The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed a state ruling
awarding an AT&T Inc. equipment installer total disability and
medical benefits as a result of health problems tied to exposure to
radio frequency radiation levels deemed to be slightly above those set
by the Federal Communications Commission.
The
state high court’s decision to uphold Alaska’s Workers’ Compensation
Board has potentially major implications for the mobile phone industry,
the tower business and other wireless sectors, according to a consumer
advocacy group specializing in wireless health issues.
“This
decision is significant because the FCC RF limit is designed to keep
people from being heated, and ignores evidence of other adverse
biological effects at much lower levels,” stated The EMR Policy
Institute.
The group added: “This precedent-setting case opens
the door for any wireless industry or maintenance worker who has been
exposed to antenna arrays on the job site that have not been shut off
to file disability claims should they suffer similar cognitive and
neurological symptoms. U.S. wireless service providers are not required
to document compliance with FCC RF safety limits by on-site radiation
measurements. Millions of workers occupy worksites on a daily basis
where operating antenna arrays are camouflaged and where no workplace
RF safety program is carried out.”
The mobile phone industry
already faces a handful of health lawsuits, with a ruling expected soon
on six brain cancer suits filed against wireless carriers, vendors and
others in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
The
Alaskan wireless facility at issue involved the installation of a new
computer-operating switching system in the Eagle River earth station,
but the legal and policy issues are nonetheless relevant for wireless
health across the board in the telecom sector.
“We are still reviewing this opinion to determine our options,” said Walt Sharp, an AT&T spokesman.
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