Everything 5G

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that hundreds of thousands of these wireless antennas will be built in our rights-of-way, directly in front of our homes. Communities are being told that it is necessary to build “small cell” towers in neighborhoods in order to offer 5G, a new technology that will connect the Internet of Things (IoT). At every level of government, new legislation aims to streamline (meaning force) the installation of these 5G “small cell” antennas in public rights-of-way.5G will increase ambient levels of wireless radiofrequency radiation. Peer-reviewed research has demonstrated a myriad of adverse effects from wireless radiofrequency radiation including increased brain cancer, DNA damage, oxidative stress, immune dysfunction,  altered brain development, damaged reproduction, sleep changes, hyperactivity, and memory damage. (RESEARCH HERE)Thousands of doctors and scientists are calling to halt 5G because of the increase in radiofrequency radiation- a new kind of environmental pollution.  

Click here to learn more about WIRELESS FACILITIES AND HEALTH: LETTERS FROM SCIENTISTS ON THE HEALTH RISK OF 5G 

“Small” cells is an industry word. It means a shorter cell tower close to homes and schools. Each “facility” will have transmitting wireless antennas and often ugly bulky equipment. 

The FCC has estimated over 800,000 new “small” cells to be installed throughout the USA.

Millions are planned worldwide. Antennas will be placed on: Street lights, Trashcans, Utility Poles and Bus Stops.

 Top Facts on 5G: What You Need To Know About 5G Wireless and “Small” Cells - Environmental Health Trust (ehtrust.org) 

Over 600 cities in Italy have passed resolutions to halt 5G until safety research has been completed.  In the United States, Hawaii County passed a resolution to halt 5G as well as Farragut Tennessee and Easton Connecticut. Entire countries like France, Switzerland, and Nigeria are having a national conversation on the safety of 5G and they are launching major investigations to research the issue of safety. (Details HERE)

In the United States, cities such as Petaluma, Mill Valley, Monterey in California, and Doylestown in Pennsylvania have voted and passed policies to halt 5G or restrict the rollout into neighborhoods. 

Los Altos California voted to prohibit the installation of small cells on public utility easements in residential neighborhoods and established a 500-foot setback from a small cell to schools. After the Mayor said the 5G small cells would be an “aesthetic disaster” Palm Beach and other coastal communities got entirely carved out of legislation streamlining the 5G antennas.

• Click here to go to our webpage that lists more protective ordinances in the USA. 
• Click here to learn about countries internationally halting 5G. 

Despite the industry message that 5G will be faster, in reality 5G is turning out to be slower. Testing finds 5G in the field is actually nearly the same speed or slower than 4G. It is not working out so well. Read “At this point, 5G is a bad joke” published in Computerworld. “Unless you live or work right next to an mmWave transceiver, you’re simply not going to see those promised speeds or anything close to them.”

5G will use new “beamforming” antenna designs that create multiple streams of signal from each fixture. Each installation can have over a thousand antennas that are transmitting simultaneously.  

Engineers say 5G is “an energy hog.” The millions of new short “small” cell towers and over 64 billion IoT devices are expected by 2025. Industry reports repeatedly state that energy efficiency goals will not be fully met, and that energy use from wireless devices and networks will grow exponentially, ever increasing our carbon footprint. Environmental experts warn that the IOT  is  an unsustainable technology and will contribute to climate change. Read more HERE.  .

Wireless antennas emit microwaves — non-ionizing radiofrequency radiation — and so these “small” cells essentially function as short cell towers. A 2020 paper analyzed the radio frequency radiation  environment that would result if a  mmWave-based 5G network was fully deployed in Austin Texas and found the radiation levels to be significantly increased. 

Examples of how small cells are not small include:  

• They increase electromagnetic radiation near homes.
• They have refrigerator-sized (and larger) equipment cabinets.
• Property values drop after a cell tower is built near homes.
• Taller and wider poles are needed for the antennas.
• Fixtures weigh hundreds of pounds.

It is standard practice for insurance coverage to exclude health damages from wireless and electromagnetic radiation. The Insurance authority Swiss Re released a white paper classifying 5G as a “high” emerging risk cautioning that “potential claims for health impairments may come with a long latency.” If insurance companies won’t take the risk why should we? 

Legal experts are starting to request that localities get insurance to cover health damages and before rolling out 5G in neighborhoods. 

