Vote
YES !
Dear
Parents and Grandparents,
Please
support Resolution
#17 "Parent Choice Regarding Exposure to EMF Emissions"
at the upcoming BCCPAC
(BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils) Annual General Meeting
on May 26, 2012.
This resolution is not asking to remove Wi-Fi from all schools, but
to provide wireless-free schools of choice. (Similar to French
immersion, Montessori, or schools that emphasize a certain
subject/sport, which are already available in BC.) It has taken
hundreds of hours of work and debate in the BCCPAC Safety Committee
to advance this resolution to the table. This is a much-needed
opt-out solution for parents who want to follow the advice for
precaution, as well as for children who have negative biological
reaction to the pulsed microwave radiation emitted by Wi-Fi and
wireless electronic devices in schools. These children are currently
suffering physical symptoms while attending classes, or have to be
withdrawn from schools because they are unable to take personal
measures to avoid such exposure in campuses with Wi-Fi
installed. http://www.bccpac.bc.ca/UserFiles/File/2012AGM-Spring/2012_Resolution_Book_Updated.pdf
Votes
can be cast by all paid-up BCCPAC member PACs and DPACs, either by
attending the AGM or by proxy votes.
Voting
Information & Proxy Rules:
Voting
Instructions:
Authorized
Proxy Vote Form:
Spring
Conference Registration & Program:
If
you would like to support this resolution, please contact your PAC or
DPAC to communicate your concern, and please share the info with
other parents and grandparents.
Resolutions
# 17
Parent
Choice Regarding Exposure to EMF Emissions
from
SRC Safety Wi-Fi Subcommittee
Submitted
by: BCCPAC Board of Directors
Be
it resolved that
BCCPAC
calls on each Board of Education to have one public school at each
education level (elementary, middle, secondary) that is free of
Wi-Fi, cordless phones and cell phones. This school will only
be equipped with wired computers and wired telephones for
personal, educational and administrative purposes. This will not
be required in cases where there is only one school available of that
type in that district.
N.B.
The above resolution was supported by some members of the Safety
committee. Other members of the committee do not consider Wi-Fi
a significant health risk and believe there is no need to exclude
the use of Wi-Fi in any school until it is conclusively declared
as being harmful by Health Canada and the World Health
Organization. The committee is divided and consensus was not
achievable. We refer this resolution to the membership for their
consideration and decision.
Rationale:
In
British Columbia, many school districts have installed Wi-Fi in
recent years and other schools are now contemplating its use. At
the same time, more children are using wireless technology, bringing
their own cell phones and smart phones to schools.
In
May, 2011, the International Agency
for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO)
has classified "Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields"
"emitted by wireless communication devices" as Type 2B
Possible Carcinogen (possible cancer risk to humans). The WHO
report concluded that "additional research is important";
and advised the public, particularly young adults and children,
to "take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure". This
classification also includes Wi-Fi emissions as so affirmed by
IARC experts as follows:
“So
the classification 2B, possibly carcinogenic, holds for all types of
radiation within the radiofrequency part of the electromagnetic
spectrum, including the radiation emitted by base-station antennas,
radio/TV towers, radar, Wi-Fi, smart meters, etc." ”"This
is what the Working Group discussed and decided last year. Of
course, because the exposure levels for many of these other devices
and exposure situations are so much lower than the exposure to
someone who has a functioning cell phone against her/his ear,
the risk will be considerably less (although the hazard still
exists)."
http://www.iarc.fr/en/mediacentre/pr/2011/pdfs/pr208_E.pdf
Further
information and clarifications from the WHO on this classification is
here:
In
October, 2011, Health
Canada encouraged, “…parents to reduce children's RF
(radiofrequency radiation) exposure
from cell phones since children are typically more sensitive to a
variety of environmental agents" and "there is
currently a lack of scientific information regarding the
potential health impacts of cell phones on children";
(http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisoriesavis/_2011/2011_131-eng.php )
In
January, 2012, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine
published, "Chronic exposure to wireless radio frequency
radiation is a preventable environmental hazard that is sufficiently
well documented to warrant immediate preventative public health
action... Children are placed at
particular risk for altered brain development, and impaired
learning and behaviour."
Some
parents are concerned about the long-term health effects of wireless
devices on children, given the long hours that children spend in
schools and the fact that it is not feasible for children to take
personal measures to avoid such exposure. These parents prefer
to adopt the “Precautionary
Principle“
by using proven wired technology solutions. In recent years some
students in different school districts have reported adverse
biological reactions such as headaches, dizziness, rapid heart rate,
fatigue and impaired concentration when exposed to the
radiofrequency emitted by Wi-Fi and wireless devices in the
school environment. These students currently have no alternative
to avoid such exposure while attending schools. The causal
relationship of these claims is disputed by some scientists while
other scientists are convinced that the symptoms experienced by
these patients are valid, and that such exposure should be avoided.
