Why should EVERYONE actively support biologically-based safety limits and 2012 HR6358 "The Cellphone Right to Know Act"?

If re-introduced, HR 6358 - "The Cellphone Right to Know Act" would help everyone, whether you are concerned about health effects of transmitting utility meters, cancer and cellphones, biological effects of countrywide wireless, ...etc.   Please take time from your busy schedule to support re-introduction of HR 6358 strongly. 

The Act mandates that the EPA establish biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless technology within two years and requires the FCC to adopt and enforce them. HR 6358 also requires the safety limits to be updated every two years thereafter.  The clock starts ticking when the legislation passes.

"The Cellphone Right to Know Act"requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set safety limits that ensure everyone (fetuses, pregnant women, children, the elderly, and everyone else) is not harmed by their daily use of and exposure to wireless devices. Not one of us is only exposed to radiation from wireless devices 6 minutes a day and most of us are not 6 ft 185 lb males. Tissue heating is not the most dangerous effect of radiation from wireless devices. Radiation from wireless devices (pulsed modulated microwave radiation) causes DNA breakages, cancer , metabolic changes, alters enzyme function, impairs the immune system, alters blood sugar - usually raising it, causes headaches, impairs melatonin secretion, etc. (see www.magdahavas.com , www.electricalpollution.com , www.emrpolicy.org)

At this time, there are no biologically-based safety limits for exposure to radiation from wireless devices. At this time, the safety limits with which wireless devices comply merely ensure that your wireless device will not heat your tissue (cook you) more than 1 degree celcius in less than six minutes, but only if you're a 6ft 185lb male. For a more detailed discussion of the outdated FCC thermally-based safety limits please visit http://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/03/09/a-primer-on-the-fcc-guidelines-for-the-smart-meter-age/.

Biologically-based safety limits for radiofrequency radiation exposure will help everyone! Help us get them passed!

HR 6358, also known as “The Cellphone Right to Know Act” contains an non-exclusive, but explicit list of biological effects that the safety limits must guard against. It is far past time that the US enact meaningful safety limits for these ubiquitous consumer devices.  The bill contains a built-in mechanism for updating the limits as new knowledge becomes available. Hopefully it is now clear why EVERYONE, with or without radiofrequency sickness, large and small, sick or healthy, should support re-introduction of "The Cellphone Right to Know Act". While HR 6358 may not be absolutely perfect, it is imperative that we support and pass it. As Lyndon Johnson said of The Civil Rights Act, which he considered to be not perfect, 'it is easier to fix it after it is passed'.

HR 6358 indirectly addresses many of the fights going on around the country while neatly side-stepping them.  Repeal of section 704 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act would be a huge fight.  In 1996, the telecom industry painted all people concerned about the health effects of radiofrequency radiation as a bunch of NIMBYs - due to their deep pockets the image stuck and the Telecom bill was passed.  To directly attack section 704 now would be to re-fight that battle.  The industry has the resources to buy the media time and attention they need.  While HR 6358 does not restore local control, establishing biologically-based safety limits makes the issue less acute.  Fighting section 704 now, through HR 6358, would jeopardize passage of the biologically-based safety limits and be highly unlikely to result in the immediate repeal of section 704.

HR 6358 contains a provision requiring clearly visible labeling of “the exposure rating of the device, the maximum allowable exposure level, and the maximum allowable exposure goal” on the device, the packaging, and in the instruction manual.  This labeling provides important information while side-stepping a warning label fight.  Warning labels would be fought vigorously device by device and frequency by frequency.  This battle fought around HR 6358 would jeopardize the biologically-based safety limits that our country so badly needs to replace the outdated inadequate thermally-based FCC radiofrequency radiation limits for wireless devices. 

We need modern biologically-based safety limits for exposure to wireless devices, so please support re-introduction of HR 6358.

Biologically-based safety limits will help everyone!

We need to show numbers of involved citizens and we need to educate our Congresspeople and their staff.  Calling your Congresspeople and the President once to ask their support for re-introduction and passage of HR 6358 is wonderful.  If that is all you can do, please do it.  It will help.  (See below for contact information and sample letter.)  If one of your Congresspeople sponsored or co-sponsored the legislation in the past, please be sure to thank them when you call and ask that they do so again.

How can you support biologically-based safety limits for radiofrequency radiation (radiation from wireless devices) e.g."The Cellphone Right to Know Act"?

1) Pass this information on widely by email or by social network - This information can be found at http://www.electricalpollution.com/CellphoneRightToKnowAct.html See below for some sample Tweets.

2) Let the President know how important biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices are to you!

A.) Write the President a letter (see sample letter below): http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

B.) Call the President at 202-456-1111 and let him know you support biologically-based safety limits for radiofrequency radiation and therefore you support re-introduction of 2012 HR 6358 "The Cellphone Right to Know Act".

