Public Comments 04-30-2015 thru 05-13-2015 (file 2 of 2)

r Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecoloay Center Page 3 of 6 Cell phone towers expose the public to involuntary, chronic, cumulative Radio Frequency Radiation. Low levels of RFR have been shown to be associated with changes in cell proliferation and DNA damage. Some scientific studies show adverse health effects reported in the .01 to 100 mW/cm2 range at levels hundreds, indeed, thousands, of times lower than the U.S. standards. These harmful low levels of radiation can reach as far as a mile away from the cell tower location. Reported health problems include headache, sleep disorders, memory impairment, nosebleeds, an increase in seizures, blood brain barrier leakage problems, increased heart rates, lower sperm counts, and impaired nervous systems. 11 Long term and cumulative exposure to cell tower radiation has no precedent in history. There are no conclusive studies on the safety of such exposures, and the growing body of scientific evidence reports such bioeffects and adverse health effects are possible, if not probable. Dr. Neil Cherry, Ph.D. biophysicist from New Zealand, reports that "there is no safe level of ER radiation." Dr. Cherry wrote a 120-page review of 188 scientific studies. He said the standards are based on thermal effects, but important non-thermal effects also take place, such as cell death and DNA breakdown. "The electromagnetic radiation causes cells to change in a way that makes them cancer forming." It can increase the risk of cancer two to five times, he said. "To claim there is no adverse effect from phone towers flies in the face of a large body of evidence." "To claim there is no adverse effect from phone towers flies in the face of a large body of evidence." Dr. Neil Cherry, biophysicist Public health officials caution that we err on the side of conservatism, given the massive public health risk that is possible. Other federal health agencies disagree that safe levels of exposure have been identified, much less built into the FCC standard. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not agree with the FCC standards, and analysts have recommended that EMR be classified as a "probable human carcinogen". 12 Deputy Director of the Dept. of Health and Human Services, Elizabeth Jacobsen, has stated that the safety of RF "has not been established nor has the necessary research been conducted to test it', and cites risk of brain cancer, tumors and DNA breakdown. The California Public Utility Commission has urged the cell phone industry to not locate towers near schools or hospitals. And the World Health Organization reports "many epidemiological studies have addressed possible links between exposure to RF fields and excess risk of cancer. These studies do not provide enough information to allow a proper evaluation of human cancer risk from RF exposure because the results of these studies are inconsistent." "The safety of RF has not been established, nor has the necessary research been conducted to test it." Elizabeth Jacobsen, Director, US Dept. of Health "Our bodies are exquisitely sensitive to subtle electromagnetic harmonics, and we depend upon tiny electrical impulses to conduct complex life processes," says Dr. Robert Becker, author of The Body Electric, and Cross Currents, The Perils of Electropollution. 13, 14 He says "at the present the greatest polluting element in the earth's environment is the proliferation of (these) electromagnetic fields." Radiation once considered safe, he says, is now correlated with increases in birth defects, depression, Alzheimer's disease, learning disabilities, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and cancer. The incidence of brain cancer is up 25% since 1973, and this year 185,000 Americans will be diagnosed with brain cancer. Brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer death for children and young adults. http://www.mountshastaecology.oro,/Archive/Health_Effects_from_Cell_Phone_Tower_R... 1/29/2014