When I was in high school, the local power company wanted to build a high tension wire plant right next to our campus. This was fought pretty intensely by the school board, who wanted to know what the power plant planned to do about electromagnetic frequency, or EMF radiation. The board felt that in order to protect children and staff adequately, the power company should have to provide some sort of room shield procedure, EMF shielding, or at least educate the community on EMF dangers and precautions that they could take.
In the end, the priority to protect children was made secondary in light of the power company’s generous offer to fund all extracurricular activities at the high school for the duration of their lease next to school property. Many community members feel that this was a deal with the devil, since public health professionals concluded as early as 2007 that current precautions against EMF were inadequate, and that new development is exposing people to 1,000 times the radiation levels of 20 years ago.
I can speak a little bit to the “protect children” goal, seeing as I was one of the children the board was trying to protect. Of course I appreciate that I was able to benefit from a good music program, many field trips, and theater club in an area that was otherwise pretty underprivileged, but at what price? The fact that there has been a 30% increase in brain tumor incidences attributed to “unknown causes” within the last seven years is not lost on me. What good are all my myriad accomplishments and first rate education if I won’t be around very long to use them?
I’m not alone. Children and families just like yours face dangerously high levels of EMF radiation every day. If it’s not a power plant, it’s your microwave, or the cell tower down the street, the lap top in your bag, or the smart phone glued to your ear. We live in a brave new world with new hazards, and we have to adjust accordingly. Fortunately, we DO have some control over how much we are exposed to EMF, even if the politicians in our town don’t care much about protecting us.
For one, we can limit our use of electronics, or at least not put them right up against our skin! I’m a big fan of using a desk for lap tops, or plugging in my cell phone buds and talking into the microphone there, rather than in the actual mouthpiece of the phone as I hold it right up against my ear. There are also many specialized EMF blocking devices out there, including necklaces, shields, and other technology. People prepared to take EMF safety seriously would do well to invest in some kind of bioelectric shield, especially to protect children under your care. Developing brains are particularly vulnerable to harm!
