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Open Letter to Health Canada
February 22, 2009
The Honorable Tony ClementMinister of Health,Health Canadaclement.j@parl.gc.ca Dear Minister:I am a Tsawwassen, BC resident living under the High Voltage OverheadTransmission Line (HVOTL) on the Right-Of-Way (ROW). The HVOTL is beingupgraded to 230 kV x 1,200 megawatts (MW) - up from 138kV x 50 MW - under the Vancouver Island Transmission Reinforcement (VITR) Project. To help theproject, Health Canada took a position on electromagnetic field (EMF) bydeclaring
"the scientific evidence is not strong enough to conclude thattypical exposures cause health problems."
As a result, the BC TransmissionCorporation (BCTC)
chose 833 milligauss
(mG), the World Health Organization’s(WHO’s) EMF exposure limit as their system design guideline. However,
833 mG
is derived from the measured thermal effects of
short-term
(24 -hour) EMFexposure on biological organisms. In the process of adopting this
833 mG
recommendation made by the International Commission on Non-IonizingRadiation Protection (ICNIRP), the former WHO EMF project manager, Repacholiallowed utility companies’ deep involvements as reported inWHO & Industry: EMF Partners, received utility company payments and became a consultant for power companies shortly after retiring from the position.(Microwave News.)While Health Canada is doing nothing to protect the general public, other countries are working hard to save their citizens from the WHO’s licensed-to-kill
833 mG EMF
exposure limit. After reviewing more than 2,000 reports, aninternational working group of scientists, researchers and public health policyprofessionals (BioInitiative) has released its comprehensive report on August 27,2007 as an alternative to the ICNIRP/WHO guidelines. The BioInitiativerecommends
1 mG for inhabitable space adjacent to all new or upgradedpower lines and 2 mG for all other new constructions. (The BioInitiativeReport).
In our cases, the power line EMF is already
20 times
over
1 mG
recommendationand more than
50 times
that of normal houses. The European Parliament isgreatly concerned about the BioInitiative report on EMFs. It has voted 522 to 16 torecommend tighter safety standards. In light of the growing body of scientificevidence implicating cell phone use in brain tumors, the Parliament states, "The
limits on exposure to electromagnetic fields [EMFs] which have been set for thegeneral public are obsolete." (
and
)
It should be remembered that radio frequencyamplitude modulation (am) could produce effects similar to that of power frequency (PF).
"Without am there was no effect although the RFR intensity wasthe same" (SECTION 14 EVIDENCE FOR DISRUPTION)Dennis Kucinich, Domestic Policy Committee Chairman wrote to Kevin Martin,FCC Chairman on Nov. 3, 2008, "The NAS Report support the NTP’s conclusionthat the research record upon which FCC’s RF Safety Guidelines are based doesnot adequately safeguard the public from non-thermal chronic exposures." (
The Bamberg Appeal sent to the President Obama onFebruary 12, 2009 states,
"
Since immediately, after digital television stations hadstarted transmitting, adverse health effects have occurred, the review of theGuidelines announced by the ICNIRP is imperative." (Warning Against AdverseHealth Effects)In the UK, the Stakeholder Advisory Group on ELF EMFs (SAGE) was establishedand equally funded by the Department of Health, the Electricity Industry and thecharity organization Children with Leukemia. The onset of childhood leukemia atabove
4 mG
was implicated in the epidemiology and it requires
60 m
from 275 kVline for the magnetic field to fall below
4 mG
. On the basis of these, SAGE put outthe first report on April 27, 2007. "We have therefore identified the best-availableoption for obtaining significant exposure reduction (in fact, it avoids new futureexposures that would otherwise occur). This is a restriction on new homes andschools close to existing lines, and on new lines close to existing homes andschools." The suggested distance is
60 m
from 275 KV line. (HREG -
)
The 5 MP (UK) Cross-Party Inquiry was formed in 2006 to consider the evidencefor an association between EMF from HVOTL and an increased risk of childhoodleukemia. The Inquiry stated, "the Government recognise the potential risks tochildren’s health caused by exposure to EMF and introduce a moratorium on thebuilding of new homes and schools within at least 60 metres of existing HVOTL of 275 kV and 400 kV and on the building of new HVOTL within 60 metres of existinghomes and schools." (ePolitix.com :) In our cases, the distance is barely over
onethird
of this recommendation.On November 17, 2008, Microwave News wrote, "A couple of weeks ago, a groupled byMartin Röösliat Switzerland's University of Bern reported that people livingwithin 50 meters of a high-voltage power line were more likely to die withAlzheimer's. The longer they lived near a 220-380 kV power line, the greater therisk: After 15 years, the odds of dying with Alzheimer's were double the expectedrate. It is this striking dose-response —with the risk increasing over time- thatmakes the Swiss study compelling." (Power-Line EMFs: Alzheimer's)Dear Minister, you must pay special attentions to these
three landmark courtrulings.
For the first time ever in France, a power company was ordered to
compensate cattle farmers for EMF damages to animals
. On November 14,2008, AFP (Agence France Presse) reported
,
"In ordering the management of the
French company RTE (responsible for the distribution of electricity) to pay almost400,000 euros to cattle farmers, the courts have established for the first time thatthere is a link between the effects of electromagnetic radiation from a very highvoltage power line and symptoms of diseases among animals" (
) Similarly
,
telephone company Bouygues Telecom wasordered on February 4, 2009 by a Versailles appeals court to
dismantlecellphone towers
in the Lyons area on the basis of the
precautionary principle
and the
potential health risk
for nearby residents. The ruling is significantbecause it draws on the latest research such as the
BioInitiative Report
as wellas recent doctors’ Appeals of Salzburg (Austria), Freiburg and Bamberg(Germany) and Helsinki (Finland).
, (VersaillesAppeal Court Judgement 4 February 2009) Vaculuse Martin reported on February22, 2009, "At Chateauneuf-du-Page, the relay phone mast belong to the mobilephone operator SFR must be demolished. The judge acknowledges ‘a potentialhealth risk’""Judje orders demolition"Dear Minister, I have briefly shown that: large scale research found low-levelEMFs are health hazards, the SAGE and MPs recommend a
60 m
distance frompower lines and the courts ruled power line EMFs and cell phone antennaradiations are health hazards based on the BioInitiative Report. Under suchcircumstances, it is very wrong for bureaucratic and industrial scientists andengineers, including those from Health Canada, to force the public to accept that
long-term (60 year) < 833 mG exposure is safe.
I am hereby going to presentmy explanations, based on
scientific principles
, about how low-level EMFs acton biological organisms. Please also note that the fundamental mistakes made inapplying science, physics and engineering to the biological system is that thehuman body has been treated as an electrical or electronic device
without life
:
1.
Root mean square (RMS) is used instead of the peak-to-peak. MostGauss meters measure RMS value, which is equivalent to the DCamplitude that can deliver the same amount of power to a resistiveload. But to the living cell in our body, the peak-to-peak amplitude ismore meaningful than the RMS value. For a PF sine wave, the peak isequal to 1.414 times the RMS value and the peak-to-peak is twice thepeak value. The crest factor (CF), 1.414 is defined as the peakamplitude divided by the RMS value. (59886916en Better
. For example 150 mG, the calculated maximum EMF under the power lines,will translate into a 424 mG swing ( +150 x 1.414). (This 1- phaseapproximation can be applicable to a 3-phase system with verticalconfiguration because the closest line will give the prominent peakvalue.)
2.
Geomagnetic field (GMF) is ignored. The GMF has been thought tominimally affect living organisms. However, many symptoms related tothe combination of PF magnetic field (PFMF) and GMF are reported inGeomagnetic Fields. Also the risk of childhood leukemia may berelated to the combinations of AC and GMF. (
). Due to the GMF, the PFMF oscillation becomeslopsided as follows: When the power line magnetic field is parallel tothe GMF (500 mG), the resulting magnetic field is 712 mG (500 mG +
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