Destination:
Ministry
of Education
BC
School Trustees Association (BCSTA)
BC
Boards of Education
BC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Perry Kendall's Letter on Wi-Fi for Schools: Erroneous Representation of Radiation Data.
Using
a study sponsored by Wi-Fi Alliance (companies that manufacture and
sell Wi-Fi products), medical authorities are assuring parents that
Wi-Fi is not dangerous. This study has nothing to do with classroom
exposure. The locations measured (coffee shops, train stations,
hospitals etc.) were hand-picked by the Wi-Fi Alliance members. When
they measured a laptop, they measured at least 1 meter away (at least
3.3 feet; did not specify the maximum distance). This does not take
into account that children are using laptops, tablets and wireless
hand-held devices in close/direct contact with their bodies, and
accessing the internet simultaneously in the classroom. Every one of
these devices has a client's card which is a live antenna. Actual
measurement of the Wi-Fi radiation signals from these devices (see
videos below) are magnitudes - up to 700,000
times
- higher than what's reported by the industry study.
Read full post: http://www.safeinschool.org/2012/04/bc-chief-medical-officer-dr-perry.html
Wi-Fi and Cellphone Radiation Comparison
Read full post: http://www.safeinschool.org/2012/04/bc-chief-medical-officer-dr-perry.html
Wi-Fi and Cellphone Radiation Comparison
Here
are 2 videos to illustrate the comparison between an iPad on Wi-Fi
mode and an iPhone on talking mode:iPhone
on Talking mode:
-Peaked at 19 μW/cm2 (microwatts/cm2)
-Peaked at 19 μW/cm2 (microwatts/cm2)
-Continuous signal, but
duration of use in talking mode likely shorter than internet
browsing.
-Phone will be in direct
contact with the ear and head (unless handsfree or headset are
used).
-Wi-Fi was turned off on this phone.
-Wi-Fi was turned off on this phone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n097VN7KB_AiPad
on Wi-Fi mode:
-Peaked at 70 μW/cm2; several times higher than iphone on talking mode
-Peaked at 70 μW/cm2; several times higher than iphone on talking mode
-Continual signals. Stop
and spike every few seconds.
-Duration of use for iPad is likely longer than talk-mode on cellphone.
-Duration of use for iPad is likely longer than talk-mode on cellphone.
-iPad will be in direct
contact with the student's hands or/and lap/abdomen.
-Note that there is no Wi-Fi network available. The iPad is not even logged onto any Wi-Fi network and not downloading anything. The signals are simply from the Wi-Fi feature being turned on.
-The iPad is not on airplane mode but there is no SIM card in it.
-Note that there is no Wi-Fi network available. The iPad is not even logged onto any Wi-Fi network and not downloading anything. The signals are simply from the Wi-Fi feature being turned on.
-The iPad is not on airplane mode but there is no SIM card in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVJI-0YogGo
-In this other video, the airplane mode is on and Wi-Fi is turned on. This one peaked at 39 microwatts/cm2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0qU2ov2U1w
Health Canada's exposure limit is at an extremely high level of 1000 μW/cm2, while studies have found at:
0.002 μW/cm2 - Sleep disturbance and fatigue. Altpeter et al. (1995, 1997, 2005)
0.168 μW/cm2 - Progressive decrease in number of newborns and irreversible infertility in
mice after 5 generations exposure. I.N. Magras and T.D. Zenos (1997)
-In this other video, the airplane mode is on and Wi-Fi is turned on. This one peaked at 39 microwatts/cm2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0qU2ov2U1w
N.B. The measuring “probe” of the
RF meter is actually inside the middle of the spherical casing, about
1-2 cm away from the interior of the shell (i.e. not "touching" the devices). In real life, the
radiation level in direct contact with the devices (like what the
children could be doing) would be even higher.
What do the above numbers mean?
