Thriving with Technology Podcast: FCC Law Suit Theodora Scarato Environmental Health Trust

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Why The FCC And Big Wireless Are Listening To These Women with Theodora Scarato, Executive Director of the Environmental Health Trust. 

 

You’re in for a treat.  Theodora is awesome and is really on the front lines of trying to educate us all, including the FCC, schools and Big Telecom about the potential hazards of 5G.

Let me tell you about Theodora:  She is not only the executive director, she’s also the lead policy analyst and researcher for the EHT database on international actions– the most comprehensive collection of information on policy actions on cell phones and wireless.

She published a landmark paper on why and how to reduce radiofrequency wireless in buildings —and she presents to important organizations like the National Institutes of Health, the University of California and the American Federation of Teachers.  

Before that, she was a practicing clinical psychotherapist, working with children. Her research interests include not only the effects from radiation exposures but also the social emotional effects of technology overuse. 

If you follow  @techwellness  you may remember the Environmental Health Trust because we talk about them often.  It’s a non profit founded in 2007 by Dr. Devra Davis as platform to advocate and educate us about environmental issues like climate change and EMF’s.  

About the time they were starting, I was making my first video, showing people that radiation coming from their phones was just the same at the energy coming from their microwaves.  

The Environmental Health trust was one of the few voices out there with fact-based information.  And they have remained so to this day—which is even more important, because so many people are talking about emf these days, and so many of them don’t know what they’re talking about!  EMF is a complicated topic.  And there's a lot of information out there that just is not true.

That’s one of the reasons I’m excited to have the chance to share the organization with you today.  

We’ll tell you how you can learn more, help out and get involved. That  is what Theodora did… she came onboard as a volunteer and moved up to executive director.

You’re about to hear how the Environmental Health Trust has filed a legal action against the FCC- the Commission rubber stamped the extension of antiquated and unsafe testing standards for cell phones.  We get the inside story today.

BONUS LINKS from the Podcast

The Environmental Health Trusts Collection of International Policy Actions On Wireless

Levels Of 5G Mesh Network in Boston, compared to Laguna Beach

Sign Up For July 2nd EMAIL with How To Tell People You Love About Cell and WiFi Boosters

Support the Environmental Health Trust Patreon Program

Wire Up Your Home With The Hard Wire Kit

Know Your EMF Intake with an EMF Meter

 

I hope you enjoy the episode.  If you find what we're doing useful, please like us on the iTunes Store and share the message with your family and friends.  And of course for more information, visit us anytime at Tech Wellness.

Be Well!

August Brice 

Here's the full transcript of the podcast:

August Brice:

Hello, and welcome to the Thriving with Technology Podcast from techwellness.com. I'm August Brice and I am so honored that you're listening today. Truly, thank you. Today's episode is my conversation with Theodora Scarato who is the executive director of the Environmental Health Trust. It is an awesome organization and she's amazing. You're in for a treat.

 

She's on the front lines of trying to educate all of us, including the F.C.C in the form of a legal action, as she calls it, about the potential hazards of 5G. So, let me tell you a bit about Theodora. She's not only the executive director, she's also the lead policy analyst and researcher for the Environmental Health Trust database on international actions. This is a big deal. The most comprehensive collection of information on policy actions on cell phones and wireless.

 

She published a landmark paper on why and how to reduce radio frequency wireless in buildings, and she presents to very important organizations, like the National Institutes of Health, The University of California, and The American Federation of Teachers.

 

She's been with the Environmental Health Trust for 10 years, but before that she co-founded several organizations, both locally and nationally that addressed environmental health and safety concerns. Before that, she was a practicing clinical psychotherapist working with kids. Her research interests including not only the effects of radiation exposure, but also like me, the social emotional effects of technology overuse, especially on kids.

 

So, if you've read any of our articles about EMFs, electro magnetic fields, on Tech Wellness you, for sure, know the Environmental Health Trust, because I talk about them all the time. It's a non-profit founded in 2007 by Dr. Devra Davis, and it's a platform to advocate and educate all of us about environmental issues like climate change and specifically, electro magnetic fields.

 

In fact, the time they were starting, there I was making one of my first videos, showing people that radiation coming from their phones was very much like that energy coming from their microwave ovens. And the Environmental Health Trust was one of the few voices out there with fact-based information. And they've remained so to this day, which is even more important, because right now so many people are talking about EMF and so many of them really, I have to say, do not know what they're talking about.

 

EMF is a complicated topic and there's a lot of information out there that is just not true. That's one of the reasons I'm excited to have the chance to share this organization with you today. We'll tell you how you can learn more, help out, and get involved. That's what Theodora did when she came onboard as a volunteer and moved all the way up to executive director.

