Raise awareness of environmental health issues in order to better protect our children and future generations.

29 December 2016

Infantalizing Robots for the Elderly

Not only children may be adversely affected by interactive robots but also the elderly...  

No to the infantalizing robot
by Martial Van der Linden and Anne-Claude Juillerat Van der Linden, Readers' Mail, Tribune de Genève, 14 June 2016

Certain EMS [homes for the elderly] in the canton have acquired or are planning to acquire, a roboticized baby seal named Paro costing 5,000 francs ($4,900).  This baby seal, which responds to caresses and can also show dissatisfaction would stimulate interactions of persons who have dementia, awakening their emotions and easing their anxiety...

27 December 2016

Should We Be Afraid of Waves? (Article in Swiss Consumers' Magazine)

[Young children - or anyone, for that matter, should NOT
hold a cell phone next to their ear.]
Should we be afraid of waves?
by Sandra Imsand, Fédération romande des consommateurs, 6 December 2016 (translated by the Editor of "Towards Better Health"

Harmful or inoffensive, electromagnetic fields emitted by electronic gadgets continue to divide scientists and the population

High frequency radiation?  The subject has been written about extensively for many years.  While 97% of the population over age 16 uses a mobile phone or a smartphone, the harm caused by waves is disregarded.  It is all the more problematical as inumerous devices are emitting all the time.  From connected watches to eyeglasses to enhanced reality, the number of gadgets carried permanently on oneself or close to the head is alarming.

21 December 2016

Nicholas Kardaras Petitions U.S. Senate and House for Warning Labels on Cellphones, Computers

Nicholas Kardaras, author of Glow Kids, which warns of the dangers of excessive screen time by children, is petitioning the U.S. Senate and House to demand warning labels on cellphones, computers.  


Kardaras Petitions for Warning Labels on Cellphones, Computers
by Jack O'Dwyer, odwyerpr.com, 
20 December 2016

Psychotherapist Nicholas Kardaras, author of Glow Kids, which warns of the dangers of excessive screen time by children, is petitioning the U.S. Senate and House to demand warning labels on cellphones, computers.

17 December 2016

Stealth Canada - Deep-Sixing the Science on Wireless Radiation

STEALTH CANADA—deep-sixing the science on wireless radiation
by Olga Sheean, olgasheean.com
15 December 2016

Health Canada is inspiring activism in even the most passive Canadians (especially those harmed by wireless microwave radiation from WiFi, cell phones etc)—motivating them to protect their own health, ensure their own survival, stand up for their rights, and tap into their compassion and humanity—since Health Canada seems incapable of doing any of these things for them.

Teachers, too, are being challenged to become empowered. If they dare to test the levels of radiation coming from WiFi routers in their school, to protect their own health as well as the health of the schoolchildren, or if they turn the router off when not in use, they can lose their job. One teacher in BC—Maria Plant—who has been teaching for 30 years, was forced to retire because the WiFi in her school became intolerable, and she now has such severe electro-sensitivity, as a result, that she can no longer lead a normal life. "It's been emotionally and physically devastating to slowly succumb to this disorder of EHS [electromagnetic hypersensitivity]," she says, "as it forced me to give up the two loves of my life: teaching and physical outdoor activity, because my inner ear and balance are most severely affected by radiofrequency signals."

15 December 2016

Health Implications of Long-term Exposure to Electrosmog by Karl Hecht (English edition 2016)

Karl Hecht: Health Implications of Long-term Exposure to Electrosmog (English edition 2016)
Competence Initiative - kompetenzinitiative.net

Full text
Extracts from the Foreword:

"The review findings by Hecht—which disappeared into the government archives as soon as they had been submitted and which we are now making available to the public in this brochure in its most comprehensive form to date—are based on the assessment of 878 Russian studies between 1960 and 1997. To pretend as if there were no connection between microwave technologies from the past and those from today is like burying one's head in the sand. This tactic is well illustrated by the current politics regarding radar victims and the increasing group of persons with electromagnetic hypersensitivity."
...

"As the sixth brochure in our brochure series Effects of
Wireless Communication Technologies, we present the brochure by Karl Hecht on the Health Implications of Long-term Exposure to Electrosmog. The author documents and confirms the serious consequences of observed tendencies to consciously ignore and deny existing health implications. All six brochures of this series supplement each other, exposing a sick government system called health and environmental protection, which exploits the present and future of public health for its
own irresponsible political agenda."

