Canada: Ontario: Lawyer Investigating Possibility of Class Action Law Suit With Respect to Electrosensitivity

Electro Sensitivity Legal Action

WEEP News, 22 March 2014

A lawyer has been retained to investigate the possibility of a Class Action law suit with respect to Electrosensitivity. A very small group of people are working with the law firm to gather research, resources and information about people who have developed sensitivities to their environment. If you would be interested in participating in the suit, please read the following questions and return this survey to Lakeshore Coalition, 7613 Chester Trail, Port Franks ON N0M 2L0. Your contact information and all answers will be treated with confidentiality as with any Solicitor/Client privilege. 

(Contact Laureen Maurizo for the questionnaire  :  laureen7@execulink.com)

Here is the first question:

1. Do you have any of these symptoms? Yes No

Switzerland: "Waves Make Me Ill": Testimony of Electrohypersensitivity

Godeliève
(photo by Matthew Cavanaugh)

« Waves make me ill »
by Jennifer Keller, Femina, 23 March 2014 (translated from French by the Editor of this blog)

Insomnia, dizziness, pain. Godeliève, 37, from Les Ponts-de-Martel, lived three hellish years until she understood the origin of her suffering. It is now one year since she has been given new life, thanks to a “biotuner.”

« It is still difficult to talk about this because the subject is taboo. Many people think it is psychological. They cannot conceive that cell phones, computers and other wireless devices, extremely practical and often tied to the notion of freedom, can be unhealthy. I myself would never have imagined the impact that they could have on health. It took me months of going from one doctor to another before understanding this.”

“It all started in spring 2010. My husband, who is American, and I were in Boston visiting his mother. We share life between the United States and Switzerland. We slept in a room where I had never really felt well. The level of electromagnetic pollution must have been very high there, in part due to the electric lines passing within several centimeters of the walls… My health deteriorated within several days. I could no longer sleep. I was seized by dizziness, suffered headaches and had the impression of being dehydrated. At the Boston hospital, I was diagnosed with a possible virus …

Switzerland: Researchers Want to Determine What Effect Radiation from Mobile Phones Has on Children and Adolescents

Several studies have shown that children and adolescents
with an intensive use of mobile phones have an anti-social
or aggressive behavior.  (Photo: Keystone/Martin Ruetschi)

Do Mobile Phones Disturb School Children’s Behavior ?
by D. Pomper, 20min.ch, 11 March 2014 (translated from German by Jennifer Siddle)

Are mobile phones the cause of school children no longer being able to concentrate and thus becoming anti-social?  Swiss researchers want to determine what effect radiation from mobile phones has on them.

To telephone and exchange SMS texts with friends, and in between, check E-mails and Facebook: the latest report is that since teenagers can now profit from flat rate offers, they have become the most intensive mobile phone users.

Maine: Wireless Industry Kills Cell Phone Radiation Warning Bill

UPDATE (20 March 2014):   Maine's cell phone radiation awareness bill, "The Wireless Information Act (LD 1013)," died today because the House of Representatives failed to enact it on a 77-60 vote. Although this is usually a routine matter after a bill has been approved by both the House and Senate, I've been informed that industry lobbyists killed the bill by co-opting the House leadership.

Besides Maine, Industry lobbyists have killed cell phone radiation awareness bills in at least four other states including California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. Why does the cellular industry continue to hide from the public the RF safety information contained in the cell phone user manuals? Isn't this short-sighted from the perspective of product liability? Why isn't this industry concerned about public safety?

On 18 March 2014, the Maine Senate passed the amended cell phone radiation warning bill (LD 1013) on a 21-14 vote. The bill goes back to the House for enactment which is usually a routine manner. Then the bill goes to the Governor for signature. The Governor has 10 days to sign or veto it; otherwise, the bill becomes law. The bill stipulates that the law will take effect only after four other states adopt similar laws. 

(Ref:  Electromagnetic Radiation Safety)

As Goes Maine, So Goes the Nation: Maine Legislature Passes First in the Nation State-Wide Law Requiring Cellphone Makers to Tell the Public About Radio Frequency Radiation
Environmental Health Trust, 17 March 2014

The Hidden Dangers of iPads

So, with the death of the cell phone radiation warning bill in Maine and similar endeavors in other states to launch such a bill, people will continue to ignore the warnings contained in the manuals of all wireless devices, including this one for Apple's iPad:

"...You can further limit your exposure by limiting the amount of time using iPad Wi-Fi+3G in wireless mode since time is a factor in how much exposure a person receives, and by placing more distance between your body and iPad Wi-Fi+3G, since exposure level drops off dramatically with distance."

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=480846175350083&set=a.429919780442723.1073741828.428808610553840&type=1&theater

Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain

Screen addicted brains show loss of white matter integrity.

Gray Matters: Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain
by Victoria L. Dunckley, M.D. in Mental Wealth, 27 February 2014

Neuroimaging research shows excessive screen time damages the brain.

