IAFF Firefighters RF Health Study
The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) has passed a resolution opposing the use of fire stations for cellular antenna site locations until such installations are proven not to be hazardous. The IAFF called for an initial study to determine if the health of firefighters who work in stations with cell towers on the station property has been adversely affected.
Also, here's an excerpt from a recent press release which indicates the type of ES symptoms some firefighters are experiencing after having cell towers located on their stations:
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS (IAFF) VOTES TO STUDY HEALTH EFFECTS OF CELL TOWERS ON FIRE STATIONS
Call for Moratorium on New Cell Towers on Fire Stations Until Health Effects Can Be Studied
Boston, MA – August 24, 2004 – Firefighters returned to their home stations throughout the United States and Canada following last week's IAFF convention after passing a resolution to study the health
effects of cell towers placed on the fire stations where they work and live. Added to the resolution was an amendment calling for the IAFF to support a moratorium on the placement of new cell towers on fire stations until the completion of the study.
A recent pilot study of six California firefighters, first publicly revealed at the IAFF convention by medical writer and study organizer Susan Foster Ambrose of San Diego, CA, raises concern about the safety of fire fighters working and sleeping in stations with towers.
The study, conducted by Dr. Gunnar Heuser of Agoura Hills, CA, focused on neurological symptoms of six firefighters who had been working for up to five years in stations with cell towers. Those symptoms included slowed reaction time, lack of focus, lack of impulse control, severe headaches, anesthesia-like sleep, sleep deprivation, depression, and tremors.
Dr. Heuser, along with Dr. J. Michael Uszler of Santa Monica, CA, used functional brain scans - SPECT scans - to assess any changes in the brains of the six firefighters as compared to healthy brains of men of the same age. Computerized psychological testing known as TOVA was used to study reaction time, impulse control, and attention span.
Disturbingly, the SPECT scans revealed a pattern of abnormal change which was concentrated over a wider area than would normally be seen in brains of individuals exposed to toxic inhalation, as might be expected from fighting fires. Dr. Heuser indicated the only plausible explanation at this time would be RF radiation exposure. Additionally, the TOVA testing revealed among the six firefighters delayed reaction time, lack of impulse control, and difficulty in maintaining mental focus.
Because of increasing complaints among firefighters with cellular antennas on their stations coupled with the California study showing damage among the six firefighters tested, a group of five individuals spread across two provinces and three states worked with Southern California firefighters to draft the resolution put before the IAFF membership last week. Lt. Ron Cronin and Acting Lt. Joe Foster were joined by Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Vermont-based Janet Newton - president of the EMR Policy Institute, and Susan Foster Ambrose.
....
A copy of the complete press release can be found at:
http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/press/pr_iaff_vote.pdf
Beau
Links:
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/iaff_firefighters_rf_health_study.html
http://tinyurl.com/5hs9f
Also, here's an excerpt from a recent press release which indicates the type of ES symptoms some firefighters are experiencing after having cell towers located on their stations:
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS (IAFF) VOTES TO STUDY HEALTH EFFECTS OF CELL TOWERS ON FIRE STATIONS
Call for Moratorium on New Cell Towers on Fire Stations Until Health Effects Can Be Studied
Boston, MA – August 24, 2004 – Firefighters returned to their home stations throughout the United States and Canada following last week's IAFF convention after passing a resolution to study the health
effects of cell towers placed on the fire stations where they work and live. Added to the resolution was an amendment calling for the IAFF to support a moratorium on the placement of new cell towers on fire stations until the completion of the study.
A recent pilot study of six California firefighters, first publicly revealed at the IAFF convention by medical writer and study organizer Susan Foster Ambrose of San Diego, CA, raises concern about the safety of fire fighters working and sleeping in stations with towers.
The study, conducted by Dr. Gunnar Heuser of Agoura Hills, CA, focused on neurological symptoms of six firefighters who had been working for up to five years in stations with cell towers. Those symptoms included slowed reaction time, lack of focus, lack of impulse control, severe headaches, anesthesia-like sleep, sleep deprivation, depression, and tremors.
Dr. Heuser, along with Dr. J. Michael Uszler of Santa Monica, CA, used functional brain scans - SPECT scans - to assess any changes in the brains of the six firefighters as compared to healthy brains of men of the same age. Computerized psychological testing known as TOVA was used to study reaction time, impulse control, and attention span.
Disturbingly, the SPECT scans revealed a pattern of abnormal change which was concentrated over a wider area than would normally be seen in brains of individuals exposed to toxic inhalation, as might be expected from fighting fires. Dr. Heuser indicated the only plausible explanation at this time would be RF radiation exposure. Additionally, the TOVA testing revealed among the six firefighters delayed reaction time, lack of impulse control, and difficulty in maintaining mental focus.
Because of increasing complaints among firefighters with cellular antennas on their stations coupled with the California study showing damage among the six firefighters tested, a group of five individuals spread across two provinces and three states worked with Southern California firefighters to draft the resolution put before the IAFF membership last week. Lt. Ron Cronin and Acting Lt. Joe Foster were joined by Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Vermont-based Janet Newton - president of the EMR Policy Institute, and Susan Foster Ambrose.
....
A copy of the complete press release can be found at:
http://www.emrpolicy.org/news/press/pr_iaff_vote.pdf
Beau
Links:
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/iaff_firefighters_rf_health_study.html
http://tinyurl.com/5hs9f
Starmail - 14. Okt, 23:11