In November 2020 a  white paper by the RTCA, a private-public aviation partnership that advises the Federal Aviation Administration, warns that 5G technologies could pose a “major risk…of harmful interference” to radar on business jets and other civilian aircraft.

If 5G telecommunications systems are permitted to use that frequency band, said the report, “the risk is widespread and has the potential for broad impacts to aviation operations in the US, including the possibility of catastrophic failures leading to multiple fatalities, in the absence of appropriate mitigations.” Read more at 5G Networks Could Pose a ‘Major Risk’ to Your Airplane’s Radar 

In 2019, US Senators  sent a letter urging the FCC to adopt an emission limit recommended by NOAA and NASA citing an internal Navy report that stated the 5G frequencies would probably degrade Naval  weather and ocean models, resulting in increased risk in Safety of Flight and Safety of Navigation, and degraded Battlespace Awareness for tactical / operational advantage. In November 2019, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urged the FCC to restrict the 5G spectrum citing  impacts to “national security, civil service, and the economic benefit of the nation” due to the potential for widespread disruption to GPS services.

Imagine increasing an environmental exposure without knowing how to measure it.  The European Parliament report “5G Deployment State of Play in Europe, USA, and Asia” reviews how  “Significant concern is emerging over the possible impact on health and safety arising from potentially much higher exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation arising from 5G. Increased exposure may result not only from the use of much higher frequencies in 5G but also from the potential for the aggregation of different signals, their dynamic nature, and the complex interference effects that may result, especially in dense urban areas.” “The problem is that currently, it is not possible to accurately simulate or measure 5G emissions in the real world.”

Communities are being stripped of their right to make decisions about this new technology. ”Streamlining” means almost automatic approval. Public notice and public hearings are being eliminated. Even if every homeowner on the block opposes the antennas on their street, the opposition will be disregarded with new regulations moving forward at the federal and state level.  

Mayors, city officials, and public officials are joining to call to halt the federal move to “streamline” the small cells rollout.

“The U.S. Conference of Mayors strongly opposes recent proposals by the Federal Communications Commission to grant communications service providers subsidized access to local public property and to dictate how local governments manage their own local rights-of-ways and public property.  This unprecedented federal intrusion into local (and state) government property rights will have substantial adverse impacts on cities and their taxpayers, including reduced funding for essential local government services, as well as an increased risk of right-of-way and other public safety hazards.”

Scientists from all over the world have issued a declaration called the 5G Appealcalling for a moratorium on the increase of 5G cell antennas citing human health effects and impacts on wildlife.  

“We recommend a moratorium on the roll-out of the fifth generation, 5G, for telecommunication until potential hazards for human health and the environment have been fully investigated by scientists independent from industry…RF-EMF has been proven to be harmful for humans and the environment.”

In addition to the 5G Appeal, scientific groups are issuing appeals and writing letters warning of the health and environmental impacts of 5G. .

5G will utilize current 3G and 4G wireless frequencies already in use and also add even more radiation. Higher frequency — submillimeter and millimeter waves — will be used in 5G in order to transmit data at superfast speeds. 

The European Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental, and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) issued a statement identifying emerging issues ( including 5G, E-cigarette, and chronic diseases.) They prioritized 5G impact as “high.”

The SCHEER statement “Potential effects on wildlife of increases in electromagnetic radiation“ states,

“On the horizon, a new generation of even shorter high-frequency 5G wavelengths is being proposed to power the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT promises us convenient and easy lifestyles with a massive 5G interconnected telecommunications network. However, the expansion of broadband with shorter wavelength radio frequency radiation highlights the concern that health and safety issues remain unknown. Controversy continues with regard to harm from current 2G, 3G, and 4G wireless technologies. 5G technologies are far less studied for human or environmental effects” (Russell, 2018).” and concludes, “5G networks will soon be rolled out for mobile phone and smart device users. How exposure to electromagnetic fields could affect humans remains a controversial area, and studies have not yielded clear evidence of the impact on mammals, birds, or insects. The lack of clear evidence to inform the development of exposure guidelines to 5G technology leaves open the possibility of unintended biological consequences.”