“Taken together, [studies show] internet addiction is associated with structural and functional changes in brain regions involving emotional processing, executive attention, decision making, and cognitive control.”
--research authors summarizing neuro-imaging findings in internet and gaming addiction (Lin & Zhou et al, 2012)

But what about kids who aren't "addicted" per se? Addiction aside, a much broader concern that begs awareness is the risk that screen time is creating subtle damage even in children with “regular” exposure, considering that the average child clocks in more than seven hours a day (Rideout 2010). As a practitioner, I observe that many of the children I see suffer from sensory overload, lack of restorative sleep, and a hyperaroused nervous system, regardless of diagnosis—what I call electronic screen syndrome. These children are impulsive, moody, and can’t pay attention—much like the description in the quote above describing damage seen in scans.

Russians Find Electromagnetic Radiation Increasingly Worrisome

"In Russia, the pollution of the environment with electromagnetic fields as a whole, as many experts say, has acquired dangerous dimensions. Such radiation is emitted by high voltage power lines, electricity-driven transport, radars, radio transmitters, PCs, household appliances, cell communication systems, industrial microwave systems and others… Some researchers have slammed electromagnetic smog as one of the most powerful factors that affect the human body these days."

Russians find electromagnetic radiation increasingly worrisome
by Alexandrova Lyudmila, ITAR-TASS, 11 March 2014

MOSCOW, March 11. /ITAR-TASS/. A resident of the Moscow Region, Nikolai Lesnikov, has won a lawsuit he had filed a while ago demanding the removal of the cell phone tower that had been put up just 20 meters away from his home. Ever more Russians these days come to understand the risks the electromagnetic pollution of the environment is fraught with. However, no national program for studying and preventing this danger exists yet.

Presentation by Dr. Olle Johansson on the Issue of Electromagnetic Radiation - Barcelona, November 2013

This is an excellent recent presentation by Dr. Olle Johansson, neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute.

Dr. Olle Johansson en Barcelona (November 2013 - 53 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5udG8OCZWY&feature=youtu.be

Dr. Johansson begins by discussing classification by the United Nations of electrohypersensitivity (EHS) as a functional impairment.  The 2007 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that people with functional impairments, [such as electrohypersensitive persons] are entitled to have an equal life in a society based on equality.  One of the most important principles for achieving this is the one about complete accessibility.  

Fukushima Continues to Spew Its Darkness

On the third anniversary of Fukushima, the nuclear plant "continues to spew its darkness" - for decades to come.

"While a depleted, discredited and disorganized nuclear utility moves to restart its other reactors, its stricken units at Fukushima continue to hold the rest of us at the brink of apocalyptic terror."

Fukushima Continues to Spew Its Darkness

by Harvey Wasserman, Common Dreams, 25 July 2013

Radiation leaks, steam releases, disease and death continue to spew from Fukushima and a disaster which is far from over. Its most profound threat to the global ecology—a spent fuel fire—is still very much with us. 

The latest steam leak has raised fears around the planet. A worst-case scenario of an on-going out-of-control fission reaction was dismissed by the owners, Tokyo Electric, because they didn’t find xenon in the plume. The company says the steam likely came from rain water being vaporized by residual heat in one of plant’s stricken reactors.

"We Could All Become Electrohypersensitive One Day"

Not easy to entirely protect oneself from electromagnetic
waves.

"We encourage all EHS persons to testify, raising their voices loud and clear in order for the authorities to recognize this intolerance to waves, and grant these persons a better quality of life: residential areas free of waves, compensation for protective materials and loss of employment, and adequate care." 

“We could all become electrohypersensitive one day”
Editorial by Meris Michaels, published as “Letter of the Day” in the Swiss newspaper

24 heures, 7 March 2014

Re: article entitled “Gadgets against waves, pay attention to scams” (24 heures, 15 February 2014)

Products for protection against waves emitted by wireless technologies are for the most part ineffective for electrohypersensitive (EHS) persons. EHS is not recognized, either as an illness or as a handicap, in Switzerland where 5% of the population suffer from it, a figure that is increasing. Most physicians are not trained to treat EHS. The Austrian Medical Association is more advanced in treating EHS, having elaborated directives for the diagnosis and treatment of these persons.

"Overpowered: The Dangers of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMF) and What You Can Do About It" by Dr. Martin Blank (Book Review)

"World-renowned researcher Martin Blank pulls back the curtain on industry lies and government regulatory failures about the health and environmental damage of unchecked electromagnetic fields and wireless technologies. In this easily accessible ‘good-read,’ he shines blazing light on one of the most significant public health concerns today. This book is a must for anyone concerned with protecting their well-being, that of loved ones, and other species. Dr. Blank makes clear that continuing this ever-increasing ambient EMF/RF has dire consequences." (B. Blake Levitt, former New York Times contributor, Author of Electromagnetic Fields...)

