Wirelesswatchblog Tuesday, April 7, 2009 
Providing citizens with up-to-date news and research about the dangers of Radio Frequency exposure related to cell phones, cell towers, PDA's and the wifi mesh grid.
Wirelesswatchblog
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC EXPOSURE TO RF/MW RADIATION
Exposure standards for public exposure to RF/MW radiation at cell phone frequencies in other countries is, in some cases, substantially lower than the US and Canadian limits (Table 1). The World Health Organization EMF Research Program is involved in a multi-year effort to review RF/MW health effects and make recommendations for exposure standards. In the interim, other countries around the world show considerable variation in what they consider safe exposure levels:
* Saltzberg (pulsed)................................ 0.1 microwatts
per centimeter squared
* China...................................................6.6
microwatts per centimeter squared
* Russia..................................................10 microwatts per centimeter squared
* Italy.....................................................10
microwatts per centimeter squared
* Switzerland..........................................4.2
microwatts per centimeter squared
* Auckland, New Zealand......................50 microwatts per
centimeter squared
* United States ........around 580 microwatts per centimeter squared
* Canada ................around 580 microwatts per centimeter squared
There is substantial controversy among regulatory agencies in the federal government over the RF/MW exposure standards now in effect. A growing body of scientific evidence has linked RF/MW exposure to biological effects and health effects at levels lower than current FCC RF/MW standards allow. With respect to pulsed RFR, amplitude-modulated RFR and chronic low-level exposure there is uncertainty about risk, and no presumptive assurance or
warranty of safety can be made (see FDA and US Government Radiofrequency Interagency Working Group comments above).
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Reader Comments (1)
A new, national organization has formed to push for a change in federal law
regarding the deployment of cell towers and other wireless facilities.
The organization, Coalition for Local Oversight of Utility Technologies
(CLOUT), is centered around a web-based petition:
http://www.cloutnow.org
The goal of the petition is to give local governments more control over the
placement, construction, and modification of cell towers and other
commercial wireless facilities.
Currently, when a community organizes to oppose a proposed cell tower or
other wireless facility, they are hampered most by one specific legal
obstacle: Section 704 of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Section 704 of the TCA, crafted with guidance from the wireless industry,
mandates that state and local governments cannot in any way consider health
and environmental impacts when evaluating proposals to install wireless
facilities.
(Such installations are currently subject only to FCC safety regulations,
which are concerned only with wireless emissions strong enough to measurably
raise a person's body temperature. Written in the 1980s, the FCC regulations
are blind to "non-thermal" health effects from RF radiation.)
Section 704 of the TCA prevents local governments from enacting public
health regulations, such as those discussed in this year's European
Parliament "Resolution on Health Concerns Associated with Electromagnetic
Fields" (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5680652), that would
prohibit wireless facilities from being installed near schools and
hospitals.
Many organizations and professionals have already endorsed the petition (see
the list of endorsers on the website), and the list is growing.
I encourage you to read and sign the petition (your name and information
will NOT be display on the website as a result of signing), and, especially,
to then forward the petition's website address to friends.