Saturday, February 24, 2007 10:16 AM EST

Editor:

I certainly think that Easton should be careful where cellular towers or other radio frequency transmitters are allowed. It is no accident that the Telecommunications Act of 1986 said that health and safety weren't to be considered when citing these cellular towers.

People say that without a cell phone they don't feel safe but they should feel uneasy if they have one. All phones emit radiation continually even in stand-by mode when they are not in use. Fertility specialists at the University of Szeged in Hungary have found that men who carry a cell phone on their belt or in a trouser pocket have up to a 30 percent reduction in both sperm count and sperm motility. The research showed that the reduction in fertility was strongly correlated with both intensity of cell phone use and the amount of time the men carried the phone on their body every day. Radio frequency (microwaves) cause breaks in your DNA and if the break isn't repaired by your body, a cancer is initiated.

Secondhand radiation comes from nearby cell phones and from nearby and even distant cell towers. The researchers at Lund University found brain cell damage even when exposure levels were no higher than what people who live near cell towers are being exposed to.

French researchers found that the closer people live to cell towers, the more likely they are to suffer from fatigue, irritability, headaches, dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, skin problems, visual and hearing disturbances, and cardiovascular problems. Spanish researchers found the same.

If you live where a cell phone will work, you are being irradiated 24 hours a day. You may not feel the effects immediately, but at least 3 percent of the population does.

MARTHA WINSTEN

Gansevoort