 

You're about to hear how the Environmental Health Trust filed a legal action, I like to call it a lawsuit, against the F.C.C. They're saying that the commission didn't protect us consumers when they were stamped the extension of testing standards of cell phones. And that standard, it didn't make much sense way back when they adopted it in 1996, and it really makes even less sense today.

 

So, if this is your first listen, let me take a second to tell you about Tech Wellness and why I'm here. Tech Wellness is a platform to help everyone maintain a balanced relationship with the technology that we all love. [inaudible 00:03:38] after discovering that I was sensitive to electromagnetic frequencies, EMFs, it didn't feel good. And I was researching and was able to help myself, I realized that we all needed answers and solutions, not only about EMF, but also about online privacy, the blue light that comes from our screens, the overuse and addictions and creating a healthy digital home.

 

So, I invite you to visit Tech Wellness and join us on the journey. But first, let's spend an interesting few minutes with Theodora Scarato and me talking about EMF, what it's like to sue the F.C.C, and what it's like to live in a wired home. I'll be back afterward with a special offer for you and information on how you can get involved. Enjoy.

 

August Brice:

I'm so excited to be talking to you today, Theodora. I love what you're doing with the Environmental Health Trust, and could you give us the 411 on what the Environment Health Trust does?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Sure. So, Environmental Health Trust is a scientific think tank, and we publish, research in the peer-reviewed literature related to environment health issues. We also educate policy makers so we give talks to elected officials across the world, in the United States, countries, local cities, and then we also do educational campaigns for the general public, for parents, for people specially who are interested in protecting themselves from cell phone and wireless radiation, teaching them how to reduce exposure and why they should reduce exposure.

 

August Brice:

Excellent-

 

Theodora Scarato:

We translate the science. We try to just get this message out, because it's so important.

 

August Brice:

Great. I love what you do. And the focus really is on EMF, even though it's the Environmental Health Trust, there are other things that you talk about? Or is it specifically EMF?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Well, right now, we are focused on 5G and electromagnetic fields. However, Dr. Devra Davis and Dr. Ronald Herberman who founded Environmental Health Trust over a decade ago were working on the numerous environmental health issues that we face. Everything from plastics, chemicals in cosmetics, body care lotion, fragrance, breast cancer, the environmental causes of breast cancer, air pollution.

 

 

 

Theodora Scarato:

Dr. Devra Davis worked on air pollution years ago. She also worked on climate change back in the 80s, so there's a long history of working on environmental health issues, but the focus right now of our organization is on cell phone or wireless, and that's because there are so few environmental health organizations that are really giving it what it deserves.

 

Theodora Scarato:

So we're trying to translate the science for people so they understand the issue and raise awareness and elevate the discussion worldwide.

 

August Brice:

And so, what do you see as the biggest problem? Why 5G? Why is that a problem?

Theodora Scarato:

 

Well, 5G is a term that is used for both a new, next generation, fifth generation wireless as well as the dentification, meaning many more cell antennas, cell towers for 4G. So it's really going to mean hundreds of thousands of new cell towers that are shorter called small cells by industry. There's nothing small about them though.

 

Theodora Scarato:

But they are going to be all over the United States and the world to tie together the new intranet of things. And that is going to-

 

Theodora Scarato:

That is going to increase the ambient, the levels of wireless radio frequency radiation that we're exposed to in our daily life. Like when you are just standing outside, you're not even on your phone, you're not doing anything with a device, but the levels in the air will be increased, because there'll be a cell tower right either in front of your house or right down the road.

Theodora Scarato:

These antennas that are being put in the name of 5G are closer to humans than ever before in history, sometimes 10 feet from your bedroom window.

 

August Brice:

I am so, so glad that you're spreading that word, because it is the proliferation of all these different, like you said, small cells. And I will put a link to a video that I did a few years ago. I was in Boston and eating outside, staying downtown, and one day there as an Apple store, so I thought, "Oh, I want to see what the radiation level is at the Apple store is," because I always have a meter.

August Brice:

And so I went into the Apple store and I looked around and I registered on my meter and I walked outside and the thing shot up 10 times, 10 times more than in the Apple store where there we tablets and iPhones and all kinds of things on was right outside. And I walked up and down the streets and I was just like, "Wow, what's going on?"

August Brice:

I didn't understand it, but a couple weeks later I was researching it once I got home and I found out that Boston had the first small cell network, and that was it. I was experiencing that ambient radiation. And I was just so happy that I lived in Laguna Beach and that wasn't going to happen here, but now it is.

 

August Brice:

And you are, the Environmental Health Trust, is attempting to slow down that proliferation. Can you tell us if you've had any success?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Scientists who are part of Environmental Health Trust have signed onto an appeal to halt 5G until safety can be ensured through adequate research on the subject. And we already have more than enough research showing harmful effects from all the frequencies that we're using now with 3G and 4G.

