There are five billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide and advances in wireless technology make it increasingly difficult to escape the influence of mobile devices. But while most Americans seem to embrace continuous connectivity, some believe it's making them physically ill.

As the mother of two young girls, Samantha Boutet does what she believes is necessary to protect her family. That’s why, with the spread of radio frequencies from increasingly common wireless technology, Boutet is a refugee in her own land. The naturopathic doctor and her two daughters are relocating more than 600 km east of their home in Maple Ridge, B.C., to a small cabin in a remote valley in B.C.’s Kootenay mountains.

Cellphone technology is already firmly ingrained in Canadian culture — especially in urban centres. More than 24 million of us used cellphones by the end of 2010, according to Health Canada.

The bulk of research into cellphones and their base towers has found no definitive evidence that short-term use poses significant health risks to humans. So, policy makers have given industry the green light, allowing the use of wireless gear to explode around the world, to about five billion wireless subscriptions worldwide, by the World Health Organization's estimate.

Background

The amount of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) at work is mainly determined by an individual's occupation and may differ from exposure at home. It is, however, unknown how different occupational groups perceive possible adverse health effects of EMF.

Technology is changing at a staggering pace. We are now exposed to forces and

energies that did not exist decades ago. Many new diseases and sicknesses have

developed since our parent’s generation including electrical hyper-sensitivity and new

types of cancer.