Electro Magnetic Fields
Electricity is the building block of our
society. Now more and more we are
becoming dependent on electricity from
computers to microwaves, electric power
is what keeps our society running.
Something that no one thinks about is
Electro- Magnetic Fields or
(ELF’s). While these ELF are being ignored slowly
they are becoming a silent
but deadly killer in our society. Scene cancer and
illness are becoming so
common people are slowly coming around about what
ELF’s are and what if
anything can be done to stop or slow down the effects of
ELF’s on our
families and friends. Their maybe only few solutions to stop
ELF’s
infiltration on our society and only one or two alternatives were found
to
slow the fields so they don’t affect our health. " In 1995 leaked a
draft
report by American Scientific committee conducted that millions of
people face
an increased risk of cancer and other degenerative diseases from
exposure to
fields from power lines, power plants and electrical
appliances."(Perry 1)
With that quote we can see that this isn’t a new
issue to our society, but yet
more people are clueless about the effect of
electro- magnetic fields on their
health and about the health of their
children. The most common reaction of
people when warned about ELF’s is that
" we live far enough from the power
lines that it isn’t going to affect us."
This reaction is so common, but
people don’t realize that it’s not just
caused by power lines and power
plants it’s also inside our homes. The most
common things in our homes are
secondary causes not the power lines. Items
such as microwaves, computer
screens, toasters, electric stoves, blenders and
cellular telephones. With these
things in our homes are becoming so common
that everyone has them and it
affecting our lives. " In the last 10 years the
rate of cancer is becoming the
most common cause of death."(Perry 1) Though
sunlight’s Ultra Violet Rays
(UV’s) take the top spot for causing cancer
ELF’s are attributed to 35% to
40% of childhood cancers and 10% to 15% of
adult cancer. Electric companies have
a common reaction to these instances by
denial. As we are becoming more
dependant on electricity, power transmissions
are entering our lives in greater
strength. The power companies solution to
the power demands is to increase the
amount of high-voltage power lines. The
reason for high-voltage lines is "over
great distances high-voltage lines
must be used in order to minimize losses, but
in those losses it’s causing an
increasing amount of cancers and sickness due
to the use of these
high-voltage lines."(Plaz 229) This just shows the
ignorance of the consumers
ant greed of the power companies for not accepting
the responsibility of
protecting the people. In the sickness mentioned in the
previous paragraph,
what its called is "electrical sensitivity (ES)." "ES
is a form of chronic
environmental illness triggered by exposure to
ELF’s."(Perry 2) The
symptoms are common among to days illnesses, but are or
could be caused by
ELF’s. They are "headaches, dizziness, buzzing and
nausea."(Perry 2) Everyone
suffers from these ailments and if people you know
suffer from these things,
a look should be taken at their living space
especially in children. Common
areas that can be blamed is the kitchen due to
all the appliances and the
bedrooms near power lines or power plants. Though
their are measures that can
be taken to decrease these illnesses, but people are
not informed to ELF’s so
no measures are taken. Children and pregnane women
are the major concern for
ELF’s. The reason that children are susceptible to
ELF’s are their immune
systems are not fully evolved and therefore their white
blood cells are not
at full composed. Not having a fully developed immune system
leaves them open
for the increased risk of cancer and ES. This was proven in a
study done by
the New York utility industry of power lines. "This a five
million dollar
project headed by Dr. David Carpenter of SUNY Albany concluded
that up to 30%
of all childhood cancers may be linked to ELF’s"(Safe 1) In
pregnane women
another study done by independent lab’s in the United States
and Ontario
Canada said that an "increase in cases of SIDS"(Perry 1) and"incidents of
adverse reproductive outcomes and birth defects in
newborns"(Ontario 1) are
associated with high instances of ELF surroundings
and in the homes. With all
this proof I’ve found it’s hard to imagine that
no actions are being taken to
reduce and stop these electro- magnetic fields
infiltration of our homes and
our quality of life. Trying to find solutions to
stopping ELF’s infiltration
on our homes and lives was complicated, due to the
power companies
incompliance to protect us. The government of the United States,
Canada
and United Kingdom have provided a couple of ideas that can be done
to
protect yourself and your families. The first solution is to look at your
living
areas. After you observed these areas make judgements to where you
sleep,
especially with children. Sleeping areas are main idea for protection.
Move or
place your children sleeping area as far from the kitchen and areas
of the house
closest to power lines and power plants. Then adults make sure
your 4 feet from
these areas. This is the ideal way to start in ways of
protection. This solution
isn’t fool proof though. It’s just decreases the
chance of sickness and
cancer. Another solution is the least likely to
happen, but in some cases has
worked. Talk on negotiate with the power
companies to move their lines as far
from the house as possible. This still
doesn’t totally protect you from the
radiation in the home, but it helps you
chances to ward off ELF’s infiltration
in your life. A third solution is from
the " office of Technology Assessments
of the Congress of the United
States"(Safe 1) They recommend a policy of"prudent avoidance". " What prudent
avoidance is; to measure the fields
and act to reduce them".(Safe 1) A way to
measure these fields is with a
"Guass meter this meter shows you which
places in the home are safe and the
places that are not."(Safe 1) Acting on
the test and moving things accordingly
provides the best protection from
ELF’s. The fourth solution is the most
costly and the least practical. The
idea is to use wind or solar power to power
your homes. By using these you
can have low-voltage power lines to supply your
appliances and household
objects. The flaw is the cost and practicality of them.
"Using solar and
wind power can used and transported with a low-voltage lines
and stored in
houses by batteries, but the problem is the low-voltage lines cant
travel the
distance of high-voltage lines and therefore most solar and wind
power must
be owned by the individual to be useful."(Plaz 231) The cost and
the reliance
of the weather makes these natural powers impractical and very
expensive to
own and to fix. In conclusion I have found that ELF’s exist in
everyone’s
lives and action should be taken to protect families. It should be
known
world wide about the effects of ELF’s. Power companies in the near
future are
going to have to make public that ELF’s exist and that they are
dangerous in
some instances are causing cancer and ES, but until the day that
the
governments of the world make the power companies comply all we can do
is
protect ourselves and warn other about the effects of ELF’s. Lastly here
are a
few simple things that we can do the protect ourselves from ELF’s. Sit
at
least 4 feet from computer screens, and make sure that we sleep 4 feet
from any
major household appliances and children’s bedrooms are farthest from
power
lines as possible. Works Sited: DeWitt, John. Civic
Enviromentalism:
Alternatives to Regulation in States and communities
Washington, DC:
Congressional Quartly Inc. 1994. Ontario Real Estate
Association.
"Electro-Magnetic Feilds." Electro Print Aug.1998:p32 Plaz,
Wolfgang. Solar
electricity: an economic approach to solar energy. London:
Butterworths. 1978.
Perry, Stephen. Should we be Concerned? 1990.
WWW.powerwatch.org.UK/.pg.1-3.
Safe Technologies Corporation Staff. Why
be concerned about electromagnetic
feilds? 1989.
WWW.milligauss.com/why.html