Towers Hurt My Head

Shelley Wright – Cell Towers Hurt My Head!

My name is Shelley Wright. I love my job as a primary teacher and enjoy making a positive difference in the lives of children and their families. I have a zest for the outdoors and I believe in living life to its fullest. It’s important to me that I can give my best to myself, my family and the people I work with in an environment that doesn’t hurt me.

I know of teachers from 10 districts of Ontario and across Canada who are now sensitive around cell phones and cell towers. We get sick around very low wireless signals in the microwave range, and we need the chance to recover.

Wi-fi signals from cell towers feel intrusive to my body. Exposure to these signals leaves me feeling a range of symptoms from pins and needles to razor-sharp posterior head pains which feel like someone is stabbing the back of my head, followed by frontal head pressure that accumulates over days, migraines and extreme fatigue that can last up to three days. With every exposure, my body appears to be less capable of managing this energy. Signal intensity, proximity to the source and duration of exposure have an impact on my health.

I’m normally calm, but I feel agitated and in pain if I have to stop at a street light a hundred meters or less from a cell tower. My mom also has this sensitivity.

I speak to 700 teachers a year at ETFO’s Annual General Provincial Meetings. More teachers are expressing concerns about the biological effects they are feeling when they are using their cell phones. This is a perfect storm, waiting to happen.

Through personal journaling, I became aware that I was sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, more specifically the microwave frequencies that include Wi-Fi, cell towers, cell phones and personal devices such as lap tops, and wireless headphones. I can feel wireless signals from the house next door which sometimes register 7 µw/m2 on my meter.

Public places that permit cell phones, such as hospitals, libraries, grocery stores and parks, are no longer accessible to me, without causing me physical pain. I have discovered pervasive wi-fi signals or cell towers in most public spaces. I recover fully in my EMF home where I entertain family and friends, because there are no cell towers close by.

On bad days when I drive down the street, I feel signals blasting me from every house. At stop lights I feel texting from the cars around me. On the highway some cell towers send such an intolerable pain through my head, that I need to clutch my head, deep breath and know that although the pain is short term the residual effects of pressure and chronic fatigue can be long lasting depending upon my accumulative exposures that day. This is a medical condition that is very isolating. Grocery stores, public libraries, hospitals, doctor’s offices, public transit, public amusement parks, and beaches are out of the question, now because microwave radiation is cumulative. I have to limit my time in these places to avoid the devastating negative biological effects. Constant cell phone texting while waiting in lines to buy food is intolerable and leaves me feeling head pain, pressure and fatigued for days.

With pervasive WiFi towers and cell phones in public places I relinquish my rights to enjoy these places with my family and friends. I need protection in public so I can enjoy the variety of activities available to most Canadians. I am safest at home, where thankfully signals levels are very low.

I have spent thousands of personal dollars on extended medical leave, an EMF canopy, protective clothing, meters, health supplements, wired systems, landline phones, laptops with wired capabilities. Others like me have had to move multiple times to find a home away from cell towers.

Electromagnetic Sensitivity (ES) has become a chronic, life changing illness for me. ES can be quite debilitating. Safety Code 6 fails to make appropriate recommendations for those who are vulnerable or sensitive to these signals, and does not provide long term exposure recommendations as guidelines for Canadian employers.

It is unethical and negligent of the telecom industry to willfully turn a blind eye to cell phone users who are now sick. There are enough studies showing negative, biological effects. This industry needs to push Health Canada and Safety Code 6 to give more weight to independently funded studies, as well as patient logs from reputable hospitals such as Women’s College Hospital, Toronto. The real truth lies in the independently funded studies.

Cell towers and cell phones affect vulnerable populations like children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Levels not exceed 5 µw/m2. (As recommended by the 2012 BioInitiative Report) In fact long term levels should be lower than 3-4 µw/m2 because the cumulative effects need to be considered.

I have been diagnosed with Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity by a reputable doctor at Women’s College Hospital. In our society we accommodate people with a variety of special need. Cell towers threaten my sense of wellbeing and my ability to participate fully in public places where wifi signals are present.

If cell phone companies acknowledged some people experience negative biological effects, “White Zones” (Without WiFi radiation) would allow environmentally sensitive people to reclaim their lives and participate fully in public. Public places should be accessible to everyone!

Times have changed!

Our exposure to electromagnetic radiation is increasing exponentially. There has been no time to evaluate the effects of long term exposure to this level of exposure. It is not acceptable to conduct an experiment on the whole population and there is no longer an unexposed control group for comparison.

50% of eight year olds and 75% of teens have cell phones. Cell towers are everywhere and there is cell coverage available from multiple suppliers in most locations. Wi-Fi is available in most homes and schools. It is available in many public places like restaurants, libraries, shopping malls, hotels and even campgrounds.

Typical cell users are on their phones constantly. Some Teens send over 5,000 text messages a month. Regardless of the warning labels telling users to keep phones 10mm from their bodies, most people hold their cell phone against their ear and store them in pockets next to their skin. I have two cousins with cell phone induced tumours.

Smart phone and tablet computer users are streaming video, playing online games, uploading large files like music or photos and using video chat. These uses require cell networks with higher bandwidth, higher frequencies, closer towers and stronger signals.

Citizens like me will be regularly pushing for Safety Code 6 to be completely re-evaluated to take into consideration the current use and users of the technology and the types of real world exposures we are experiencing. Safety standards need to be revised to match the reality of how people use phones.

Cell tower companies need to consider the enormous number of studies showing biological effects at levels much lower than those causing heat effects. These companies need to take into account the heterogeneous population using wireless devices and the increased duration of exposure.

Cell tower installation needs careful planning. Cell towers need to be far away from beaches, forests, campgrounds, ski resorts, daycares and schools. People need spaces to heal and children are more sensitive to these signals. (According to epidemiologist Devra Davis)

Please watch this video and consider protecting the innocent users of wireless devices who have no idea that negative biological effects or harm exists. There is evidence and a mounting body of evidence that suggests prudent safety standards for EMF exposures would do what they are intended to do: provide REAL protection for Canadians.

Insurance companies do have reason to be concerned!

The tipping point is almost here. More people are seeing the latent effects of wireless radiation in the microwave range and a negative sentiment is building as more family members experience brain or breast tumours associated with cell phones. The bubble of truth is rising to the surface and the telecom industry will have nowhere to hide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYvIHU0niDg

Vulnerable (infants & children) and sensitive populations are especially harmed by the cumulative microwave radiation signals emitted by cell towers!

It’s time to show responsibility for the welfare of young children and wireless disabled (sensitive) people. We are all equally important!

Shelley Wright