Downtown Toronto new cell phone towers present a public health threat to area residents and workers

Downtown Toronto new cell phone towers present a public health threat to area residents and workers

Sue Parsons, St. Catharines Independent Editorialist

I read with interest, The Canadian’s article on "Cell Phone ’Towers Of Doom’ that reportedly cause cancer in Britain now also threaten Toronto Communities." LINK

I am electro-hypersensitive (EHS) and on a recent trip to The Environmental Health Clinic at the New Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, was appalled to see the number of new cell phone towers along the QEW and the Gardiner Expressway. I am not sure of their locations but I did notice a cluster of apartment buildings directly across from one very large and heavily equipped tower. This was very distressing to me because I know that the thousands of people living in those apartment buildings are now under attack by life threatening forces.

If you poll the residents in those buildings, it would not surprise me if you found that since those towers were erected, they have developed health problems including skin rashes, sleep disturbances, flu-like symptoms, moodiness, anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, headaches, vision problems, loss of concentration, memory loss, weakness, fatigue, heart problems, high or low blood pressure... the list goes on. A high number of them will develop cancer and other life threatening and debilitating illnesses.

In the article Mr. Flet mentions that these towers cause cancer in England... they cause cancer where ever they are. Europe is far ahead of North America in its awareness of the dangers of this technology so you hear more, on the subject, from there. In Canada, there are thousands of people, like me, who cannot live ’normal’ lives because we become extremely ill in the presence of wireless, electric, and electromagnetic sources. I am fortunate that I have been able to stay in my home but I know others who have been forced from their homes and are living in remote areas away from ’electrosmog’. We are "EMF/EMR refugees". (EMF - Electromagnetic fields, EMR - Electromagnetic radiation.)

As I said before, I am fortunate to be able to stay in my home where I can better control my environment. I am fortunate in this aspect, but I cannot go out anywhere without the effects of EMF/EMR making me ill. I am also fortunate that my employer has been accommodating me to work from home for the last year because of the cell phone towers and wireless system installed on the property, but there are many who lose their jobs because of it. When I do venture out, it is for short periods and only when necessary.

I have visited The Environmental Health Clinic at the New Womens’ College Hospital in Toronto three times, and each time have needed a few weeks to recover from the drive there, being in Toronto, and the drive back. Along the highway from St. Catharines there are hundreds of these cell phone towers. Along any highway there are hundreds and quite often they are in clusters irradiating the area with overlapping signals that makes their effects worse.

The proliferation of this technology anywhere and everywhere is making society sick. It is affecting wildlife and our environment. It is radiation and we all know the dangers of radiation.

Why is this happening?

Cell phone companies and governments are making money in the billions from this technology that isn’t regulated in any way.

Cell towers and other transmission devices are exempt from environmental assessment by Environment Canada.

Canada’s federal guidelines for radio frequency radiation (Safety Code 6) is based only on thermal effects of radiation and not biological effects. It was written in 1999 long before the proliferation of this technology.

You don’t need to look overseas to find communities fighting the cell phone companies. The war is on in Canada too but there is very little press coverage. The communications companies, specifically Rogers, have an interest in most of the news organizations.

By law, you cannot even cite health issues when opposing these towers. You can only claim reduction in property values and aesthetic concerns!

Independent research is overshadowed by funded research conducted for the cell phone companies because they have the means to publicize their ’no harm’ results. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you read the Bioinitiative Report written by "An international working group of scientists, researchers and public health policy professionals (The BioInitiative Working Group)" LINK

The Canadian Human Rights Commission approved a Policy on Environmental Sensitivities on June 15th, 2007. In this policy, EHS is classified as an environmental sensitivity and therefore a disability.

This is not only a public health issue; it is also an environmental and human rights issue that is being ignored by those in positions to help. How long was it before the government did anything about asbestos and cigarettes and how much damage was done in the mean time? The only difference between those issues and this is that this technology is more widespread and imposed on us whether we want it or not. There is no getting out of the vicinity of EMF/EMR. To do so, you have to travel to the most remote parts of the world.

"Medical conditions are successfully treated using EMFs at levels below current public safety standards, proving another way that the body recognizes and responds to low-intensity EMF signals. Otherwise, these medical treatments could not work. The U.S. FDA has approved EMFs medical treatment devices, so is clearly aware of this paradox.

No one would recommend that drugs used in medical treatments and prevention of disease be randomly given to the public, especially to children. Yet, random and involuntary exposures to EMFs occur all the time in daily life." (The BioInitiative Report)

We need independent news organizations, like The Canadian, to tell it like it is and bring this to light.

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