. “The science that has been done in many cases of epidemiology is on analog cell phones looking at brain cancer. That’s not applicable here.”
According to Dr. Jerrold Bushberg, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of California at Davis and director of health physics programs at the Department of Environmental Health and Safety, the entire issue of electromagnetic sensitivity is controversial. “It really depends. If you introduce something new [in the environment], and 80 percent of the people have the exact same symptoms, there is cause for alarm … In most cases, when you take the time and effort and energy to investigate these things, most of the anecdotal claims don’t hold up. And if this sort of thing is being noticed, we would see it in Europe.”
Europe has been operating digital systems for nearly six years with the same equipment used in the United States, said Bushberg. None of the European countries are attempting to modify their standards.
Both petitioners see PCS networks as the immediate danger because of the frequency they operate at and the strong digital waves they emit.
Bushberg said cellular frequencies actually “couple more with the body than PCS frequencies.”
Clarke and Sirstenberg believe they will not be brushed off by government officials, although they know the telecom act is powerful. The act bans communities from blocking antenna sites based on feared health problems if a carrier meets the required exposure guidelines.
“They won’t ignore us. These people (who signed the petition) are very powerful. They are scientists,” said Clarke.
Sirstenberg plans to gather enough signatures to pressure state and city authorities to take action. Both are lobbying members of Congress to change the telecom act.
“The telecom act is not the only federal law that has to be obeyed,” said Sirstenberg. “The main question is can we prove injury, or will it be dismissed as anecdotal reports. The bottom line is winning lawsuits, convincing Congress and getting the FCC to revise regulations.” Sirstenberg said he plans to file a class action lawsuit soon.
More than 300 U.S. communities have placed moratoriums or delays on tower siting because of concerns with health problems, community aesthetics and lower property values. Congress and federal regulators are expected to address the moratoria issue soon.
