In the Summer Edition of this magazine, I reported that the World Health Organization would be holding a conference in Ottawa in July to discuss EMF issues. Sadly, in my opinion, the conference was a big disappointment, with government and industry giving a one-sided view on available science.

For example, the British Health Protection Agency finally admitted that electrosensitivity, a heightened reaction to electrical energy, will be recognized as a physical impairment. Sufferers' symptoms include nausea, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, loss of memory, headaches and muscle pain, amongst others, when exposed to computer screens, transmission lines and cellphones.

Although Health Canada continues to deny it's very existence, electrosensitivity is a recognized physical impairment in Sweden, where there are 300,000 men and women afflicted. As Sweden has a population of 9 million, compared to Canada's 32 million, we could have almost a million sufferers being ignored. That's a very big lump under the carpet.

Statistics can be very cold, so let me illustrate in human terms. In Newfoundland, for the past five years, a man named Gerald Higgins has been trying to get Health Canada to investigate the cause of his wife Marg's breast cancer, which he claims was caused by the proximity of a transformer on a power pole close to their bedroom. In Norris Arm, where he lives, Gerald enlisted the help of the Mayor, Fred Budgell, who mailed 150 letters to towns in the province, asking for stories of cancer related to transformers, and 90 towns replied. The responses prompted John Abbott, the deputy minister of health, to ask Health Canada to investigate and set up an independent study.

Health Canada's deputy minister, Morris Rosenberg, replied that the federal government is planning to wait for the results of a World Health Organization study into the health implications of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) before funding any studies of its own or setting safety guidelines. [Health Canada has not spent a dime on studies of EMF in over 20 years, despite growing worldwide concern.] Also quoted in the same newspaper article in The Independent, Dr. Magda Havas says she has little faith in the World Health  Organization's upcoming EMF report.

"I think membership is stacked; they pick the people who are going to give them the answers they want and we are not going to move forward on this very quickly."

She does have confidence in the possibility of a local, independent study, however, and says it could have a huge effect on government and public perception.

"Studies like that will ultimately force the World Health Organization, Health Canada, to do something. One of the reasons why I think they're reluctant to fund these studies is because they don't want to get the answers that they might very well get."

As confirmation of Dr. Havas' concerns, Microwave News [www.microwavenews.com] reported
that an upcoming meeting of WHO in Geneva to set the criteria for international standards is being attended by mostly industry invitees. It's therefore doubtful that protection of the public will be the number one priority.

Meanwhile, Gerald Higgins wife Marg's breast cancer has metastized to her brain and other parts of her body. Cancer doesn't have the time and patience that governments seem to have.

Milt Bowling is President of the Clean Energy Foundation, www.cleanenergycanada.com, which measures and makes recommendations to reduce electrical pollution in homes and offices.

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