Airwave and the ethics of doubt

1. Andy Davidson February 2005 Airwaveand the ethics of doubt

2. 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

3. The responsive body • Rhythmic sounds at biofrequencies entrain the brain, to meditate or arouse • Full moon changes the earth’s 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

4. 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.

5. The responsive body • And yet we are told that there is no conceivable way the body can respond: ‘We don’t have eyes for radiofrequency.’

6. 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

7. An incessant noise • Let’s 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.

8. 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 you’re 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 you’re inside that building you’re shielded, so most of the time it’s 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."

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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:

17. 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, says:‘In a way, yes, we are.’

18. 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.’

19. 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.

20. 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

21. Understanding understanding • We don’t understand some alternative therapies: so we call it placebo • We don’t understand placebo! • We don’t 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!

22. 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 doesn’t matter.’

23. 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?

24. 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.”

25. … thank you