Overpowered: The Dangers of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMF) and What You Can Do about It by Martin Blank, published 28 January 2014

Keys, wallet, cell phone...ready to go! Cell phones have become ubiquitous fixtures of 21st century life--suctioned to our ears and stuck in our pockets. Yet, we've all heard whispers that these essential little devices give you brain cancer. Could it be true? In 2011, the World Health Organization shocked the international community by confirming that the radiation from cell phones is a possible carcinogen to humans. Many of us are left wondering, as Maureen Dowd asked in the New York Times, are cells the new cigarettes?

Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) and the World Health Organization (WHO)

Organs and glands sensitive to
electromagnetic radiation.

While WHO recognizes the condition of electromagnetic hypersensitivity, it still does not necessarily believe that these symptoms are caused by exposure to electromagnetic radiation, despite the fact that studies have found a correlation between symptoms and exposure. Another problem is that this condition has not been officially classified as a disability.

Disability and EHS
EMR and Health: Quarterly report on Electromagnetic radiation, health and well-being Vol 10 No 1 March 2014, Australia

Does the WHO’s new report on disabilities herald a better future for people with electromagnetic hypersensitivity?

On 3 January the World Health Organization (WHO) released a draft plan for improving the health of people with disabilities. The plan is based on the World Report on Disability released the previous May which shows that approximately 15% of the population have disabilities and the incidence is rising.1

The goal of the WHO’s plan is to ‘contribute to achieving optimal health, functioning, well-being and human rights for persons with disabilities.’ It envisages a society in which people with disabilities have ‘equal rights and opportunities’ and can ‘achieve their full potential’. 

The Giant Lie About Fukushima

Arnie Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, has said: “The health impacts to the Japanese will begin to be felt in several years and out to 30 or 40 years from cancers. And I believe we’re going to see as many as a million cancers over the next 30 years because of the Fukushima incident in Japan.”

At Fukushima, “We have opened a door to hell that cannot be easily closed—if ever,” said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight Project at the U.S.-based group Beyond Nuclear last year.

The Giant Lie About Fukushima
by Karl Grossman, counterpunch.org, 3 March 2014

With the third anniversary of the start of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe coming next week, the attempted Giant Lie about the disaster continues—a suppression of information, an effort at dishonesty of historical dimensions.

It involves international entities, especially the International Atomic Energy Agency, national governmental bodies—led in Japan by its current prime minister, the powerful nuclear industry and a “nuclear establishment” of scientists and others with a vested interest in atomic energy.

Deception was integral to the push for nuclear power from its start. Indeed, I opened my first book on nuclear technology, Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power, with: “You have not been informed about nuclear power. You have not been told. And that has been done on purpose. Keeping the public in the dark was deemed necessary by the promoters of nuclear power if it was to succeed. Those in government, science and private industry who have been pushing nuclear power realized that if people were given the facts, if they knew the consequences of nuclear power, they would not stand for it.”

Statins and Irreversible Muscle Damage

"Ultimately, the FDA needs to come to terms with the large number of people who are suffering statin side effects. A re-analysis of the many ALS-like and myopathy case reports may lead the agency to reconsider its exoneration of statins."

Statins & Irreversible Muscle Damage, ALS-Like Syndrome and Myositis
The People’s Pharmacy, 6 February 2014

For decades we have been receiving messages from people who have experienced devastating and debilitating muscle damage from their use of drugs like atorvastatin (Lipitor), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor). By 2007 we had names for these reactions: ALS-like syndrome, necrotizing myopathy and myositis. Here are just a few stories that barely scratch the surface of the pain and suffering people have described:

"After 4 years on Lipitor, my husband can no longer walk on his own. Two weeks ago I mentioned the possibility of Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) to his M.D. She said it was Parkinson's disease. After reading your article, I am confused." C.D., Aug., 2007

***

Interview with Dr. Thomas M. Rau, Medical Director of the Swiss Paracelsus Clinic by Electromagnetichealth.org

Dr. Thomas M. Rau

UPDATE (2 March 2014) : Listen to this excellent audio interview with Dr. Rau (28 min.): "What is Happening to Patients?"
http://electromagnetichealth.org/audio-archives-and-more/#patients.  The audio interview probably dates from the time of the text which follows.

Thomas M. Rau is the medical director of the Swiss Paracelsus Clinic. It is world famous for understanding of the root causes of diseases and better outcomes for patients. The Clinic sees 3,000 EHS patients from 10,000 patients that they see annually. Following is a transcribed interview by electromagnetichealth.org and emrstop.org. The transcribers say: This is a less than perfect transcript, not fully verbatim, but it captures the meaning of everything that occurred in the interview.[We do not know the date of this excellent interview.]

Dr. Rau: "It is criminal, unethical to expose children to EM clouds. We know that power stations for electromagnetic waves like mobile phones are helping illness, so putting it in schools is very bad. The children’s IQ will decrease. Does the society really want to have intelligent well educated children or not? You will have more ADD children. You will have more reflection of this on the reduced ability to teach children, we will have more dull and dumb children. This is absolutely clearly my opinion that we will be dulled, dumbed, in the future from this EMR."