 

Theodora Scarato:

So, have we been successful? I believe we really have at several levels. Around the world, there are numerous cities that are calling for a moratorium on 5G. Over 600 cities in Italy, cities in the UK, in Ireland. Gosh, all across Europe as well in the United States, there are several cities that have passed resolutions to halt 5G.

 

Theodora Scarato:

Now, there are also many cities, especially in California that are working to put in protective ordinances so that when a company wants to put in an antenna, they have to really show that they need to put in that antenna, because what's happening with 5G is the companies are wanting to situate their infrastructure, putting in their equipment for future uses. Uses we haven't even imagined, but that they are imagining. And they just want to put their stuff wherever they want to put their stuff, and they sure don't want people telling them that they can't put their antennas in front of their homes.

 

So, many communities are saying, "WE don't want to rollout the red carpet for these companies. We want to have control of where we place these antennas. We want to be a part of the decision making process." So there are many cities putting together ordinances which really retain their authority, if that makes sense-

 

August Brice:

Yeah, it does.

And you help them? You give them the background information, help constituents appeal or what exactly does the ... how can the Environmental Health Trust help?

 

Theodora Scarato:

So, I cannot, and certainly Environmental Health Trust cannot take credit for all of this incredible work that's happening in the United States. There are many organizations working on this, but we are a part of that in that we put together science which is used in many cities. We have, on EHTrust.org, you can go to our website, we have resources including what the science says. We link to the science, because we are contacted by people all the time and they say, "Environmental Health Trust, I know there's probably a problem with this, but when I talk to my council members, they say that there's no science. Where's the science?"

 

So we want to make sure that people have access to those [inaudible 00:12:00]. We do give talks around the country, so people will contact us and we will present on different panels. There's also other organizations doing that too. You can go to Physician for Safe Technology, Dr. Joel Moskowitz at Safer EMR. There's also a group called 5G Crisis, which has resources for people, fliers for going door to door, and signs and so forth.

 

So there are a lot of people working on this. We're not the only one, but we are the only organization which will ... publishes the science and educates community members. And our scientists are really some of the leading scientists publishing in the field.

 

August Brice:

I quote the Environmental Health Trust constantly and link to you all the time. I am so pleased with what you're doing. And I think that we need to talk about the really huge move, there's a lawsuit that you have brought, and you're named in it to the F.C.C. You are suing the F.C.C?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Well, it's a legal appeal, so it is not a lawsuit where we're suing for damages. What we are doing is trying to get to the bottom of the problem. When you first heard about this and say, "Wait, what do you mean there's a problem with my cell phone? Didn't they test it? How did this happen?"

 

I mean, if you want to get to the core of the problem in the United States, the problem is that the limits that we have, the amount of radiation that we're allowed to be exposed to, those limits are not adequate. Those limits are not protected. They don't protect ... certainly don't protect children's developing brains. They don't protect adults either.

 

And we have all this science showing harm, but yet they have remained unchanged since 1996. So, what happened was, last year ... it's a little bit over a year now, the F.C.C said, "We don't have to change these 1996 limits." And that is a point where there can be a legal appeal to that determination, and that's what we did.

 

We have never undertaken legal suit of this kind, but we knew after a lot of consultation that this was really the right move, because we needed to address how the F.C.C had ignored the science, ignored the impacts to human health as well as insects, trees, bees, birds, and had not done, really, had not followed the law. That's what we're contending.

 

They haven't done a full environmental review. They disregarded the science on the record. They also disregarded the stories and appeals of people who have been injured by microwave and non-iodizing electromagnetic radiation, and they didn't even ... they didn't respond explaining why they ignored any of this information which was on the record.

 

So our suit, our legal appeal is stating that they need to follow the law and fully review the record. And the F.C.C is not a health and safety agency, so they can't make scientistic determinations. They need to ensure that there's been an adequate review of the record by people who have expertise in those areas. And we do not believe the F.C.C adequately showed that in their determination that the 1996 limits were safe, which they are not.

 

August Brice:

They are not, I agree. So you got their attention. On your site, I think you're showing all of the communication back and forth. And so, where is it standing right now?

 

Theodora Scarato:

So first we filed. Then there's a series of back and forths where the lawyers write a brief and then there's response from the F.C.C. We actually had the court hearing on January 25th of this year, and it went better than we could have expected.

 

There were three judges on the panel and basically it's a time when the judges who have read the briefs can ask questions of the petitioners as well as the F.C.C. So, they asked such pointed questions. They were asking, "How did you make the determination of safety?" To the F.C.C, really grilling the council.