The circuitry used to generate RF signals uses a lot of power and gets very hot. Base stations need a lot of cooling equipment. “In base stations, which are tightly packed with racks of equipment, thermal buildup can cause all sorts of problems. It can have an impact on signal integrity, and it can reduce the lifespan of all components, states Semiengineering. Michael Foegelle, director of technology development at ETS-Lindgren is quoted with his response in Semiengineering explaining that “When you have a frequency with a range that’s not as far as a cell tower, you have to add much more density to the network to get the same amount of connectivity…“When you design these, you have to assume they’ll be outside, and you have to design in a way to dissipate all that. Since you’re outside and don’t want to risk putting in active cooling, you might have to go fix a lot, that means a lot of ambient cooling.” 

The article goes on to details the challenges of 5G and showcases how much engineers have NOT worked out when it comes to 5G and also the potential need for  gallium arsenide (GaAs) to address the issue which would bring a toxic material into the equipment. Fact: 5G is not ready.

5G and 4G cell towers near our homes means constant exposure day and night. You cannot turn a cell tower off.

The public is unaware that peer-reviewed, published science indicates that exposures to wireless radiation can cause cancer,  alter brain development, and damage sperm. Cell tower radiation is also associated with headaches, hormone changes, memory problems, and sleep problems.

A review paper on 5G published in Environmental Research concludes that the current scientific evidence supports the conclusion that mobile phone and wireless radiofrequency radiation (RFR) is cancer-causing. Most people are also unaware that wireless technology was never tested for long-term safety decades ago when the technology was first introduced. Children are more vulnerable to this radiation and that the accumulated scientific evidence shows harmful effects.

Read the research HERE. 

Unions have already filed comments that workers were injured, unaware they were working near transmitting antennas. How will HVAC workers, window washers, and tree cutters be protected? The heavy large equipment cabinets mounted on poles along our sidewalks also present new hazards. Cars run into utility poles, often, what then? 

Read more on cell tower health and safety issues.

Officials have written to the FCC asking for proof of safety and received “inadequate” responses.

In December of 2019, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr seeking answers regarding potential health risks posed by new 5G wireless technology. They have been joined by members of Congress from around the country. 

See letters from Congress to the FCC on 5G here. 

 Millimeter frequencies – used in 5G applications- have the capacity to cause a severe burning sensation in the skin at very high levels.  Millimeter waves are used by the U.S. Department of Defense in crowd control guns called “Active Denial Systems.” The frequencies are able to cause this burning sensation due to the way they are highly absorbed into the sweat gland. Although 5G will use much lower intensities of millimeter waves then are used by the military, scientists are cautioning that the special issues with the skin absorption require a safety evaluation and can pose serious unintended biological impacts. 

 Published research finds the frequencies impact wildlife. For example, studies have found that the radiation can alter bird navigation and disturb honeybee colonies. Research also shows impacts on trees and plants.  

• Research on EMF and Bees
• Research on Wildlife
• Research on Trees

Crown Castle (a company building small cell infrastructure throughout the USA) has a statement in their 2016 10-K Annual Report that says:

“If radio frequency emissions from wireless handsets or equipment on our wireless infrastructure are demonstrated to cause negative health effects, potential future claims could adversely affect our operations, costs, or revenues… We currently do not maintain any significant insurance with respect to these matters.” 

Read the warnings from Wireless companies.  

Countries such as China, India, Poland, Russia, Italy, and Switzerland have far more protective and stricter radiation limits than do we in the United States. According to industry reports, these countries’ more protective radiation limits will not allow the full deployment of 5G because the increased 5G radiation would exceed these governments allowable levels of radiation. The Report “The impact of RF-EMF exposure limits stricter than the ICNIRP or IEEE guidelines on 4G and 5G mobile network deployment” reviews how 5G deployment is “constrained” by these countries’ limits. In addition, these stricter exposure limits are also considered problematic for the full rollout of 4G LTE.  as detailed in a GSMA report. 

Although several countries have regular monitoring of wireless radiation limits, the US does not.  The Wall Street Journal did an investigative report in 2014 examining over 5,000 cell antennas sites and found that 1 in 10 sites violated the rules during safety audits for carriers and local municipalities “underscoring a safety lapse,” yet the FCC has issued just two citations to cell carriers since 1996 because “the FCC says it lacks resources to monitor each antenna.” A CBS Atlanta investigation also found radiation excesses up to 400 percent of the limit close up to the antennas on rooftop posing serious health risks especially to any worker coming on the roof.  

Worldwide, many regions are investing in wired fiber optic connections which are safer, faster, more reliable, provide greater capacity, and are more cyber-secure. Read“Re-Inventing Wires: The Future of Landlines and Networks,” by the National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy