Feeding Blackmail: Small room Phone/Wifi Radiation and Your Freedomfrom disease

By Marcie BarnesSummarized from an assignment I completed for:JOMC 710 “Computing Concepts and Issues: Power Tools for the Mind”Professor Deb Aikat, Ph. DApril 9rh, 2009University of North Carolina, Chapel HillTHE ISSUEMost of us are familiar with the possible dangers of radiation from things such asnuclear power plants, microwave ovens, x-rays, and power lines. New technologyhas introduced a few more devices that have entered the debate over what levelsof radiation are harmful: the cell phone, and more recently, the wireless network.Because cell phones are used by 83% of Americans, and by some for the majorityof their day, exposure to cell phones and the radiation they omit should be a top-of-mind issue. Similarly, wireless networks, commonly known as wifi, are poppingup all over the country and the world, including public schools, in order to connectlaptop and web-enabled phone users to the Internet. Both of these technologiesmay be causing a greater health risk via the radiation they emit.FIVE FEARS OF THE ISSUE1) General decline in public health: There are a bevy of research-proven illnessesattributed to overexposure to radiation, including: asthma, sleep disorders, anxietydisorders, attention deficit disorder, autism, multiple sclerosis, ALS, Alzheimer’sdisease, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, cataracts,hypothyroidism, diabetes, malignant melanoma, cancer, heart attacks and strokes(including in young people) and “radio wave sickness”. The more people areexposed to these devices and the towers associated with them, the higher thechances are that illness may ensue at some point.2) Forest die-off, reproductive failure and population decline - these things havebeen found in many species of birds, as well as ill health and birth deformities infarm animals near microwave towers. Possible implications could includedisruption of the food chain that could lead to extinction, contaminated food supplyvia direct exposure or from the birth defects and degradation of the animal’sgenetic material.3) Privacy concerns - Some people are beginning to feel “invaded” by theproliferation of microwave radiation in our cities and towns, and even some of themost rural areas are no longer safe havens for those who may choose to live or spend time away from towers. Lawsuits could become more prevalent if morepeople fall ill and the link between radiation from wireless devices and illness isproven.