Leferink, once described by a regional newspaper as a `radiation professor' understands the concerns of the neighbors. However, he says, those concerns are in large part due to poor communication on the part of the government and the UMTS industry. `The information we have in no way supports the claim that electromagnetic fields are dangerous. There is no scientific proof for that,' Leferink insists. `A cup of coffee is more dangerous, or driving for ten minutes behind a Polish diesel car. All the research shows that you cannot get a horrible disease from it.' He admits, however, there is research that `give some indication' of sensitivity to electromagnetic fields. `But not from UMTS, that frequency is way too low.'
Leferink feels the government and the UMTS industry `blundered' by `arrogantly' installing towers here and there, without providing citizens adequately with clear information. According to Leferink, the consequence is that the perception of risk is in no way related to the real situation. He suspects the thousands of research projects on UMTS radiation - in reality, electromagnetic fields - stem from that same social unrest. No one worries about a physiotherapeutic treatment with electromagnetic fields or an MRI-scan, while those procedures expose one to a much higher frequency. `People working with that kind of equipment seem to survive just fine,' Leferink soberly concludes.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
