Letter to the Editor: Are you concerned about wireless radiation?

To the Editor:
Do you ever think about our continuous exposure to cell phones, cell towers and wireless technology in regards to the accumulative effect on our health? We now are bombarded by electromagnetic waves 24/7.  We cannot escape it.
Information was taken from the following websites:
thecrowhouse.com/Documents/Cell_Phone_Poisoning_of_America.pdf
pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/five-things/cell-phone-radiation/1277
wired.com/2009/09/cellphone-radiation
The cell towers emit signals in a 360 degree radius around the tower. This area is called a “cell.” Hence the name cell phone. When you are in the “cell” you get good reception and that is why communication companies are building so many towers. They want them to overlap to be sure there is good reception. The Waukon area has at least 10 towers; therefore, there must be a lot of overlapping. I know of no agency that is monitoring the accumulative effect of this overlapping on our health.
The Russians knew long time ago the effects of electromagnetic radiation. Between 1953 and 1976 the Russians directed electromagnetic radiation directly at the US embassy in Moscow. The radiation was a continual round-the-clock bombardment as the Russians were using this technology in an attempt to listen in on conversations within the U.S. compound. The U.S. ambassador to Russia developed leukemia and was forced to return to the United States. His replacement also developed leukemia and he, too, was replaced. Other staff members were continually ill. This was referred to as “Radio Frequency Sickness Syndrome.”
This same technology is being promoted today as safe and convenient. Convenient it may be, but safe it is not.
Hertz is the measurement of a radio wave cycle in one second - 1 Hz. U.S. common house electrical supply is at 60 hertz (measuring the current changes direction or polarity 120 times or 60 cycles a second).   The human heart beats at a frequency of 2 Hz.
Each cell phone contains its own transmitter. The purpose of the transmitter is to encode information onto a radio wave. The information being encoded, for example, could be the sound of your voice, the data from your text message or a photo. The transmitter will then send the encoded wave, with your information or voice, to the antenna and the antenna will then send the signal. The function of the antenna is to propel these radio waves out into space so that a receiver in a nearby cell tower will pick them up. This makes the antenna the most dangerous part of the phone. The first damaging source occurs from the near-field plume of radiation generated by the cell phone’s antenna which extends out a distance of six or seven inches from the antenna in all directions and contains the most intense energy which is able to penetrate deep into biological tissue. This form of radiation is also given off by wireless laptop computers and similar devices. France has enacted restrictions on cell phones designed for children; yet, there is no similar legislation in the U.S.
The second form of damage comes from a radio wave called the Information-Carrying Radio Wave or ICRW. The cell phone signal is made up of two parts. The first part of the signal vibrates at 800 to 2200 megahertz (1 megahertz is 1,000,000 hertz). This wave is moving much too fast for the body to recognize and, as far as we can tell, is not causing any harm. However, when a person speaks or sends a text message the information is “piggy-backed” or packeted onto the first radio wave. This creates a second wave or signal which is called the information-carrying radio wave (ICRW). This vibrates at a frequency down in the hertz range. Receptors are located on the cell membrane of each cell in our body. These receptors are both chemical and vibrational. The vibrational receptors pick up signals which vibrate in the hertz range. As the information from the ICRW contacts the vibrational receptors on the cell membrane the ICRW is recognized as a foreign invader and begins disrupting cell communication and function.
As Dr. Maret explains in his interview with ElectromagneticHealth.org, your body is a complex communications system where cells, tissue, organs and organisms “talk” - it’s a veritable - “electronic symphony in your body.” This communication includes finely tuned bio-electrical transmitters and receivers which are tuned like tuning into a radio station. And when you expose a radio antenna to a significant amount of external noise, you get static, and this is what is happening to our body in today’s EMF saturated environment.
We are exposed to 100 million times more electromagnetic radiation than our grandparents and this number is growing because of the continuing of the building of more and more communication towers, the increase usage of cell phones, and the increase usage of wireless technology. If you can make a call on your cell phone, then you are in an area that’s saturated with cell site microwave radiation. The dangers of microwave radiation from cell towers (as well as satellite dishes) are being examined and debated all over the world, but relatively little in the U.S. The United States, Canada, Western Europe and China emit so much EMR that it is even detectable by satellites in outer space.
The Federal Communications Commission sets the acceptable U.S. radiation standards for cell phones. The effects of the radiation depend on the rate at which energy is absorbed by a mass of tissue. This is called as the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and measured in watts per kilogram w/kg. The rate now is 1.6 watts per kilogram which is about as much as is used to light up a string of 36 LED holiday lights and the average pineapple weighs about 1 kilogram. This number was established in 1996 from research on animals in the 1980s. This tells me the FCC does admit that humans are absorbing radiation from cell phones. I feel this amount has not been clearly analyzed as to how much is safe. India’s SAR is 10 times more stringent than other countries.
In an article written by Bonnie Rochman 7/20/12 which I read on the internet stated that it has been 16 years since the U.S. government assessed the standards for cell phone radiation. Both cell phone technology and cell phone use have changed during these years which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reconsider its radiation standards.
I also read an article dated in 2012 on the internet that stated the FCC had been requested to raise its limit up to 20% more radiation absorption.
I wonder what has happened to these requests. I couldn’t find any information but did find there is an article at cbsnews.com/news/trouble-with-cell-phone-radiation-standard which was stating that the SAR number should be a lot lower than the 1.6 number.
The last few years there has been an increase in several medical ailments, especially in children. There has been a substantial increase in wireless technology. Is there a correlation?
Are you aware there are people who have developed EMR sensitivity to cell phones and cell phone towers to the point they cannot lead a normal life since EMR is all around us all the time? The wireless technology ball has started down the hill and I don’t believe it can be stopped.
I absolutely do not have faith in our government to protect us since it is pushing for a completely wireless society; and, of course, the telecommunication companies will not protect our health because profit is important to them.
I am very concerned for my children, my grandchildren, and basically for all of us.  I wonder what our overall health will be - especially the health of children - in 10 to 15 years.

Janet Beneke
New Albin