TO: Los Angeles Unified
School District
FROM: Martha R Herbert,
PhD, MD
RE: Wireless vs. Wired in
Classrooms
DATE: February 8, 2013
I am a pediatric
neurologist and neuroscientist on the faculty of Harvard Medical
School and on staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital. I am
Board Certified in Neurology with Special Competency in Child
Neurology, and Subspecialty Certification in Neurodevelopmental
Disorders.
I have an extensive
history of research and clinical practice in neurodevelopmental
disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorders. I have published
papers in brain imaging research, in physiological abnormalities in
autism spectrum disorders, and in environmental influences on
neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and on brain development
and function.
I recently accepted an
invitation to review literature pertinent to a potential link between
Autism Spectrum Disorders and Electromagnetic Frequencies (EMF) and
Radiofrequency Radiation (RFR). I set out to write a paper of modest
length, but found much more literature than I had anticipated to
review. I ended up producing a 60 page single spaced paper with over
550 citations. It is available at
In fact, there are
thousands of papers that have accumulated over decades – and are
now accumulating at an accelerating pace, as our ability to measure
impacts become more sensitive – that document adverse health and
neurological impacts of EMF/RFR. Children are more vulnerable than
adults, and children with chronic illnesses and/or neurodevelopmental
disabilities are even more vulnerable. Elderly or chronically ill
adults are more vulnerable than healthy adults.
Current technologies were
designed and promulgated without taking account of biological impacts
other than thermal impacts. We now know that there are a large array
of impacts that have nothing to do with the heating of tissue. The
claim from wifi proponents that the only concern is thermal impacts
is now definitively outdated scientifically.
EMF/RFR from wifi and cell
towers can exert a disorganizing effect on the ability to learn and
remember, and can also be destabilizing to immune and metabolic
function. This will make it harder for some children to learn,
particularly those who are already having problems in the first
place.
Powerful industrial
entities have a vested interest in leading the public to believe that
EMF/RFR, which we cannot see, taste or touch, is harmless, but this
is not true. Please do the right and precautionary thing for our
children.
I urge you to step back
from your intention to go wifi in the LAUSD, and instead opt for
wired technologies, particularly for those subpopulations that are
most sensitive. It will be easier for you to make a healthier
decision now than to undo a misguided decision later.
Thank you.
Martha Herbert, PhD, MD
Pediatric Neurology
Martinos Center for
Biomedical Imaging
Massachusetts General
Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
USA
Original text: http://goo.gl/Okafv