3) Let your congresspeople know how important biologically-based safety limits for radiofrequency radiation are to you and therefore you support re-introduction of 2012 HR 6358 "The Cellphone Right to Know Act". Call and/or write in support. Use the links below to find your Congresspeople. Please contact both of your state's Senators, as both represent everyone in the state, as well as your own Representative. A sample letter is below. Please add a brief personal touch - perhaps you can briefly relate a part of your own personal experience or concern. Contacting your Congresspeople by phone and letter or in person, especially all three and more than once is the most powerful thing you can do. It helps them understand you are really serious about the legislation.

http://www.house.gov/
http://www.senate.gov/

Going to listening sessions and small campaign events can be a very effective way of getting information directly to politicians. Bring a brief written piece along to give the politician - then they hear it twice - once directly from you and once from your letter.

If you are able to do more, please read on.

4) In addition to your own two Senators and Representative, contact the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee at 202-224-5375 or on the web at www.help.senate.gov (The membership lists are links to individual members pages which have additional contact information.) and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce at (202) 225-2927 or on the web at http://energycommerce.house.gov. The bill would likely have to come through the Subcommittee on Health. In addition to calling the Committee and asking for the bill to get a hearing, you can also contact each member of the Committee individually. Ultimately, the bill would be voted on by the full committee so please contact as many committee members as you are able.

A successful strategy for educating your Congresspeople can be:

• Call and ask that the Senator/Representative/Committee support biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices.
• Give an example of why it is important. (see talking points below)
• Ask for an email to send additional information to.
• Send an email. Use the sample letter (below) to build on and personalize.
• Call within a few days to ask whether they received your letter and ask to speak with the legislative aide to whom it was assigned. If they do not know who that is, ask for the legislative aide who deals with health-related issues. Discuss the issue in further depth, offer to send a couple more selected references - get their direct email.
• Call again to check that the email was received and discuss the contents, questions, and additional information.

Once you have a contact, continue to send a few studies and call regularly. Stress the importance and urgency of the legislation. Most people need to hear and see something at least 7 different times from different sources before they fully accept it. Do not be discouraged. I have seen contacts bear fruit after years of no apparent progress. Education is a process. Never burn bridges.

5) Write "Letters to the Editor" to your local paper to make others aware of the need for biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices, how it impacts them, and how they can help make them happen.

6) Request organizations that you are a member of to actively support biologically-based radiofrequency radiation safety limits by supporting re-introduction and passage of 2012 HR6358.

Together we can do this. Biologically-based safety standards for wireless devices are a no-brainer that rational people cannot object to, as are the other provisions of HR6358 (listed below). That is the beauty of this piece of legislation. None of the provisions are controversial and yet establishing biologically-based safety limits for wireless devices is a meaningful and important step for all citizens.

Finally, I would like to thank Rep. Kucinich and Rep. Pinigree and Rep. Napolitano for their 2012 sponsorship of this legislation. It is wonderful that Rep. Kucinich made this legislation one of his priorities during his final days in Congress.

Please contact Congress people from all political persuasions. The safety of our children and society should be everyone's priority.

Thank you all for your efforts.

The 2012 HR 6358 - "Cellphone Right to Know Act" can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc112/h6358_ih.xml or a pdf at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr6358ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr6358ih.pdf

Please contact me at webmaster@electricalpollution.com with the responses you get from your lawmakers so we can plan accordingly.

Sample Letter to Congresspeople

*Your name
*Your Address

*Date

Dear ****,

Please re-introduce and actively support 2012 HR 6358 which would mandate the EPA, finally, to establish biologically-based radiofrequency radiation (includes the pulsed modulated microwave radiation utilized by most wireless devices) safety limits.

It is a travesty that the USA has no relevant safety limits for exposure to radiation from wireless devices. Radiation from wireless devices (pulsed modulated microwave radiation) causes DNA breakages, cancer, metabolic changes, alters enzyme function, impairs the immune system, alters blood sugar - usually raising it, causes headaches, impairs melatonin secretion, etc. Radiofrequency radiation, including that from wireless devices, was designated a class 2B possible human carcinogen in May 2011 by IARC of the World Health Organization in spite of incredible industry pressure. Wireless devices have proliferated to the extent that there is nowhere to go to avoid exposure, yet we have no biologically-based safety limits to protect anyone. Our existing safety limits only protect a 6 ft 185 lb male from tissue heating during a 6 minute exposure.

Please take time to watch the KTVU SPECIAL REPORT: Keeping cell phone in bra may lead to breast cancer http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/special-report-keeping-cell-phone-in-bra-may-lead/vhPF8/. It is a brief video, but a powerful reminder of the cost real people pay because there are no meaningful biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices.

