The Hillsmere Elementary School PTA Wrote a Letter to the to the Anne Arundel County Board of Education
in Opposition To Cell Antennas Near The Hillsmere Elementary School
“…radiation from mini-cells is not small.”
On November 15, 2017 the Hillsmere PTA requested that the Board reconsider its November 1, 2017 decision and rescind its approval of the proposed easement for placement and maintenance of a mini-cell at Hillsmere. The letter referenced the EMF Scientists, Environmental Health Trust, Physicians for Safe Technology and the Maryland State Children’s Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Councils expert recommendations to reduce radiofrequency radiation exposure to children and pregnant women.
Excerpts of the Letter:
“The installment of a mini-cell on a pole adjacent to Hillsmere poses significant health dangers to both students and staff at Hillsmere. While some argue that radiation emitted from a mini- cell, or any type of cell tower, is not a health danger, data from independently, nonpartisan sponsored studies, indicate the opposite. Scientists and health care professionals are increasingly expressing concerns regarding both the overall roll-out of the 5G network, and the presence of mini-cells and cell towers near schools specifically. According to findings by the Environmental Health Trust, radiation from mini-cells is not small. Wireless antennas emit microwaves — non-ionizing radiofrequency radiation — essentially functioning as cell towers –and that radiation is expected to typically travel from 10 meters up to several hundred meters.”
“In a letter1 to the United Nations, 236 scientists from 41 nations2 have appealed for protection from non-ionizing electromagnetic field exposure, citing numerous peer-reviewed studies showing that exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) generated by electric and wireless devices can cause increased “cancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful free radicals, genetic damages, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans.”3 The letter also specifically requests that “children and pregnant women be protected”. In another appeal to the European Union on September 13, 2017, 180 scientists and doctors from 35 countries requested a moratorium on the roll-out of 5G, for telecommunication until potential hazards for human health and the environment have been fully investigated by scientists independent from industry. According to the scientists’ appeal, the current guidelines for EMF are obsolete – based on the outdated hypothesis that the critical effect of RF-EMF exposure relevant to human health and safety is heating of exposed tissue. However, scientists have proven that many different kinds of illnesses and harms are caused without heating (”non- thermal effect”) at radiation levels well below current international guidelines.4
In a September 18, 2017 letter to the Governor of California, Physicians for Safe Technology expressed that “[p]hysicians realize now that the incremental increases in daily radiofrequency (RF) exposure already exceed human health tolerance for many people” and “[w]e need to be reducing rather than increasing new sources of involuntary RF exposure in our communities.”
“Additionally, in a response to the impact of wireless radiation, Maryland became the first state in the nation to recommend a reduction in WiFi within schools. In its report, the Maryland State Children’s Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council cited the US National Toxicology Program findings of increased rates of rare malignant cancers in animals, as well as children’s unique vulnerability to the radiation.”
