After a number of my patients related their health problems to exposure to cell phones, Wi-Fi, and microwave antennas, I read the scientific literature on the subject. What I learned has implications for all of us:

According to numerous studies, leukemia and brain cancers in adults and children, degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, breast cancer in women and men, immune disruptions (allergies, abnormal inflammation, decreased resistance to infections and cancer), and miscarriage are all significantly increased with exposure to the low-frequency and high-frequency radiation associated with wireless technology.

Diabetics who are exposed to cell phones and antennas require higher doses of insulin to control their blood sugar. The symptoms of people with multiple sclerosis worsen.

Insomnia, headaches, tremors, impaired memory and inability to concentrate are all commonly experienced with exposure to wireless devices and antennas. The frequency and intensity of symptoms depends on one's distance from antennas and one's frequency of use.

The children of women who use cell phones during pregnancy show drastically increased behavioral problems by the time they reach school age.

Numerous studies show that exposure to radiation from cell phones, Wi-Fi and antennas creates a stress response that damages people, animals, plants and bacteria.

I urge physicians to review the August 2009 edition of Pathophysiology (This issue is entirely devoted to the question of the safety of these new technologies) and ask their patients about their use of wireless devices and their proximity to cell towers. I encourage every patient/citizen who cares about their health to drastically reduce their exposure to microwave radiation. Go back to a land line. Get a corded phone and a cabled Internet access. Turn off all sources of electromagnetic frequencies in your home while you sleep.

New research shows that safety standards based on thermo (heat) effects are obsolete. We can no longer say, "If it doesn't cook you, it will not harm you."

Many people are not aware that the Telecommunications Act, a federal law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1996, prohibits municipalities from regulating wireless technology on the basis of health or environment.

As a physician, this alarms me. I believe health and environmental effects are the main issues for us to consider when we evaluate new technologies.

I ask Mayor David Coss and our city councilors to learn about the hazards of wireless devices and the antennas that serve them, to inform the public about these hazards, and to enact a temporary moratorium on new antennas while we create a telecommunications ordinance that truly allows us to maintain local oversight of the telecommunication industry.

I hope every resident of Santa Fe will attend upcoming town-hall meetings on the issue so we can educate ourselves about crucial telecom issues. We can still join with each other as an informed community.

Leah Morton, M.D., has practiced family medicine since 1979 and in Santa Fe since 1989.