Alaska Supreme Court Decision Could Impact Wireless Safety Issues
By Teresa von Fuchs
WirelessWeek - August 23, 2007

The Alaska Supreme Court upheld a decision by the Alaska Workers'
Compensation Board awarding an AT&T equipment installer 100%
disability benefits due to his exposure to radio frequency (RF)
radiation at levels slightly above the FCC's safety limit.

AT&T worker John Orchitt complained of headaches, eye pain
and "mental slowing" following an incident where he was exposed to a
6 GHz signal operating at about 90 W. When Orchitt entered the job
site, the amplifier was supposed to have been turned off, but he soon
discovered that the wrong amplifier had been disabled. According to
EMR Policy Institute, a consumer advocacy group specializing in
wireless health issues, Orchitt's MRI after the incident
showed, "tiny areas of hypersensitivity in the frontal lobes."

Orchitt's RF exposure level was well below the FCC's recognized level
of "thermal" harm. Though the FCC claims there are no scientifically
established harmful effects to a person's health when exposed to RF
levels below the thermal threshold, the Alaska Worker Compensation
Board's decision agrees with medical experts' findings of adverse
health effects occurring above the FCC safety limit but below the
thermal threshold.

AT&T appealed the workers compensation board's decision initially to
Alaska's superior court and then to Alaska's Supreme Court, which
upheld the board's original decision, stating, "The board has the
sole power to determine witness credibility and assign weight to
medical testimony. When medical experts disagree about the cause of
an employee's injury, we have held that as a general rule, 'it is
undeniably the province of the Board and not this court to decide who
to believe and who to distrust.'"

According to the EMR, "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."

There are several other health-related suits facing the wireless
industry across the country, and though the specifics vary, as EMR
said, in a statement, this case, "could hold significant financial
impact for the wireless industry going forward."

AT&T declined to comment on the case, though an AT&T spokesperson did
confirm that "All of AT&T's handsets and wireless towers are within
the FCC's limits for RF radiation."