[1st-mile-nm] Santa Fe WiFi Opposition

[Richard Lowenberg]

This and related articles got extensive coverage last week.
Stay tuned to this list for an intelligent new report on wifi health effects, in
the coming weeks.
rl
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Santa Fe "wireless sensitives" fight hotspot plan

By Jonathan M. Gitlin | Published: May 30, 2008

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080530-santa-fe-wireless-sensitives-fight-hotspot-plan.html

Most new advances in technology encounter a certain measure of pushback from
elements within the general public. Ned Ludd gave his name to the phenomenon
with his opposition to the industrial revolution, early cars had to be
preceeded by a man waving a red flag to warn people, and the 21st century is
awash with individuals who want the technology train to back up a couple of
stations. One such example is the idea that people can be sensitive, or
allergic, to electromagnetic (EM) emissions in the same spectra as commonly
used wireless devices. Despite there being a total absence of science to
support such claims, they don't seem to be going away, as a group in Santa Fe,
New Mexico proves.

The group in question, lead by one Arthur Firstenberg, is seeking to fight their
city's plan for public WiFi hotspots with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
They claim that they suffer ?allergic reactions' to WiFi emissions, resulting
in chest pain, numbness and headaches.

WiFi devices operate either at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz, and usually don't broadcast at
more than 0.1 watts. Various organizations in the US, Canada, and Europe have
conducted research in order to determine the possibility of any health hazards
associated with EM fields in these wavelengths, and each and every time the
answer has been resounding: there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to
support such claims.

Electromagnetic sensitives, as such individuals prefer to be called, have yet to
suggest any plausible pathophysiological mechanism by which such low power RF
emissions would cause their ailments. Further, I find it illuminating that they
never seem to attack cordless telephones, many of which also operate at 2.4 GHz.

Toxicological research into the condition, which the World Health Organization
has called "idiopathic environmental intolerance with attribution to
electromagnetic fields" has not strengthened the case for such an ailment.
Instead, clinical studies have shown that IEI cases "consistently identify
greater incidence of current and premorbid lifetime psychiatric disorders and
co-morbidity with functional somatic syndromes that are fashionable
?diagnoses'." You can make of that what you will.

Despite this, it's a given that complaints about WiFi emissions will probably
continue appearing in media, and that we'll continue debunking them when that
happens. As for Santa Fe, the city doesn't appear concerned by the claims. City
councilor Ron Trujillo points out that the city is already blanketed in WiFi
signals, and that it's 2008, not 1692.


-- 
Richard Lowenberg
1st-Mile Institute
P.O. Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110;   505-603-5200 cell
rl at 1st-mile.com  www.1st-mile.com

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