Please read the Report on Possible Impacts of Communication Towers on Wildlife Including Birds and Bees, commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India which calls for a precautionary approach due to the evidence of potential harm to humans and wildlife. Its recommendations include revisiting safety limits and tightening siting regulations - even to the extent of removing problematic towers (http://www.moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/final_mobile_towers_report.pdf). In fact, on September 1, 2012 India dropped its maximum transmission limits to one tenth of its previous limits, which had already been lower than U.S. permissible limits, and placed a moratorium on installation of antennas within 1 km of each other. India continues work on a more final rule. Switzerland, France, Germany, Russia, Israel and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) are all warning against unnecessary exposure to wireless signals and recommend preferential use of wired technology. The Israeli Minister of Health is calling for a ban on WiFi in schools. France has already done so. Most of these countries already have more restrictive safety limits than the USA does.

Our own government agencies have found our existing regulation to be deficient for protecting the population from biological effects of exposure to radiation from wireless devices. They support requiring development of biologically-based population-protective safety limits. Experts at both EPA http://www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/docs/epa_to_fcc_3nov_93.pdf and http://www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/docs/exhibit_a.pdf and National Academy of Sciences http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12036 have made it clear that the existing FCC guidelines do NOT PROTECT the population - children, pregnant women women, the elderly, and men - from BIOLOGICAL effects and harm caused by radiation from wireless devices.

Please re-introduce and actively support 2012 HR 6358.

Sincerely,

*Insert your name

Talking Points

• Stress the urgency of passing legislation to get biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices which are ubiquitous nationwide and do not comply with any meaningful safety limits. Studies show links to cancer, cardiac arrhythmias, ADD/ADHD, diabetes, Parkinson’s Disease, MS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc.
• Send this video link around to your legislators. It provides a vivid example of why biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices is necessary. SPECIAL REPORT: Keeping cell phone in bra may lead to breast cancer http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/special-report-keeping-cell-phone-in-bra-may-lead/vhPF8/
• Give background about existing outdated FCC radiofrequency radiation limits see http://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/03/09/a-primer-on-the-fcc-guidelines-for-the-smart-meter-age/ for excellent information.
• The industry has promoted confusion and called for more research due to inconclusive results long past the point where a preponderance of the evidence points to harmful biological effects, just as with tobacco. Reasonable unbiased people viewing the data can see this.
• The 2012 BioInitiative Report concludes that there is sufficient evidence to say that radiofrequency radiation is a carcinogen. www.bioinitiative.com
• On September 1, 2012 - in response to a commissioned report -India dropped its maximum transmission limits to one tenth of their previous limits, which had already been lower than U.S. permissible transmission limits, and placed a moratorium on installation of antennas within 1 km of each other. India continues work on a more final rule. Report is mentioned in the sample letter.
• Switzerland, France, Germany, Russia, Israel and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) are all warning against unnecessary exposure to wireless signals and recommend preferential use of wired technology. The Israeli Minister of Health is calling for a ban on WiFi in schools. France has already done so. Most of these countries already have more restrictive safety limits than the USA does.
• Even our own agencies feel that FCC limits for exposure to radiation from wireless devices do not protect the public health. Experts at both EPA http://www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/docs/epa_to_fcc_3nov_93.pdf and http://www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/docs/exhibit_a.pdf and National Academy of Sciences http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12036 have made it clear that the existing FCC guidelines do NOT PROTECT the population - children, pregnant women women, the elderly, and men - from BIOLOGICAL effects and harm caused by radiation from wireless devices.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics supported 2012 HR6358 - see American Academy of Pediatrics letter of support

Tweets to support "The Cellphone Right to Know Act"

Support biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices. See www.electricalpollution.com

Outdated thermally-based FCC limits on radiation from wireless devices must go! See www.electricalpollution.com

Prevent cancer! Support biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices. See www.electricalpollution.com

Save your brain! Support biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices. See www.electricalpollution.com

Want healthy children? Support biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices. See www.electricalpollution.com

Save the Bees! Support biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices. See www.electricalpollution.com

Protect Our Environment! Support biologically-based safety limits for radiation from wireless devices. See www.electricalpollution.com

Provisions of "The Cellphone Right to Know Act"

- Requires the EPA to establish new maximum exposure limits within 2 years and re-visit it every two years thereafter in light of new research.

"(A) MAXIMUM EXPOSURE LEVEL GOAL. -A maximum exposure level goal established under paragraph (1) shall be set at the level-

(i) at which no known or anticipated adverse human biological effects occur; and
(ii) which allows an adequate margin of safety."

"(ii) SPECIFICATION.-In deriving the maximum exposure levels and maximum exposure level goals, the Administrator may not rely on any human behavior modification, including an expectation of holding the mobile communication device a specified distance away from the head or body."

- Requires the FCC to adopt and enforce the safety limits developed by the EPA
- Establishes a radiofrequency research program to fund research into biological effects and mechanisms
- Requires access to telecom data by researchers
- Requires labeling on wireless devices and their outside packaging of specific parameters, including the existing maximum wireless radiation safety limits and the radiation levels emitted by the device.