11 December 2016

Switzerland: "No" to More Mobile Radiation

Council chamber in session.  © www.parlament.ch 
Switzerland: "No" to more mobile radiation
diagnose-funk.org,
8 December 2016 (translated by Google with grammatical corrections)

Doctors against an increase in limit values

In the vote of 8 December 2016, the Council of States voted against the motion to increase limit values ​​for mobile phone antennas, with 20 to 19 votes and 3 abstentions. In order to ensure the implementation of motion 163007 "Ensure modernization of mobile radio networks as quickly as possible", both the National Council and the Council of States would have had to vote for this. The motion is thus off the table.

The pressure on the senators was great. Before the vote, they were sent letters and e-mail from various sources. Many concerned and affected organizations and citizens tried to influence this highly-charged issue.

Ahead of the debate, particularly the Medical Association FMH (to which belong more than 40,000 physicians) and doctors of AefU [Doctors for the Protection of the Environment] urged Councillors to refrain from voting for an increase in limit values because of the unclear health effects of mobile phone radiation. The FMH pointed out that the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently investigating new studies, the results of which are to be available only in 2018.

09 December 2016

Don’t Hold Your iPhone 7 To Your Head, Says Apple

Don’t Hold Your iPhone 7 To Your Head, Says Apple
techviral.com, November 26, 2016

Did you know that the smartphones have associated a level of radiation that can be harmful to health? Hence, there are some recommendations that should be taken seriously by the smartphone users. Currently, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is the most radioactive device of today.

Don’t Hold Your iPhone 7 To Your Head, Says Apple

Smartphones have associated a level of radiation that can be harmful to health. Although not exactly be a conclusive study on the effects of smartphones radiation, there are some recommendations that should be taken seriously by the smartphone users.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is the most radioactive device of today and the tech giant Apple itself advises its all iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus users simply to keep the iPhone 7 away from the head.

Switzerland: Vaudois and Genevois Against Antenna Radiation

Robert Cramer (Green Party/GE)
"Raising the power of antennas costs
less for the operators but is more
harmful to public health."
Vaudois and Genevois against antenna radiation
by Arthur Grosjean@arthurflash, Tribune de Genève, 8 December 2016 (translated by the Editor of "Towards Better Health")

Mobile telephony:  The senators refused to increase the power of antennas, deeming that health effects are not insignificant

The telecoms operators will not be able to increase the power of mobile phone antennas.  The Council of States refused any easing [of the norms] as the motion of the Federal Council had requested.  The vote was very close, 20 against, 19 for, and 3 abstentions.  Party affiliation did not play a decisive role.

The motion had, however, received large support in the commission.  The rapporteur Hans Wiki (PLR/NW) explained at length the need to ease current norms.  "There are more than 15,000 antennas in Switzerland and 6,000 have already reached the authorized limit value.  A modest adaptation of these values would allow us to benefit from good coverage of the mobile network, indispensable for the population and the economy."  He reiterated that the transfer of data is exploding and that, in four years, 20 to 30 million objects will be connected in Switzerland in an increasingly digitized society.

08 December 2016

Switzerland: News from Parliament: Council of States Buries Motion on Easing Non-Ionizing Radiation Norms


News from the Swiss Parliament
rts.info, 8 December 2016

Mobile telephony:  No question of easing radiation norms

The Council of States has buried a motion by the National Council on limit values for non-ionizing radiation by a narrow margin (20 votes against, 19 for, and 3 abstentions).

The Upper Chamber believes there is no question of placing the demands of the operators before the health of the population because there exists too much doubt about the effects of these rays.

The development of the mobile network is being held back in Switzerland by very strict conditions regarding protection against non-ionizing radiation, pleaded Hans Wicki (PLR/NW).  Lowering norms could facilitate construction of new mobile phone antennas.

The only other option is to contruct thousands of new base stations.  Of the 15,000 existing mobile phone installations, more than 6,000 have already reached the authorized limit values.

Original article in French:

05 December 2016

Samsung's Aggressive Battery Design Led to the Galaxy Note 7 Explosions

The battery for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had very
thin margins for safety.
Report: Samsung's aggressive battery design led to the Galaxy Note 7 explosions
by Alan F., phonearena.com, 4 December 2016

According to a new report, Samsung's aggressive design for the battery employed by the Galaxy Note 7might have been the culprit behind the multiple explosions that led the company to pull the phablet from the market. The way the cell was designed, a pair of polymer layers drenched in electrolytes was used to separate a positive layer made of lithium cobalt oxide, and a negative layer made of graphite. Should those two layers meet, the electrolytes would heat up causing an explosion.

As the report points out, compressing the battery would force the positive and negative layers to squeeze together. Samsung itself said that it might have been too aggressive with the design. In addition, there is a normal amount of swelling that takes place. Some of it comes from the pressure on the battery created through pushing on the back cover (for example, by putting the phone in one's back pocket and then sitting on a chair).