 

And it's clear to me that they dug in. One judge even said to the F.C.C, "I'm going to tell you why I'm inclined to rule against you." In saying, you tell me why I shouldn't, because I mean, when we read the F.C.C determination that safety that they didn't have to change the limits, I have to tell you, to me, it was like it's so clear that the F.C.C did not follow the law.

 

And I'm really hopeful. We are cautiously optimistic in this case. And what it will show is that the 1996 limits, these outdated limits, do not reflect a full review of the latest science.

 

August Brice:

How was that question answered that the judge asked? Was it a good answer? Was it one that ... "Oh, okay. I get it. Just didn't know.”

 

Theodora Scarato:

The council tried to put forward that they made the determination of safety and that they ... they put forward what the FDA, a letter from the FDA. But then the judges were like, "Well, okay. Except the FDA is only talking about cell phones and cancer. But what about cell phones that are always in the hand? What about iPads that are in use? What about cell towers? What about cumulative exposure?"

 

This was something we brought up, was the limits that we have, the so-called safety limits, in which there is no safety, they do not account ... they were not developed to address long-term exposure, years of exposure. And the judges really honed in on that and were asking the F.C.C, "Well, what do you mean? Did you make a determination based on studies of cumulative exposure?" I can't say that the F.C.C had a full answer to the questions that the judges put forward. We have it all on our website at EHTrust.org. You can listen to the court proceedings and hear it for yourself.

August Brice:

It is fascinating. I encourage everyone. I was reading it yesterday and it's amazing, that they're even responding, because these are all of the questions that so many of us who've experienced the biological effects personally have. Like, great, how's this happening? But anyway, as far as the biological effects go, the old law really talks about the heat effects of technology. And that's what you're trying to get them to look at, that there's more than the heat effects. There's thousands and thousands of research studies showing other kinds of biological effects.

 

Theodora Scarato:

That's right. So this is a concept, this concept of heating effects versus non-heating effects or you'll often hear it termed thermal versus non-thermal. Thermal like heating.

 

August Brice:

Right, heat.

 

Theodora Scarato:

So we had that in the brief, and as you know, it takes a minute to know what in the world we're talking about, because it's technical, but the judges totally got it. They said to the F.C.C council, when she was asked ... so let me back up a minute.

 

You probably heard the statement that ... or industry will often say, "Our limits are safe. They're 50 times safe. They're so safe. So safe." And the F.C.C is putting forward that there's a 50 fold safety factor. Now, the judges asked about this and the council was saying, "Our limits are so safe. We have this 50-fold safety factor."

 

Then the judge said, "But that's only based on thermal, on heating." I mean, she said it. She totally understood, because it's true. This limit, this limit that we have is only based on the outdated theory that heating is the only harm.

 

August Brice:

And heating only goes, what, a few millimeters into your body, the heat. That's what they're protecting us from.

 

Theodora Scarato:

Because, obviously, microwaves, this radiation is ... microwave radiation, you wouldn't want to cook your brain, so they try to keep it so that it's not damaging tissue. But I'm going to tell you, I mean, the cold, hard truth, if you look at the limits that we have from 1996, they're based on studies about 10 to 20 years prior. And it's not like they really even knew when there was heat damage.

 

I mean, it's really that they had these rodents and they had a rectal thermometer and they were trained to always press a lever for food when they were hungry. And they started heating the animals up and when the animals stopped pressing the lever for food, even though they were hungry, that's where the scientists said, "This is it! This is the level of harm.”

 

August Brice:

When they were about to die?

 

This is antiquated research. It's called behavioral disruption. They said, "The level of behavioral disruption is here and this is what we know is unsafe." It's crazy. I mean, it's shocking that that's what we're relying on, and now what's happened is all of these studies, these thousands of studies that show harm, every time there's a study, industry says ... criticizes it for this or that and says, "Well, you have this problem or that problem." Or, "No, we're not going to count that because of this problem.”

 

Theodora Scarato:

And that is not a way to look at the body of science, because every study that has been done, every study has limitations. There's always issues with studies.

August Brice:

Of course.

 

Theodora Scarato:

You have to look at them as a whole. How could there be thousands of studies that show effects? And all of them wrong?

 

August Brice:

It's so interesting, because it comes down to the basic idea that if they can penetrate our bodies ... and I was interviewing [inaudible 00:23:08] Hanson last week, and he said way back 30 years ago or 25 years ago, he had two women ... because there was an argument that it doesn't penetrate, it only goes a couple millimeters into your skin. It's harmless.

 

August Brice:

And so he had two women squeeze a phone between their bodies, they hugged really tight, and then he made a phone call and then instantly, the signal came. And so he said, "Well, obviously it's going through their bodies." And then flash forward 25 years, and there's a video with Tom Wheeler of the F.C.C and they have their annual ... well, actually, he's from New York Wireless. And New York Wireless has their annual convention where they show all the great new things that are happening.

