Airwave and the ethics of doubt

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Airwaveand the ethics of doubt

• Andy Davidson
• February 2005

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Biology describes us, physics tries to explain

• The moth and a molecule of pheromone
• The shark and the faint electrical impulse of a
  fish
• The minute currents that regenerate a salamander
  limb
• The timekeeping rhythms of tiny impulses in the
  brain
• Near DC currents that communicate subtly around
  the body

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The responsive body

• Rhythmic sounds at biofrequencies entrain the
  brain, to meditate or arouse
• Full moon changes the earths Schumann resonance
  psychiatric admissions increase lunatics?
• Flashing lights at specific frequencies cause
  epilepsy
• A frog's heart can be entrained with EM pulses
  turned down and off

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The responsive body

• Tiny pulsed EM fields trigger healing
• The pineal gland produces melatonin at night
  this is suppressed by low-level EMR
• The body is full of dielectric, conducting,
  semiconducting and rectifying materials, with
  crystals and liquid crystals.
• It is bioelectromagnetic to be alive, using
  highly coherent frequencies and minute voltages.

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The responsive body

• And yet we are told that there is no conceivable
  way the body can respond
• We dont have eyes for radiofrequency.

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A dangerous rhythm

• Key bioelectromagnetic frequencies lie between
  0Hz and around 300Hz
• These are rhythms of waking, sleeping, creating,
  breathing, heartbeat, healing and well-being
• Evolved in a silent electromagnetic environment,
  except for the matched frequencies of the earth
  itself, now we are in the middle of a noisy party

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An incessant noise

• Lets not talk about what is a pulse and what is
  not.
• We tap our feet to music TETRA has music, a
  rhythm and beat.
• This is the music of TETRA . . .

(Click picture for mp3)

• And it is 24 hours a day.
• 7 days a week.
• 365 days a year.
• at home.

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Are you at home with this?

• "In practice, of course, you are most unlikely to
  be in the beam all the time, the beam is
  relatively small, you're going to be outside the
  beam and it falls away rapidly, or youre going
  to be further than 50m or probably you're going
  to spend most of the time inside a house or
  another building, and once youre inside that
  building youre shielded, so most of the time
  its a reasonable estimate to say that the
  intensity from a base station is 10,000, 100,000
  or even a million times less than you get from a
  handset."

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It is not true

• TETRA configurations are typically two receiving
  stacks and one transmitting, and all three
  antennae are omnidirectional.
• TETRA produces strong sidelobes, and we have been
  told by BT engineers that in the original design,
  deflector plates were intended to have been
  fitted to reduce this. In fact emissions are
  measurably strong under a mast.

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It is not true

• The omnidirectional antennae mean that radiation
  is 360 degrees, so there is no narrow beam. In
  fact the whole point is to equally cover in all
  directions.
• The sound you have heard is a TETRA signal inside
  my house. Power levels of combined masts behind
  the house reach 6 V/m in bedrooms. All day, all
  night.
• The sound is produced by direct rectification and
  amplification only

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Why TETRA is different

• Yes, TETRA shares the characteristics of wireless
  technologies, and all the doubts
• BUT, TETRA has a persistence
• TETRA does have a biofrequency rhythm
• TETRA sets up a resonance between masts that
  people are sensing and suffering from

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Psychosomatic Sussex?

• From the night TETRA was switched on in Worthing,
  people had problems
• Typical symptoms of electro-sensitivity
• No-one wanted to know, because we mentioned masts
• All agencies say that because NRPB quotes AGNIR
  as saying it is unlikely, it is not TETRA
• No-one wants to find an explanation

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Worthing survey(full report available)

• We had to record what was happening
• We surveyed 1,300 houses within 250m
• We had 448 people respond
• 58.8 recorded symptoms that in 90 of cases
  were both unusual and occurring only since the
  TETRA went live
• Of those affected, over 40 had sleep disorders,
  38 headaches, 16 skin problems

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Not just Worthing

• Littlehampton, Bognor, Felpham, Rogate etc.
• When masts are off the symptoms go
• When people move away the symptoms go
• People even display the symptoms when convinced
  there is no TETRA
• When base stations are adjusted, people can tell
  the difference

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Inconvenience or risk?

• There can be no assurance without research
• The observed phenomena are clearly nothing to do
  with RF heating
• The only safety guideline we haveexcludes all
  but RF heating effects
• Residential exposure is chronic some nearest are
  disabled and housebound
• Sleep loss alone damages the body and endangers
  health

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Social responsibility

• We know that low-level EMF and EMR affect DNA,
  cell membranes, gland secretions, enzymes, stress
  proteins, bones, soft tissues, the skin, white
  blood cells, red blood corpuscles, sleep,
  cognition, and

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Social responsibility

• when asked by the media are we all guinea pigs
  in some global multibillion pound commercial
  experiment?

Dr Michael Clark, science spokesperson, NRPB,
October 2004, saysIn a way, yes, we are.
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So how sure are we about base station safety?

• EU REFLEX Report, November 2004. Showed multiple
  irreparable breaks in DNA (the classic precursor
  to cancer) from electromagnetic radiation below
  ICNIRP
• Since all these observations were made in in
  vitro studies, the results obtained neither
  preclude nor confirm a health risk due to EMF
  exposure, but they speak in favour of such a
  possibility.

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So how sure are we?

• Furthermore, there exists no justification
  anymore to claim that we are not aware of any
  pathophysiological mechanisms which could be the
  basis for the development of functional
  disturbances and any kind of chronic diseases in
  animal and man.
• The claim, so often put out that there are no
  known mechanisms by which EMR could cause
  illness, is no longer tenable.

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We do not know, but we see

• No-one has considered the chronic exposure to
  TETRA base stations
• We do not even have a dosimetry, because we do
  not know what to measure
• Epidemiological studies are apparently
  impossible, because we have created such a
  blanket EMF environment
• So there is blanket denial and no investigation

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Understanding understanding

• We dont understand some alternative therapies
  so we call it placebo
• We dont understand placebo!
• We dont understand the symptoms around masts so
  we call it psychosomatic
• There is less evidence that it might be
  psychosomatic than that it might be true
  sensitivity!

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Responsibility

• Let it not be said that 58 of our respondents
  are suffering from psychosomatic effects from
  something of which they have only a low
  awareness. Nor that the 262 people involved most
  certainly have 262 separate causes for the
  effects on their well-being. And let us not walk
  away from them as if it doesnt matter.

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A more Sudan response

• Food colourant Sudan I was found in prepared
  foods made with Worcester sauce, 17 February 2005
• 350 food lines were removed from supermarket
  shelves, 18 February
• What does Dr Jon Bell, Chief Executive of the FSA
  say?

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A more Sudan response

• Sudan I could contribute to an increased risk of
  cancer. However, at the levels present the risk
  is likely to be very small but it is sensible to
  avoid eating any more. There is no risk of
  immediate ill health. The agency is working with
  the industry to ensure that any remaining
  affected products are speedily removed. Because
  of the widespread use of this Worcester sauce to
  flavour other foods, we may find further affected
  products. We will continue to take action to
  remove these and minimise the risk to consumers.

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thank you