New 5G cellular wireless technology is already rolling out in some states. But as a country, there is little to no research on the health effects of the new technology. As one United States’ senator put it, we are “flying blindly” and a group of scientists agreed calling for an immediate moratorium on the installation of 5G until proper research on the health effects are conducted.
More than 250 scientists and medical doctors signed the 5G Appeal claiming that 5G, or 5th generation, wireless technology “will substantially increase exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), that has been proven to be harmful for humans and the environment,” the appeal reads.
“Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines. Effects include increased cancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful free radicals, genetic damages, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans. Damage goes well beyond the human race, as there is growing evidence of harmful effects to both plant and animal life.”
— The International EMF Scientist Appeal,
While the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer labeled RFR as a possible carcinogen to humans in 2011, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it would “soon reaffirm the RFR exposure limits that were adopted by the commission in the late 1990s,” Scientific American reported. But the FCC’s RFR exposure limits are based mostly off of research from the 1980s and only regulates the intensity of exposure and frequency of the carrier waves, yet dismisses the “signaling properties” of RFR, Scientific American reported. Signaling properties are important because they have an effect on the exposure, therefore, increasing the health impacts, scientists said.
In 2018, the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) conducted a study that concluded that exposure to cell phone RFR over a two-year period had “increased cancer in male rats and damaged DNA in rats and mice of both sexes.” The FDA recently “concluded that no changes to the current standards are warranted at this time,” and the “NTP’s experimental findings should not be applied to human cell phone usage.”
The new 5G cellular technology will use “millimeter waves for the first time in addition to microwaves that have been in use for older cellular technologies, 2G through 4G,” Scientific American reported. The new technology will require “small cell” antennas every 300 to 600 feet because of the limited reach exposing even more people to radiation.
“The wireless telecom industry intend to outfit nearly every lamp post or utility post around the countries with these wireless small cell antennas beaming hazardous radiation next to, or into our homes, schools, workingplaces and everywhere, 24/7.”
—5G Appeal
According to a scientific paper published in 2017 by the Department of Electrical Engineering, Georgia Southern University:
“Our results show that 5G downlink RF fields generate significantly higher power density (PD) and specific absorption rate (SAR) than a current cellular system.”…Thus,when a larger phased antenna is used or when a user moves closer to the AP, the PD value becomes a major health concern which inevitably requires more research about health effects of 5G before it is deployed successfully by strictly following the RF emission standards.”
Not only is cancer an overall harmful risk, according to scientific evidence, RFR also causes many neurological disorders and reproductive harm. Scientists and doctors are now urging governments worldwide to put “safety guidelines” in place to protect the health of the people, not the industry.
“Instead, we should support the recommendations of the 250 scientists and medical doctors who signed the 5G Appeal that calls for an immediate moratorium on the deployment of 5G and demand that our government fund the research needed to adopt biologically based exposure limits that protect our health and safety,” Joel M. Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, said.
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