 

And I have this video on the 5G story and it shows him talking to one of the students about this great new thing he's doing with 5G and because of the problem that 5G, our bodies get in the way of the 5G wave so that millimeter wave interferes with communication with ... our body interferes with the communication, so what are they going to do?

 

And I'm thinking, "Okay, clue. Your body is interfering with that millimeter wave. What's happening to your body?" They don't even want to think about it. They want to put another signal booster on this corner, that corner, that corner to stop the problem of our bodies interfering with that wave. It's so logical that obviously it's having a biological effect.

 

 

August Brice:

You understand the technology and you enjoy using it like I do, where is the disconnect? Why is it just moving forward so quickly and we're being inundated with all this radiation and all of this technology without any thought? What do you think the core of it is?

 

Theodora Scarato:

It's definitely being absorbed into the body. I mean, that's a fact. That's what both our scientists and scientists who work for industry are always doing studies looking at how deeply is it being absorbed? What rate is it being absorbed? And then they have a limit that is considered safe by the F.C.C.

 

But that limit is kind of like a 200 mile an hour if you're on a highway limit. It's so high that we can always need it. No one can ever exceed that limit. You'd have to be speeding to exceed that limit, and it's just absolutely non-protective.

 

I think the core of it is money. I think this is about money, the deep pockets of industry, the ability to fuel the disinformation machine. I mean, we're shocked at the number of articles that come out in the process that talk about how 5G is safe or wireless is safe. And if you take the time to go deep into the sources, we end up going to either groups that are either funded by industry or they don't actually land anywhere. They sort of just go on and on, one media piece after another, and the question is, how does that even happen?

 

Because when you look at the science, it's there. There is study after study after study linking wireless radiation to harmful effects. Our scientists have published, Dr. Hardell's team has published studies that have stated, "This radiation is a human carcinogen." There are cellular effects.

 

There was just a study ... well, actually, it was a report looking at the published science on oxidative stress out of this Swiss expert group [Bar-on-ness 00:26:52] and they looked at the studies on oxidative stress and determined that there are effects at very low levels and that children and the elderly are more at risk. And, of course, oxidative stress can lead to a myriad of effects in our body.

 

So, why would be increase our exposure to something that is going to stress us out at the cellular level? And with 5G, you hear, "Oh, it doesn't really penetrate the body that much." Well, it only goes into the skin or we've even heard it bounces off the skin-

 

August Brice:

The biggest organ of our body, our skin.

 

Theodora Scarato:

It's the biggest organ of our body. And our skin has immunological effects. If something thinks that happen in our skin, ultimately can affect our entire body. Like when you go out in the sun, makes you feel good, get the vitamin D. The things that happen that then have a cascade effect to the rest of our body.

 

And there are scientists that are publishing on how 5G is going to be more harmful because of the intensity of the exposures, the combination of the increased radiation with all the other environmental toxins we're exposed to on a daily basis. I mean, that's a whole issue that's being ignored. Our total body burden of toxic exposures.

 

August Brice:

Have you seen antennas come down?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Well, that's a good question. Very rarely. So once they go up, it is very hard to get an antenna down. Now, it is not so hard once they start going up to have communities start becoming aware of this and putting a pause on anymore coming up.

 

That I've seen. I've seen it in my community, I've seen it in a lot of communities where once they start getting built, people start going, "Well, hold on. What is going on?" And then they start looking into what happened and saying, "No, we got to fix this." So that I've seen. But that's why you want to really work on stopping an installation before it goes up by saying, "where's the permit? Who owns this space? Has the law been followed?"

 

I mean, so many times we find that the law has not been properly followed in the putting up of these antennas because everything is just moving so far, there's something that's been missed. People haven't been notified properly or we have in our community cell installation, we have over a dozen small cells put in the wrong place or with another problem that don't match their permit. So it gets a little bit technical, but you really need people in your community looking at the permitting process and saying, "Was everything done according to the permit?"

And if it wasn't, whose job is it to fix it? Because I'm telling you that in many communities, there just are not people whose job is to enforce the laws that are already in place.

 

August Brice:

So how do we start these grass roots efforts? How do we become involved?

 

Theodora Scarato:

First, find out, do you have a group in your community? I know 5G Crisis has a list of different states and different groups in different states. You might be able to find your town there. Also, connect with either a stop 5G in your ... most states have a stop 5G group or they have a smart meter group which you can connect with. Or they have a safe tech, the name of the state safe tech. And if they don't, you got to start a group-

 

August Brice:

Great.

 

Theodora Scarato:

... give yourself a name and people will join you. And educate your community, do a webinar, show some videos related to this issue. Get people to where they understand it enough and they're ready to speak to their city council, their elected leaders. And don't take no for an answer.

