You may be aware of the coming conversion of cell phones to a new technology called, “5G”. This next generation of our current (4G, 3G) has created a wide range of controversy, with those who are against wide scale deployment being painted as ‘tin hat’ lunatics in some quarters, or simply dismissed. I for one, always come down on the side of science, real science, peer reviewed by other scientists in the field and science that is able to be replicated in the lab. I have been standing back and waiting to form an opinion on the topic, while assuming that if 4G has been relatively benign (and that is also debatable given the sea of cancer that we are currently swimming in), that 5G should be not all that much worse.
However, recently, voices have been raised that are impossible to ignore. In Scientific American’s blog on Oct 17, 2019, a key researcher with significant credibility, Joel Moskowitz, put forward a very credible arguement about why we citizens should be concerned about this technology.
His article, entitled, “We have no reason to believe that 5G is safe”, and subtitled, “The technology is coming , but contrary to what some people say, there could be health risks,” is an appeal to take seriously the over 500 studies that found health risks of radio frequency radiation (RFR).
Citing this large body of research, more than 240 scientists who have published peer-reviewed research on the biologic and health effects of nonionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal, which calls for stronger exposure limits.
According to Mr. Moskowitz, the FDA, with no formal risk assessment done, has approved the technology. He concludes by stating:
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.
Also, no less than the ex-president of Microsoft Canada, Frank Clegg, has recently also come out strongly endorsing a moratorium on 5G.
To be clear, Mr. Clegg’s opinion on this is his, and not that of Microsoft. Also, Mr. Moskowitz’ article is an opinion piece in the Scientific American blog, not the main magazine. It is not the editors of the magazine endorsing the point of view. They are individuals commenting on the growing body of evidence that there could be a problem if we deploy this in wide spread use, covering virtually all people in developed countries, from birth to death.
It is stated, and many including myself believe, that modern society has seen a growing number of brain tumors since the advent of the cellular phone. However, it’s not easy to pin it to one specific cause. I have heard medical researchers state that with an aging population, that may be a given. But I have also heard many extremely intelligent people argue that there are real concerns. They often are dismissed.
However, those looking at rounding up data on the subject should also be heard. As stated in a Forbes article by science writer Jeffery Kabat, recently, “Many epidemiological studies, show little evidence of an association.” His research using PubMed and Google, clearly shows that there is a variety of ways to understand the data on brain cancers, which in themselves are a rare form of cancer, and that there is not a consensus by brain tumor specialists that there has been an increase in brain cancers over the last decades. Some cancers have been recategorized into other categories, skewing the numbers of that category and appearing as if there has been huge increases.
5G is not a foregone conclusion. But the time to ask our legislators for a halt to deployment and additional significant research is here, now. The push by business to demand this deployment and belittle the concerns is very hard to fight. While I am not yet totally convinced there is a real threat, I am concerned enough to ask for a moratorium while a wide range of independent scientists look into this further. Having lost my best friend to brain cancer (and he was a voracious cell phone user for two decades), I cannot just sit back and accept industry and government assurances (especially given the behavior of the current government in regards to research results) that there will be no harm.
Filed under: environmental education, Environmental Science, Puget Sound | Tagged: 5G, Cell Phone, Puget Sound, radiation, RFI, wireless | 3 Comments »
