Dear Editor:
Isn’t it amazing how much mischief a zealous gadfly can create
regardless of whether there is any credible evidence for his
claims. I was present at the planning commission hearing regarding
the Zinc Co. microwave tower off Welburn Avenue.
Dear Editor:
Isn’t it amazing how much mischief a zealous gadfly can create regardless of whether there is any credible evidence for his claims. I was present at the planning commission hearing regarding the Zinc Co. microwave tower off Welburn Avenue.
My purpose was to oppose the tower installation simply because I felt such a tower poking out above the tree line would detract from the “country” ambiance of the Welburn location. I was dumfounded as the parade of obviously sincere mothers approached the microphone and expressed their absolutely traumatic fears of microwave radiation and opposition to the tower on this basis. Unbelievable!
After all, we are talking about radio waves here, only slightly above the upper end of the UHF television band (2.4 GHz versus 0.3 GHz). Finally, a highly emotional male speaker stepped toward the microphone, first yelling at the Zinc Co. representatives for supposedly smiling during the preceding speaker’s presentations, and then launching into a diatribe regarding the breaking point of chemical bonds and, thereby, damaging of DNA by microwave radiation.
At that point, I was pretty sure as to the source of the microwave hysteria; the “Agent Provocateur” on this issue. Subsequently, the Planning Commission rejected the Zinc Co. application but likely for the wrong reason.
Coincidentally, the very next day (Oct. 8) the San Jose Mercury News carried an article in their Science and Health Section that fairly and objectively summarizes the current evidence regarding microwave radiation and any link to cancer. The article directly confronts and refutes the claims made at the Zinc Co. hearing.
The following is a small segment from the article most pertinent to this issue. It is a quotation from Dr. Robert A. Park of the American Physical Society in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
“All known cancer-inducing agents – including radiation, certain chemicals, and a few viruses – act by breaking chemical bonds, producing mutant strands of DNA. Not until the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum is reached, beyond visible light, beyond infrared and far, far beyond microwaves, do photons have sufficient energy to break chemical bonds. Microwave photons heat tissue but do not come close to the energy needed to break chemical bonds, no matter how intense the radiation.”
In other words, there is absolutely no physical-biological explanation of cancer from exposure to microwaves. Nevertheless, there have been some anecdotal claims of cancer induced by microwave radiation per se and also from cell phone use. These claims have prompted more than a dozen, well-controlled studies during the last decade; all with the same result. None have found a credible link between microwave exposure and any kind of cancer.
Can the studies performed to date provide assurance of “zero” risk from microwave radiation? Unfortunately not! The existing background of cancer incidence, absent any exposure to microwaves, makes “zero risk” impossible to statistically verify. However, the work done to date assures us the risk, if any such risk exists, is approaching the infinitesimal and far, far smaller than other risks assumed in conducting our daily lives; e.g., strapping our children in their car seats and taking them out on the roads or highways or talking on a cell phone while driving.
The same specious arguments and scare tactics are now being used to oppose two microwave towers/flagpoles at Luigi Aprea School. Even worse, one of the more highly educated and respected members of the community, the superintendent of schools, has apparently already capitulated to these fallacious arguments. It appears that the successful opposition to the Zinc tower has emboldened the microwave opponents and they are setting out to dismantle the local microwave infrastructure. The microwave communication capability in our community is an extremely valuable asset; i.e., for police, fire, medical emergencies and, yes, even for personal use. It would be a tragedy if it is traded away on the basis of an imaginary risk
Mark F. Lyons, Gilroy
Submitted Tuesday, Dec. 3 to ed****@ga****.com