 

August Brice:

And on Environmental Health Trust, you actually have resources.

 

Theodora Scarato:

We do. We have a list of things you can do. We have printable fact sheets you can print out, like have a showing of ... of course, everything's virtual now, but you can do it virtual. You can have a showing of a different movie. You can have a webinar where people can ask questions. You can answer them.

 

We will sometimes speak at these webinars. We also have a lot of videos you could play of scientists talking about the issue. And people are new to this, they don't even know what an EMF is. We got to go back to basics and explain what it is, explain the science and get people up to speed, have them ask the hard questions. Because once we start talking about this, I think we can get far. It's the fact that we're not talking about it that's slowing this down.

 

August Brice:

What is your number one thing that you would want people to know today? The number one thing.

 

Theodora Scarato:

That's a hard question. I would say that there is adequate peer-reviewed published science showing that this type of radiation is harmful to our health. And it is urgent that we get involved. And just like [inaudible 00:32:19], asbestos, DDT, history is just repeating itself and we don't have the years ... we can't wait decades for this to get fixed. We really need to be all hands make light work.

 

We need all hands on deck on this one. And I'm just trying to be on the right side of history, protect my family and the children of the world, and I'm just hoping everyone just gets involved. If you even do one thing, it makes a huge difference.

 

August Brice:

One just around your own home? Or one outreach? What's one thing?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Well, when we do things around home, it makes a difference too, because it's important. Take care of your house and your family, take some steps in your home, but really important to take that step outward. Talk to your friends about it. Go to your elected official and ask what they're doing on it. Anything you do is going to make a difference.

 

It feels overwhelming, this issue, at first, because wireless is everywhere. It just feels like, how am I going to handle this? I mean, I know, I've been there, but it is incredible what can get done when you just keep your eye on the end game, which is a safe technology for everyone. I fully believe we will get there. I mean, I have not just hope, I know we will fix this. But I also know-

 

August Brice:

It's just all of our voices together.

 

Theodora Scarato:

All of our voices. Lift your voice and just-

 

And there's going to be people who are going to say, "Oh no, that can't be," or "That's conspiracy and fringe," and whatever, but I mean, all across in California, there are cities where they have halted the small cell rollout, slowed it down. They're protecting their cities. There are entire countries that are looking at this differently. They are taking a pause to look at the safety issue. So it's just a matter of time, frankly.

 

August Brice:

You are the executive director of the Environmental Health Trust, how did you get involved and what's your passion? How did that come about?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Well, when I first learned about it, I sure didn't believe it. I loved my phone, I loved my wifi, I had just gotten a wifi in our home and a laptop. We all had PCs. And I started digging in the science and I got involved because I have kids and we were using the cell phone all the time. And I think it was a news story, so I started researching it. I couldn't believe what I was reading so I kept digging and digging more, and once I held up the studies, I had these studies saying there's no problem, and then I had all these studies showing a problem.

And I said, "This doesn't work for me. We got a problem here." I just want to win this. I want the people, public health, to be a priority.

 

August Brice:

This has been something that's been bothering me for 25 years. In fact, when I first discovered that I had a sensitivity, I mean, people thought I was actually crazy and actually, I thought I was crazy, too. I didn't really understand that there's so much more that we know and you're moving this forward so quickly, it's so exciting. I wanted to mention one thing and I wanted to ask your opinion on it, our own input into this radiation environment through boosters that we put on top of our roofs. Boosters and little antennas that we can all buy on Amazon that take our power and project it three blocks, does the Environmental Health Trust have an opinion on that?

 

Theodora Scarato:

That would be a transmitter that's exposing people in the neighborhood.

 

August Brice:

Correct.

 

Theodora Scarato:

So we recommend against adding transmitters but instead, that there should be a broadband for everyone that is wired that goes wired ... fiber optic or connections that go to your home and then wired inside your home, that way you can have fast, secure internet that is not radiating you. Because remember, the radiation, if it's not in a wire, it is going in the air through your body.

 

So let's just put it in a wire, not in our body, and get connected to the internet, because people need to have connections. People are using those boosters because they don't have fast or strong enough connections, so we need to ensure that everyone has a connection.

 

August Brice:

Can we work together on a flier that's appropriate to share with a neighbor?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Sure.

 

August Brice:

Because it's a touchy subject. Because like you said, they're using it because they need a connection. However, their booster is radiating the neighborhood with an invisible, odorless toxin. So, I would love it if we could put something together that would be appropriate and kind for a neighbor to share with another neighbor.

 

Theodora Scarato:

This is really hard, because I often think with neighbors, going in with love, because ... this is about love for our friends and our family, but I know when we start talking this way, people often feel offended or upset, as if we're attacking them when, really, we're not. We're trying to solve the problem and make the environment safe. So I'd be glad to work with you on that.

