5G Faces its Biggest Obstacle: Health Impacts

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A new national coalition of grassroots organizations is today calling on the Federal Communications Commission to stop the fast-track rollout of 5G infrastructure, which they say will result in the involuntary exposure of millions of Americans to dangerous levels of RF microwave radiation without their knowledge or consent. Representatives of the coalition, Americans for Responsible Technology, have recently delivered to key congressional legislators a selected digest of 147 recent studies showing a positive link between exposure to microwave radiation and damage to biological systems.

In a letter to FCC Chair Ajit Pai, the organization, representing more than fifty-two state and local groups, claims that the agency has misrepresented the state of scientific evidence on the issue, and lacks both the authority and the ability to evaluate the actual health implications of widespread deployment of millions of powerful new wireless transmitters and receivers required for the full rollout of 5G. The letter cites a 2018 study by the National Institutes of Health that showed a clear and positive link between exposure to RF microwave radiation and cancer.

"We are at the nexus of technology and health, and we need to be very careful about our next steps," says Doug Wood, Associate Director of Grassroots Environmental Education, one of the organizations in the coalition. "The dense deployment of new, powerful 5G antennas in every neighborhood in America will mean we will be exposing American citizens to a proven health hazard without properly evaluating the potential impacts on their health and safety. This is a huge overreach on behalf of a single industry."

The FCC recently announced its intention to speed up the rollout of 5G by adopting a new rule that would limit local authority over the placement of 5G equipment in public rights-of-way. A vote on the measure is scheduled for September 26th. The agency has no health experts on its staff, and has never addressed the potential health impacts of the 5G deployment it seeks to fast-track.

The agency's human exposure guidelines for RF microwave radiation were last updated in 1996, and address only thermal, not biological impacts of exposure, which have now been firmly established in hundreds of recent published studies.  Updating the guidelines has been the subject of an open FCC docket since 2013 with no resolution, creating an uncertain regulatory environment.

Many recent studies have found that typical exposures to microwave radiation can cause disruption of normal brain development in fetuses, neurological and cognitive problems, heart abnormalities and oxidative stress that can lead to the development of cancer. Populations especially at risk include pregnant women, children, the elderly, individuals with implanted medical devices, or those with pre-existing cardiac and neurological problems.

"Freedom of choice is a fundamental American right," says Theodora Scarato, Executive Director of Environmental Health Trust, one of ART's supporting organizations. "The FCC has no business ignoring the science in a decision that will force American children to be involuntarily exposed to significantly increased microwave radiation 24/7 in their own homes." 

An index to the digest of peer-reviewed, independent studies can be found at https://www.telecompowergrab.org/science.html

More information at www.AmericansForResponsibleTech.org

SOURCE Grassroots Environmental Education