I am heartened to see that the negative effects of technology, such as smartphones and remote learning are now being discussed more publicly. Last Friday on GB News, Bev Turner talked about an ALDI store, to which entry can only be gained via smartphone. Various national newspapers are mentioning the psychological damage done to children through overuse of screens and social media. Addiction is a major problem.
However only a handful of people and organisations seem to be aware of the likely damage to physical and mental health from the radio-frequency radiation (RFR) emitted by smartphones, wi-fi and phone masts. Those who do mention this are quickly labelled as conspiracy theorists, perhaps following the lead of the Counter-Disinformation Unit, which, I suspect, is the “subcommittee” referred to in the official Report for the Broadband and Road to 5G inquiry conducted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. I have explained this more fully in a previous TCW article, but the implication was that anyone who submitted evidence about possible health harms from RFR was tarred with the same brush as those who thought 5G caused Covid.
Considering how controversial it still is to oppose our Government’s view that RF radiation “should have no consequences for public health”, I am highly appreciative of the open-mindedness of bodies such as The Heritage Party and UsforThem in questioning its safety. Under the heading ‘Preserving the Environment’ in the Heritage Party Manifesto there is a call for a moratorium on 5G, while the UsforThem campaign ‘Safe Screens’ has a comprehensive list of harms, which include the health effects of radio-frequency radiation.
All the more welcome, therefore, is a free event hosted at the Royal School of Medicine by the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) on Wednesday June 14th, with the topic: ‘Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless Communications Sources: Are Safety Limits Valid?’ For this event, a group of international experts has been assembled.
The safety exposure limits presently followed by our Government are set by the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and are seen as insufficient by certain groups of scientists, and clearly also by many countries such as Italy, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, China and India, who use much stricter guidelines. The event on June 14th will be framed around the problem of divergent evaluations of the same scientific evidence on hazardous agents.
But what exactly will be discussed? Firstly, two scientific papers produced by ICBE-EMF in recent months will be summarised.
One paper lays out 14 false assumptions behind the ICNIRP guidelines. These include ICNIRP’s insistence that biological damage does not occur below a certain heating threshold in the body. Another, is that ICNIRP had only looked at exposures of six and 30 minutes, but did not consider low-level, long-term effects. In addition, the 2011 classification of RF radiation by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as “possibly carcinogenic”, as well as the results of large animal studies in 2018 were not taken into account despite the guidelines being updated in 2020.
The second paper suggests six engineering fixes which can go a long way toward reducing radiation exposure for the individual user of mobile phones.
After this, Dr. Erica Mallery-Blythe will discuss acute (short-term) effects of RF radiation such as electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), which currently affects an estimated 3-10% of the European population, as well as some chronic health concerns. She will also highlight some important related legal cases.
Thirdly, a presentation will be given on the only U.S. state to comprehensively investigate 5G and RFR, New Hampshire, by an expert member of its commission, Kent Chamberlain. Last year New Hampshire lawmakers voted to recommend action on the issue of wireless radio-frequency radiation. The New Hampshire House subcommittee of the Committee on Science, Technology and Energy had held study sessions on RF radiation featuring numerous experts, organisations and residents as well as wireless industry consultants. One significant recommendation was that mobile phone masts should be at least 500 metres away from any place of work, residence, play or education. It was convincingly shown, through two different approaches, that a setback of less than 500 metres would cause a greater risk of cancer and other disease. An excellent summary of the process is here.
Who are the speakers at the upcoming event? James Lin is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Bioengineering, Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Chicago as well as an ex-member of ICNIRP. Since leaving ICNIRP, he has become convinced that the classification for RF radiation by IARC should be “probably carcinogenic” if not “carcinogenic”. His criticisms of ICNIRP were published this month in Health Matters and can be read in full here.
Dr. Erica Mallery-Blythe is a medical doctor specialising in electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) and is the founder of Physicians Health Initiative on Radiation Effects (PHIRE). With her help, legal precedent was created at an Upper Tribunal hearing in July 2022 when a local authority was mandated to make low-EMF educational provisions to accommodate a child with EHS. She also helped Sally Burns, a 59 year-old social worker win her appeal for early ill-health retirement and Ms. Burns will now receive a full pension due to disabling Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS).
Kent Chamberlain is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New Hampshire and an expert member of the New Hampshire Commission on 5G (2019/20), described above.
The summary of key points and discussion will be led by Professor John Frank MD, who is Professorial Fellow (formerly Chair of Public Health Research and Policy and Director of Knowledge Exchange and Research Impact) at the Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. He is also Professor Emeritus at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. He has called for a moratorium on 5G.
Read More: Experts Gather to Warn of Health Dangers of 5G Radiation