 

August Brice:

That'd be great. Awesome.

 

Theodora Scarato:

Yeah, we need that. We need all kinds of ways to reach our neighbors.

 

August Brice:

Before we go, Theodora and I both share something that probably is one of the best things you can do if you're worried about wireless energy, and that's a meter.

 

Theodora Scarato:

Oh yeah.

 

 

 

August Brice:

Theodora was showing me and EMF radiation meter will enlighten you like nothing else. It's incredible when you go outside, walk around, walk around your home, and you can find these hidden sources that you never even thought would even be ... like a thermostat. You put a new thermostat in your home and you're, wait, what's that? What's that thing flashing? That's a wireless connection that you might not even be using. And just because you're not using it doesn't mean that it's not emitting.

 

Theodora Scarato:

Those Echo dots and all those wireless smart speakers, they're emitting radiation all the time, just like a wireless router or a cordless home phone, and they're being marketed to kids. So some people have them in every room and they're not aware that they are emitting radiation that your body is absorbing all the time.

 

August Brice:

So, start looking around, because this is all ... all of these things are adding to the environment. So let's take care of the inside, and then we're going to look outside with the Environmental Health Trust.

 

Theodora Scarato:

August, I'll tell you one other thing, the way that I ... I forgot to mention this, how I got involved. I was researching also, but I did decide to get a mater. And when I got the meter, it illuminated the whole situation, it gave me information that I was not aware of. So, this was my first meter, was the Acoustimeter. I have a lot of different meters, actually, because they're all important for different things.

 

But when I went into my home and realized that the cordless home phone was giving me some of the highest levels of radiation, I was shocked, because I learned about this, what's the first thing I did? I said, "Oh, I'm not going to use my cell phone." I start using my home cordless phone not knowing anything because I was uneducated.

 

And only to find out that cordless home phone was right there by my head for hours a day. I was completely unaware.

 

August Brice:

Wow. And now there are still so many things. You go to a coffee shop or you're in an office, one of the biggest offenders that drives me nuts? The printer. They have their own wifi in the printer. Unfortunately, you usually have to unplug them to turn them off. Just turning them off, the printer off, usually doesn't do it. If you see any display at all, that means that wifi is there, ready to send out signal.

 

 

August Brice:

What about printers with wifi:

 

Theodora Scarato:

I had my dad, I went to his house with my meter and what do I find? The printer is right next to his body at his office. Now, he might print once a week. He's not printing, but that thing was radiating. And nobody knows that in the fine print warning of the printer, of your wifi router, of this little thing, it says that it should be at 20 cm from your body.

 

August Brice:

The one thing that I do want to end with right now is just if you can explain to people, because I think we're in the same situation, of living in a wired home. Can you talk about the joys of being in a wired home?

 

Theodora Scarato:

Oh, I love living in a wired home. I mean, the joys of ... there are some funny things, because sometimes there are cords running around. But when I see a cord, especially my kids were on Zoom school for a long time, we had four people in the house all connected with wires, all doing our work, our school. Sometimes there would be a cousin over who was also connected, and yet there was no wireless.

 

Theodora Scarato:

It's really possible to do this. I am so thankful we made the switch we made. I'm going to tell you, it took me a while. At first, I just turned off the wifi at night, then I bit the bullet and I was like, "I am going to hard wire this computer, because I'm learning about this issue of wifi." We did it so many years ago and I wish I had done it sooner. All I had to do was get that ethernet cord, the adapter, plug it in, and then I got fast internet and no radiation. I'm just thankful. I'm thankful to know about this, and I wish I'd known sooner.

 

August Brice:

And now it's available. It's readily available.

 

Theodora Scarato:

It is.

 

August Brice:

Theodora spoke at the EMF Conference, the recent EMF Conference for educators and doctors, and you talked about ... was it wireless privilege or wired privilege? You said something about how schools in areas of poverty were not given the privilege of having wired.

 

Theodora Scarato:

Well, there's a couple things that were happening. So, there are schools where companies are promoting 5G in the school and they're' doing it as we're giving back to these schools. They're in inner city, high minority schools, and they're promoting what they're doing, when what they're doing is bringing in more wireless technology to the school.

 

I would consider it the usage of schools as a playground for companies to test out their product to see what people like. But not even thinking about the impacts to the kids, to their eyes, to their brain. And I was talking about environmental justice issues, because I, and I know yourself, we're privileged to be able to buy an ethernet cord, to buy an adaptor and to hook it up. I had the information, I had the money to buy those things, but there are many people who learn about this issue and they do not have the resources to purchase the ethernet cords.

