Dear Editor: It is an admirable cause that the West Vancouver Cell Towers Action Group has undertaken regarding the imminent threat of cell towers going up in our residential areas.
Personally, I have come up against some of the uninformed West Vancouver politicians who are supposed to be representing our best interests in this particular project before. A few years ago, I felt it was my responsibility, as a biochemist, to inform them about the poor (and at times acidic i.e. pH 4-5) water quality in West Van which is quite unacceptable. However, some of the responses I received were quite outrageous including a statement from an MLA's office about acidic water being OK when the accepted world standard for drinking water is pH 7 on a logarithmic scale.
The electric current generated by any given source emits two types of energy, namely electrical and magnetic. Since magnetic fields can penetrate most media including the human body, they are the component of electromagnetic fields usually studied in relation to cancer. The electromagnetic radiation resulting from cell towers would be much stronger even than that generated by high-voltage power lines. Considering the potentially deadly effects of these on children, I suggest that Rogers builds the cell towers farther up the hill where there is currently no human habitation.
Chanda Siddoo-Atwal
West Vancouver
