Why we should oppose the construction of Cell Phone Towers on school grounds - quotes from professors, scientists and other authorities:
"I'm no lawyer, but I do know this: that you're going to preempt a pice of property, that the government is going to preempt it, that it can do what it wants it mainly has a right, because it is for the critical good but it also has a responsibility to know what it is doing, to those who are around that preempted site and preemption should not come before it fulfills its responsibilities to understand what effect of that site cause." -- Dr Ted Litovitz, Congressional Staff Briefing, July 12, 2001.
"We recommend, in relation to macrocell base stations sited within school grounds, that the beam of greatest intensity should not fall on any part of the school grounds or buildings without agreement from the school and parents." -- Summary from the IEGMP (Independent Export Group on Mobil Phones) Report (also called the Stewart Report) led by Sir William Stewart, April 2000.
(The Stewart Report)
Note: RF signal level typically reaches maximum around 100 meters (328 feet) but can be anywhere between 50 meters to 400 meters (164 - 1312 feet) (See article for Beam of greatest intensity, even though I don't agree with the author on base station safety issues)
"In 2004 Sir William stated that he believed that the evidence for possible harm has become stronger in the (almost) 5 years since the publication of his original IEGMP Report."
(Sir William Stewart 2004)
"Because children's bodies are developing and research is not complete on the health effects of microwave radiation, greater caution should be taken in siting cell towers near places where children spend considerable amounts of time. As a general rule, cell towers should not be placed near schools." -- Gerd Oberfeld, MD, Public Health Officer for Environmental Medicine, Province of Salzburg, Austria, Letter to newspaper, December 2004.
(Letter to newspaper)
"The two most important environments in a child's life are the home (especially the bedroom) and the school. For this reason it is imperative that these environments remain as safe as possible. If we are to err, please let us err on the side of caution." -- Dr. Magda Havas, Associate Professor, Trent University, Open Letter, May 2009
(Open Letter)
"As an active researcher on biological effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) for over twenty five years at Columbia University, as well as one of the organizers of the 2007 online Bioinitiative Report on the subject, I am writing in support of a limit on the construction of cell towers in the vicinity of schools." ... "As I mentioned above, many potentially harmful effects, such as the stress response and DNA strand breaks, occur at nonthermal levels (field strengths that do not cause a temperature increase) and are therefore considered safe. It is obvious that the safety standards must be revised downward to take into account the nonthermal as well as thermal biological responses that occur at much lower intensities. Since we cannot rely on the current standards, it is best to act according to the precautionary principle, the approach advocated by the European Union and the scientists involved in the Bioinitiative report. In light of the current evidence, the precautionary approach appears to be the most reasonable for those who must protect the health and welfare of the public and especially its most vulnerable members, children of school-age." -- Dr Martin Blank, Associate Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, Open Letter, May 2009.
(Open Letter)
"The International Association of Fire Fighters’ position on locating cell towers commercial wireless infrastructure on fire department facilities, as adopted by its membership in August 2004 (1), is that the IAFF oppose the use of fire stations as base stations for towers and/or antennas for the conduction of cell phone transmissions until a study with the highest scientific merit and integrity on health effects of exposure to low-intensity RF/MW radiation is conducted and it is proven that such sitings are not hazardous to the health of our members." -- International Associaton of Fire Fighters, Division of Occupational Association of Fire Fighters, March 2005.
(IAFF CellTower)
On Cell Phones:
DR CHARLIE TEO: I'm incredibly worried, concerned, depressed at the number of kids I'm seeing coming in with brain tumours. Malignant brain tumours. Just in the last three or four weeks I've seen nearly half a dozen kids with tumours which really should have been benign and they've all been nasty, malignant brain tumours. We are doing something terribly wrong. -- Wake Up Call, transcript, April 2009 (Teo is one of the top neurosurgeons in Australia.)