 

There are many private schools that are, for example, going wired. They're taking the wireless out. But those are generally private schools. We still need to work on the public schools to get them to understand this. So, there are communities that are being left out. There are, more often than not, at least in my community, the cell towers are in the schools with higher black and brown communities, with higher rates of free lunches programs among the students.

 

So, this is an important piece of this issue, because we need to get the message out to all communities, not just those who have wealth and who are white, really. I mean, a friend of mine said to me, "Theodora," she says, "Come on, I mean, everyone knows not to keep the phone to your head.”

 

August Brice:

Oh, do they?

 

Theodora Scarato:

I said, "No, no, no, no." She said, "Yeah. I mean, everyone knows that." I was like, "No, they don't. They don't know." And many people, especially people of color are using their cell phones more because they don't have access to even internet in the house. They can't afford to have a modem in the house necessarily.

 

Theodora Scarato:

So they are using their phones for everything, for movies. I mean, I know everyone is using it for everything, but more so because they don't even have the other ways to access. And that device is on the body and in use all the time. And often, if you're in an apartment building and your phone is trying to go out the window to go to a tower, it might be pulling more, because you might have a lower bar, a lower signal.

 

Theodora Scarato:

There's a lot of work we need to do to raise awareness on this issue in all communities, and everyone should be afforded wired connections. And that's why Environmental Health Trust and I personally am working on advocating in the public school system that every child be provided an ethernet cord and an adaptor for their online virtual learning. This should not be just for people who can afford it. This is not okay.

 

August Brice:

100%. How can we help? How do we support the Environmental Health Trust?

 

 

Theodora Scarato:

Well, you can go to Environmental Health Trust. I will say, we're a non-profit. We are run solely on donations. And we would love your support. And as well, we have a variety of downloadable PDFs you can share in your community. We also have a Patreon program, where you can support us monthly and we have all kinds of meetings, so you can be the first to learn about different ... we have talks with scientists where you can ask questions live. We share information. We have all kinds of ways that you can connect with us and learn more and get educated on this issue.

 

So we are just trying to elevate the conversation and we need your support. We rely on the support, especially for our lawsuit. So now we are raising funds for our legal action.

 

August Brice:

Great. We'll put a link and we'll be on it. Love to help.

 

Theodora Scarato:

That would be great.

 

August Brice:

Thank you, Theodora. Thank you for talking with us today and just sharing so much about the Environmental Health Trust. Good job. Keep it up, and I'm so glad you're there.

 

Theodora Scarato:

Oh, thank you, August. I appreciate everything that you've done on this issue for far longer than I've been working on it. And I just thank you so much.

 

August Brice:

I’m feeling a lot better now, let me tell you that so many people, so many voices, truth is rising. Together, together we're going to make this change. Thank you.

 

August Brice:

I hope you enjoyed that conversation with the executive director of the Environmental Health Trust and fellow Greek Theodora Scarato. I know I did. And at the end of this podcast, I like to do my top five takeaways. 

 

So the first one is that the Environmental Health Trust is defending your health and safety, my health and safety, at the national level, because they know through deep and trusted science that EMF exposure is toxic. Yes, it is. So we know that for sure.

 

Second takeaway, we need to spread the word and the Environmental Health Trust helps us do that by providing videos you can share, fliers, and by the way, we are going to have the flier that you can give to your neighbor when they put up a booster or especially huge wifi to let them know that they're radiating the neighborhood. We've got that one coming. And the health trust also provides top notch, highly respected thought leadership and research.

 

Third, I love how Theodora said, "All hands make light work." Because honestly, once you begin to learn about how huge this problem is and how fast the exposure levels are growing, it can seem overwhelming, but if we all work together, we can change this. We can change this for our future, we can change this for our kids.

 

And fourth, when you have a weak signal at home, don't add a booster. Theodora recommends against adding more wireless signals and their radiation and instead recommends that everyone gets a hard-wired cable for all of their devices.

 

And finally, don't forget, Theodora shared how originally she became illuminated about the EMF radiation in her environment because she got an EMF meter. And I encourage you, I encourage everyone, to become aware of the EMF levels in their environment by getting a really good certified for accuracy meter. And I'm going to put a special offer with a link in the show notes, because I want you to be able to choose from one of our fabulous meters.

 

I'm also going to put a link to the Environmental Health Trust Patreon program so that you can support them. And we'll also have some other information in the show notes, so be sure to check that out. And we've got some more great topics coming up, including next week, we're going to be talking to Marilee Nelson, founder of Branch Basics. That's a great one.

 

And I really encourage you, please give us a rating, give us a like, subscribe, because each time you do any one of those things, more people can find us and learn more about how to be well and healthy and balanced with technology. Until next time, I'm August Brice, Be Well.