Action Briefing Dec 2002 - Jan 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

14 Stark Facts From A Community in Rural Birmingham

Guest article: Lynne Insley writes about telecommunications masts from a community near Birmingham

1. Over the past eighteen months there has been 5 cases of breast cancer and many other serious illnesses, all within a 250 - 500 metre radius of Crown Castle’s mobile phone mast. We believe that things are happening in our village, which endorse the theories and research of many worldwide and highly regarded scientists, physicists, biophysicists and leading institutions. (References can be supplied).

2. The situation in our locality reinforces the science so well that scientists are clamouring to carry out a field study here.

3. Eight years ago, Crown Castle bought a patch of land in our village “slap bang” in the middle of our community, because it was on high ground.

4. They did not conduct a survey of the area (they do not employ scientists or physicists). No checks were made as to the site’s suitability, if they had, they would have realised that it was in direct line with pylons running to our rear, 5 radio masts beyond and the BBC masts at Four Oaks and Lichfield. The ordinance survey shows a straight line running through our community and connecting all of these.

5. This alignment, many scientists believe, creates a ‘hot spot’ and ‘piggy back’ affect, allowing the microwaves to ride on the back of the radiowaves and travel deeper into our body cells.

6. The mobile phone operators would expect Crown Castle to have tested the site for safety. Crown Castle self certify their tests consist of a ‘guesstimate’ generated on a computer. Several university physics departments say this is not acceptable and that a field study of the full spectrum analysis over a long period is the only thorough test. We find it unbelievable that they can erect and operate a potentially dangerous piece of equipment in a residential area and be allowed to self certify. Our MP tried over several weeks to find a regulatory body for checking safety. His agent managed to track down a man in Bootle who works for the Health and Safety Executive. We are trying to speak with him direct, before calling for a public enquiry into the industry’s accountability.

7. Having scrutinised worldwide research by leading institutions and individuals, we believe that the mast, as it pulses, is disturbing our sleep patterns via the pineal gland in the brain and is responsible for the breakdown of the melatonin process, which leads to immune problems in some people and cancer in others.

8. To strengthen this hypothesis, we are undergoing voluntary blood tests to check neutrophil levels. This has been a slow process, involving several GPs, however nine results have returned and are all at level 3 or below. The average expected level from the general population is 5/6, up to 9. My level was zero, but went up to 3 when I moved bedrooms to an area of my home away from the mast. Other residents have found that neutrophils increase when they spend time away from the village or move bedrooms.

9. The N.R.P.B. say we should expect no more microwaves in our homes than households where there is no mast. We used a device, which transduces into sound, microwaves and pulsing from the mast. We were able to detect where in our homes the mast was sending beams. The device amplified excessive noise within properties in direct line. In properties tested away from the mast, there was not a sound.

10. At a meeting called by Crown Castle (27/9/02), their National Community Relations Manager, Peter Wingate Saul, said that he was aware of research about melatonin and other theories linked to health. He said that they were operating within the I.C.N.I.R.P. guidelines and it was up to the government to change them. He was quoted as saying (11/10/02 Sutton Observer Newspaper) that it was not his company’s job to decide what is and what isn’t safe over perceived health risks, but to work within government guidelines for radiation emissions from their masts.

11. Crown Castle were offered local authority assistance and our assistance to find an alternative safe site. They were also asked to put a therapeutic device on the equipment to cut down the health risk. They refused both.

12. The industry is costing the Health Service millions. In our village alone we have 24 people who are ill, 5 of which are breast cancer cases, not to mention the visits to doctors and blood tests etc. 24 people is a considerable drain on the Health Service. We feel strongly that masts should not be put any where near people’s homes.

13. We believe that the I.C.N.I.R.P. guidelines to which the mobile phone industry constantly refer to and hide behind are incorrect and are 3,000 times higher than the rest of the world. New scientific studies believe it is not about levels, but the pulsing and the affect on the melatonin process. However, the N.R.P.B. and R.P.B. are only allowed to test within the guidelines.

14. Evidence worldwide is stacking up against the mobile phone industry and our evidence is extremely valid. We have a huge amount of support from people highly regarded in this field, we also have medical data to bolster our case and reinforce the scientist’s predictions.

What has been described is not unique to us. We are in the fortunate position of having tested out our area, identified the ‘hot spots’ and rearranged our homes to avoid these areas. Most of us have property large enough to enable this, but what about others less fortunate.

We took the device to other parts of Sutton Coldfield, colleagues have taken it to other parts of the country. The outcome was very disturbing. Most people are unaware of the risks, many don’t even see masts, but they are all around us, some on view, some hidden. Very soon we will have our own equipment and invite Friends of the Earth along with other interested parties to come with us and witness ‘environmental unfriendliness’.

Lynn Insley