Health Canada's exposure limit is at an extremely high level of 1000 μW/cm2, while studies have found at:
0.002 μW/cm2 - Sleep disturbance and fatigue. Altpeter et al. (1995, 1997, 2005)
0.168 μW/cm2 - Progressive decrease in number of newborns and irreversible infertility in
mice after 5 generations exposure. I.N. Magras and T.D. Zenos (1997)
0.32-16.43
μW/cm2 - Attention, memory and motor function of
school children significantly affected in comparison to control
groups. A.A. Kolodynski and V.V. Kolodynska (1996)
2.5 μW/cm2 - Damage to blood-brain barrier. Salford et al., (1997)
2.5 μW/cm2 - Damage to blood-brain barrier. Salford et al., (1997)
China/Russia/Italy/Poland
have exposure
limits at 10 μW/cm2. Switzerland's general limit is 9.5
μW/cm2 and 4.25 for sensitive areas (children, elderly,
medically-challenged). The Swiss doctors' group - Physicians
for the Environment - recently issued a public statement
calling for reduction of their limit by 10 times, i.e. to 0.95
μW/cm2. Luxembourg/Bulgaria at 2.4 μW/cm2. Salzburg
Health Department in Austria recommends only 0.001 μW/cm2 for
outdoor and 0.0001 for indoor exposure.
This
is 10
million times
more stringent than our outdated Canadian Safety Code 6 of 1000
μW/cm2.
http://goo.gl/4pzyE
Minister of Education Promoting Smartphones, Tablets and Other Electronic Devices in the Classroom.
March
22, 2012 - Switzerland: Physicians for the
Environment (MfE)
Founded
25 years ago, 1,500 physicians in Switzerland.
“From
the medical point of view, it is urgent to apply the precautionary
principle for mobile telephony, wifi, power
lines, etc.”
http://www.safeinschool.org/2012/04/switzerland-physicians-for-environment.html
Brain Tumours
Apr 24, 2012 - UK Office of National Statistics shows a 50 per cent increase in frontal and temporal lobe tumours between 1999 and 2009.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134382/Risks-biggest-technological-experiment-history-species-Calls-research-links-using-mobile-phones-brain-cancer.html#ixzz1tShA4PPV Dec 15, 2011 - Brain Tumour Increase in Denmark by 40% between 2001-2010
http://newsvoice.se/2011/12/15/brain-tumour-increase-in-denmark-by-40-between-2001-2010/Apr 26, 2009 - Child Cancer Deaths Led by Brain Tumours
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/apr/26/brain-tumour-child-cancer-deaths
Brian Tumours in the Interphone Studies:
http://www.safeinschool.org/2012/04/switzerland-physicians-for-environment.html
Brain Tumours
Apr 24, 2012 - UK Office of National Statistics shows a 50 per cent increase in frontal and temporal lobe tumours between 1999 and 2009.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134382/Risks-biggest-technological-experiment-history-species-Calls-research-links-using-mobile-phones-brain-cancer.html#ixzz1tShA4PPV Dec 15, 2011 - Brain Tumour Increase in Denmark by 40% between 2001-2010
http://newsvoice.se/2011/12/15/brain-tumour-increase-in-denmark-by-40-between-2001-2010/Apr 26, 2009 - Child Cancer Deaths Led by Brain Tumours
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/apr/26/brain-tumour-child-cancer-deaths
Brian Tumours in the Interphone Studies:
- For acoustic neuroma (Swedish Interphone), a 3.9-fold risk of acoustic neuroma was found for 10 or more years of cellphone use on the same side of the head where the cellphone was held (OR=3.9, 95% CI: 1.6 to 9.5). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15475713
- For parotid gland tumors (Israeli Interphone), a 1.5-fold risk of parotid gland tumors was found for >266.3 cumulative hours of use (above the median) on the same side the head where the cellphone was held (OR=1.49, 95% CI: 1.05 to 2.13). http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/167/4/457.long
- For glioma within the volume of brain where the tumor was located (Japanese Interphone), a 5.8-fold risk of glioma was found for >10 maxSAR-hours2 of exposure (OR=5.84, 95% CI: 0.96-35.60, p=0.051). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410122/
New Studies Show Laptops and Cellphones Adversely Affect Children and Fetuses
USA
- Yale University (2012)
Fetal
Radiofrequency Radiation Exposure From 800-1900 Mhz-Rated Cellular
Telephones Affects Neurodevelopment and Behavior in Mice
“Here
we demonstrate that fetal exposure to 800–1900 Mhz-rated
radiofrequency radiation from cellular telephones leads to behavioral
and neurophysiological alterations that persist into adulthood...The
significant trend between the groups treated for 0, 9, 15, and
24 hours/day demonstrates that the effects
are directly proportional to usage time... ”
ITALY
(2012)
Dept
of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Reproduction Medicine, University of
Siena.
ASL
7 (Local Health Agency), Prevention Dept Physical Agents Laboratory,
Siena.
CNR
(Italian Research Council), Institute of Applied Physics (IFAC),
Florence, Italy.
