Re: “New transmitters prompt health worries for Chemainus family”, (Citizen, Sept. 14)
Telus’s statement “the electronic emissions from the transmitters are well within safety limits” is misleading. There are no safety limits for electromagnetic radiation for the Canadian public. There are very lax guidelines referred to as Safety Code 6 that do not apply to the public. Worse, these very lax standards are regularly exceeded.
In a recent test I put my home router on wifi and measured the radiation coming from it. It exceeded the current guidelines by a substantial margin and probably exceeded the guidelines when it was made. The manufacturer does include a warning in their manual that the unit must be operated more than 20 centimetres from the body to comply with Health Canada/Industry Canada guidelines.
Almost certainly the Telus transmitters are radiating at a level significantly greater than my home router, which I do not use on wifi.
There is an advantage beyond the health concerns to operating electronic devices on hardwire connections.
The connection is not regularly dropped, the speed is faster and there is less chance my system will be hacked into.
The recent paper “Exacerbation of demyelinating syndrome after exposure to wireless modem with public hotspot” authored by Redmayne M, Johansson O. examines one person’s experience with similar units.
Norm Ryder
Victoria