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Groups protest `hazardous' cables

Environmental groups gathered yesterday, urging the government to remove underground high-voltage cables and cellphone base stations that emit large amounts of electromagnetic waves away from residential areas and schools, saying that these magnetic waves are harmful.

Recent reports of school children displaying symptoms such as dizzy spells, nausea and even cancer are on the rise, the chairman of Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), said yesterday.

Chen said that studies have shown that electromagnetic waves emitted by high-voltage cables cause leukemia, miscarriages and brain tumors.

Chen herself resides in a "radiation house," where underground high-voltage cables emit up to 18.2mG (milligauss) of electromagnetic waves.

People should not be exposed to more than 0.1mG to 0.3mG of these waves for long periods of time or their health will be compromised, according to medical studies.

Chen was diagnosed with non-malignant tumors last year as well as earlier this year and she said that she was concerned about her safety as well as the health of other residents in her building.

Regulations currently follow those set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), which are still much too lax, Chen said.

The regulations state that electromagnetic waves should not exceed 833mG out of doors, a whopping difference from the 0.1mG to 0.3mG amount that a person can be exposed to.

Taiwan follows the ICNIRP's 833mG outdoors regulation, but because of the population density in big cities like Taipei, more people are exposed to the waves.

Claiming that there is already a global consensus that power voltages higher than 60HZ can cause cancer, Chen said that Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Germany and Tennessee in the US have been working on measures to prevent residential zones and schools from being exposed to the risks of radiation.

She said that in places like California, regulations have been set to minimize the amount of electromagnetic waves in schools and residential areas to less than 0.1mG.

The union hopes the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Administration will work together to adjust current regulations, Chen said.

The DOH should issue war-nings on how electromagnetic waves can affect people's health, Chen said, adding that the government should also establish a radiation-safety management committee to educate the public on radiation safety.

The union has set up a "Non-Ionizing Radiation Disaster Hot-line" at (02) 2369-2442 and will conduct a series of inspections to determine the exact amount of potentially harmful electromagnetic waves in areas where people's health is purportedly threatened by high-voltage base stations.
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