Exposure
to Electromagnetic Fields From Laptop Use of “Laptop” Computers
Exposure
to Electromagnetic Fields From Laptop Use of “Laptop” Computers
“In
the LTCs analyzed, EMF values (range 1.8–6 μT) are within
International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (NIR) Protection
(ICNIRP) guidelines, but are considerably
higher than the values recommended by 2 recent guidelines for
computer monitors magnetic field emissions,
MPR II (Swedish Board for Technical Accreditation)
and TCO (Swedish Confederation of
Professional Employees), and
those considered risky for tumor development... the power
supply induces strong intracorporal electric current densities in the
fetus and in the adult subject, which are respectively
182–263% and 71–483% higher than ICNIRP 98 basic restriction
recommended to prevent adverse health effects.”
RUSSIA
(2011)
Russian
National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection
Psychophysiological
Indicators for Child Users of Mobile Communication. Message 1:
Present State of the Problem
Message
2: Results of Four-year Monitoring
"It has been shown that
the children’s organism is
more sensitive to this kind of exposure than the adult one. We
have identified the following major trends of the psychophysiological
indicators for child users of mobile communication: an increased
number of phonemic perception
disorders, abatement of efficiency, reduced indicators for
the arbitrary and semantic
memory, and increased fatigue. A steady decline of the
parameters from high values to bottom standards has been found."
GREECE
(2012)
University
of Athens
Brain proteome response
following whole body exposure of mice to mobile phone or wireless
DECT base radiation (* Note DECT cordless phone bases emits
the SAME 2.4 GHz frequency as Wi-Fi routers and devices)
"The
observed protein expression changes may be related to brain
plasticity alterations,
indicative of oxidative
stress in the nervous system or
involved in apoptosis and might potentially explain human health
hazards reported so far, such
as headaches, sleep disturbance, fatigue, memory deficits,
and brain
tumor long-term induction under
similar exposure
conditions."
Summary: http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/mice-proteome/
Wireless Radiation Damages Fertility
http://www.safeinschool.org/2011/11/wi-fi-decreases-human-sperm-motility.html#uds-search-resultsInfertility near doubled since 1992 for couples with women aging 18-44:
http://www.globalnews.ca/pages/story.aspx?id=6442582741
Summary: http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/mice-proteome/
TURKEY (2012)
Departments
of Pediatrics, Abant Izzet Baysal University School of Medicine,
Turkey.
Immunohistopathologic
Demonstration Of Deleterious Effects on Growing Rat Testes of
Radiofrequency Waves Emitted from Conventional Wi-Fi
Devices.
“OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects on rat testes of radiofrequency radiation emitted from indoor Wi-Fi Internet access devices using 802.11.g wireless standards.
RESULTS: We observed significant increases in serum 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels and 8-hydroxyguanosine staining in the testes of the experimental group indicating DNA damage due to exposure (p < 0.05). We also found decreased levels of catalase and glutathione peroxidase activity in the experimental group, which may have been due to radiofrequency effects on enzyme activity (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: These findings raise questions about the safety of radiofrequency exposure from Wi-Fi Internet access devices for growing organisms of reproductive age, with a potential effect on both fertility and the integrity of germ cells.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22465825
“OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects on rat testes of radiofrequency radiation emitted from indoor Wi-Fi Internet access devices using 802.11.g wireless standards.
RESULTS: We observed significant increases in serum 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels and 8-hydroxyguanosine staining in the testes of the experimental group indicating DNA damage due to exposure (p < 0.05). We also found decreased levels of catalase and glutathione peroxidase activity in the experimental group, which may have been due to radiofrequency effects on enzyme activity (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: These findings raise questions about the safety of radiofrequency exposure from Wi-Fi Internet access devices for growing organisms of reproductive age, with a potential effect on both fertility and the integrity of germ cells.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22465825
Wireless Radiation Damages Fertility
http://www.safeinschool.org/2011/11/wi-fi-decreases-human-sperm-motility.html#uds-search-resultsInfertility near doubled since 1992 for couples with women aging 18-44:
http://www.globalnews.ca/pages/story.aspx?id=6442582741
Read
more scientific studies on the health effects of electromagnetic
radiation: SafeinSchool.Org/p/scientific-studies.html
EMRabc.ca
Wiredchild.org
Wiredchild.org
European Parliaments
The Council of Europe is comprised of 47 countries and the European Parliament (EU) represents 27 countries. These two separate institutionsof European leaders have examined the issue thoroughly and come to the same conclusion regarding the need to protect citizens from electromagnetic radiation, particularly, "pregnant women, newborn babies and children." http://www.safeinschool.org/2011/05/europes-may-2011-report-calls-for-ban.html
