Note: For a list of research citations and articles on the dangers of exposure to Wi-Fi, click here.

Note: To read updates on this issue, click here for the update dated 11/2/05. Click here for the update dated 9/25/07.

The City of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, like many other cities nationwide, diliberated on a request to deploy high speed wireless Internet service to residents through a series of wireless transmitters installed on light poles, traffic lights, and water towers throughout the city. [See below for an update - 11/22/05] These transmitters broadcast an Internet data stream to and from "bridge" wireless routers located within homes and businesses in the city. These bridge routers then rebroadcast an encrypted wireless Internet stream to the computers of users who subscribe to the service.

While wireless technology is convenient and in keeping with the growing trend towards wireless communications worldwide, it also has potentially serious health risks. That is the opinion of many scientific and medical experts, primarily in Europe and Russia. Their voices are not often heard in the American media and their opinions are not usually reflected in the recommendations of governmental agencies in this country responsible for oversight of this issue.

To read a downloadable copy of a September 21, 2005 report produced by Oram Miller, BBEI and submitted to the St. Louis Park, Minnesota City Council, click here. ^{(in MS Word format)}

To read a downloadable copy of an October 19, 2005 follow-up response to the City Council also produced by Oram Miller, BBEI, click here. ^{(in MS Word format)}

UPDATE 11/22/05: The Saint Louis Park City Council voted last night to begin a pilot project in four neighborhoods in February of 2006 to study the feasibility of full implementation of a citywide WiFi system a few months later.

The Council was kind enough to hear input from myself as well as from a small but determined group of local citizens opposed to this initiative, led by Carol Coffey (952-922-8162).

We pointed out the concept of "total load;" that is, the harm caused by long term exposure to low power wireless radiation over time; the growing evidence of illness caused by wireless technologies noted by European and Russian physicians; and steps by European countries to dismantle cell towers, acknowledge "electrical sensitivity" as a government-recognized disability, and document the growing number of citizens reporting health problems from living near wireless towers. I also presented evidence that those governmental agencies charged with protecting the health of citizens have been shown to also have a strong leaning to the very industries they are supposed to regulate.

These points are all covered in the letters you can download above, as well as from an article entitled, "Cell Antennas" Not Worth the Risk" by Karen Stern, the Aptos (California) Times, published January 15, 2003.

In the end, the Council voted to implement the pilot project, with two dissenting votes due to concern over the financial risk to the city with the rapid pace of technological development. We understand the pressures the Council is facing to get on the bandwagon. We also appreciate their willingness to hear and acknowledge our concerns. In the end they felt the health issues were not documented enough nor supported by governmental agencies that they trusted to warrant halting implementation of the project, in spite of evidence presented to the contrary.

We felt it was necessary to educate the Council members on the dangers of human exposure to low power wireless radio frequencies, particularly since the American media is less than thorough in its coverage of this issue, in contrast to their European counterparts who do report more fully on the health hazards of wireless communications. The Council will vote on whether to fully implement the system in the spring of 2006.

George Carlo, noted radio frequency expert on the dangers of wireless technology and founder of the Science and Public Policy Institute in Washington, DC, provides several links on his website, www.safewireless.org, giving details of the health effects of information carrying radio frequencies, such as Wi-Fi.

On one of the links he presents safer alternatives to the planned deployment of a city-wide Wi-Fi system in Rancho Santa Fe, north of San Diego, California. His proposal includes increasing the number of towers to reduce the emmissions from any one given antenna, installing more fiberoptic cables to carry broadband without wireless, and installing noise-field technology that filters and suppresses the harmful effects of the Wi-Fi antennas.
Click here to read links on this topic.

UPDATE 9/25/07: On Monday, September 24, 2007, I sent an email to Clint Pires, Director of Technology and Support Services for the City of Saint Louis Park (who has been most open and accomodating to our point of view throughout this process), to update him and the members of the City Council on the plethora of articles that have recently come out in the European and Asian press on the dangers of Wi-Fi, as well as the findings of the BioInitive Report from the State University of New York at Albany.

The email update follows:

"Clint and members of the Saint Louis Park City Council,
"Greetings. As part of my efforts to keep you updated on the latest research showing the potential harm of human exposure to Wi-Fi, please see articles and studies that have been posted to the page on my website entitled, "Cell Phone and Radio Frequency Risks". Two of the latest items are presented below.
"We who work with clients on EMF mitigation in this country have noticed that there has been scant coverage of these findings in the American press, even though an important study was just released at State University of New York in Albany three weeks ago, but this issue is getting wide coverage overseas. Therefore we need to bring this directly to your attention.
"First please note the landmark study released August 31 of this year at SUNY in Albany called the BioInitive Report. The report is entitled, 'A Rationale for a Biologically-based Public Exposure Standard for Electromagnetic Fields (ELF and RF)' "(From my website posting:) Twenty scientists and researchers from around the world reviewed over 2,000 studies on EMFs. They found a link between EMFs, cancer and other health problems.
"From their August 31, 2007 press release: 'An international working group of scientists, researchers and public health policy professionals (The BioInitiative Working Group) has released its report on electromagnetic fields (EMF) and health. They document serious scientific concerns about current limits regulating how much EMF is allowable from power lines, cell phones, and many other sources of EMF exposure in daily life... "The report concludes the existing standards for public safety are inadequate to protect public health."'
"Secondly, an article appeared in yesterday's (September 23, 2007) International Herald Tribune Business Section, entitled, 'Cloud of worry gathers over wireless health risks'.
"From the article: '"The exposure to electromagnetic fields is rising, and it's widespread," said Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Environmental Agency, a European Union institution. "So, come what may, we should be anticipating that even with a low dose, but with wide exposure, this will require much more inspection."'
"Also, '...school officials are looking for reassurance. Teacher associations in Britain are demanding further analysis before schools introduce wireless computer networks, and the city of Frankfurt is being even more cautious - school officials there decided last year not to install wireless systems until there was more health research.' (Other articles posted on my same website page, including The Independent in London, report that the province of Salzburg in Austria has likewise recommended to schools within its jurisdiction to not deploy Wi-Fi and is considering a ban).
"'This month, the French Health Ministry ordered the country's Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health Safety to prepare a review of available scientific information about the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields from cellphones and Wi-Fi.
"'Members of the Green Party in the German Parliament have also pressed the government with similar questions this summer. In response, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection advised limiting use of mobile phones and wireless networks as a precaution until more is known.
"'"Our main concern is to keep the total exposure of electric magnetic fields as low as possible, especially in schools and kindergartens," said Sylvia Kotting-Uhl, a member of the German Bundestag and spokesman for the Green Party on the issue. "We will force the government to take their own warnings seriously and to favor cable-based technology."'
"Please refer to my website page on Cell Phone and Radio Frequency Risks to read more articles from European and New Zealand news sources, including the BBC, about efforts to curtail exposure to cell phones, cell towers, and Wi-Fi.
"It is very unfortunate and telling that the American press continues to exhibit a blackout on the dangers of these technologies. We strongly suspect business to business corroboration in this, which, as I stated to your Council two years ago, has unfortunately also infiltrated our regulatory agencies.
"We are not being told the whole story and people's health is being adversely affected, including clients of mine. Please do not believe your technical experts and the Minnesota Department of Health when they tell you such a statement as, "There is no evidence linking wireless communications at current exposure limits with human health." This is simply not true.
"Thanks for continuing to be open to this.
"Oram"