Over the decades many scientists and doctors have done studies confirming the hypothesis that radiofrequency (RF) and microwave radiation have significant health and ecological effects.   There is an intense debate among scientists, doctors and engineers over the level of harms caused by electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation from electronic equipment including cell phones, cell towers, and Wi-Fi routers.  Of course, politics and the hundreds of billions of dollars at stake for the telecom industry have a large effect on the debate.  In addition, it is becoming more well known that the FCC is a captured agency, so relying on their assurances of wireless safety doesn’t make much sense.  I honestly did not know much about this subject until I started looking into it a few months ago due to the 5G controversy that has erupted over the past few years.

Organisms have evolved over the eons to be in balance with natural EMFs from the Sun and Earth.  Now we have added on all of these industrial EMFs from electronic equipment over the past 140 years of industrialization and electrification and it appears our bodies and ecosystems are having trouble adapting to these new exposures.  Our bodies have electrical properties, which is why doctors can use EKG (electrocardiogram) and EEG (electroencephalogram) measurements to diagnose diseases, so it makes intuitive sense that these biologic electrical fields could potentially be disrupted by industrial EMFs.  Our ecosystems also have electrical properties as evidenced by this short video on how bees use the Earth’s electric field and magnetic field to navigate to flowers.

While the industrial radio and microwave frequencies of electromagnetic radiation are invisible to humans, their biological and environmental effects are not, as confirmed by this review article out of India.  Also, scientists in Germany did a study showing that trees exposed to nearby RF and microwave antenna showed significant damage and an overall sickly look:  German Study – August 2016.  Here is the actual PDF of the pictures taken as part of the study:  EMR Damage to Trees-in-Bamberg-and-Hallstadt-Documentation-2006-2016.

If people want to see the effects of RF and microwave frequency EMR for themselves, take a look at groups of trees located within 1,000 feet (~300 meters) of a 3G/4G cell phone tower with multiple antennas and then compare the health of those trees to the health of trees in a forest or a nature preserve that is over 2,000 feet away from any cell tower antennas, but still in the same town. Obviously, all trees are under stress from air pollutants, invasive insects, climate change/drought, but industrial EMFs play a big role as well as evidenced by the comparison of trees near cell phone towers and trees far away from the towers but still in the same town or village.

In June, I took a walk around the local high school sports complex in my town where a large cell tower with no less than six sets of 3G and 4G antenna is located (the tower was constructed in the late 1990s).  At least a dozen trees out of 20 in the immediate vicinity of the tower had a sickly look with many dead branches, browning leaves, and a thin crown.  It definitely seems that some species of trees are more susceptible to industrial EMF effects than others.  This aerial image below shows the areas of tree damage as indicated by yellow circles near the cell phone tower at the sports complex.

Now, compare the aerial image of the sports complex to the aerial image below of the healthier tree canopy next to the river just 2,000 feet away from the cell phone tower.  Distance is a huge factor in decreasing the effects of EMF radiation.  The power flux density of an EMF from an antenna drops off exponentially with the square of the distance from the source.

In July and August, I visited the cell phone tower area again, but this time I had a Cornet ED88T electrosmog meter.  I registered readings ranging from 3,500 – 6,000 µw/m2 which was over 100 times greater than the 30-50 µw/m2 readings I got in my backyard which is located over 2,000 feet from the cell tower.  It is no wonder that the trees at the sports complex are not healthy.

What this all means is that the rollout of 5G should be halted in order to study how many health and environmental effects the new technology has on organisms.   The Office of Engineering and Technology of the FCC even released this bulletin paper back in 1997:  (FCC Report 1997 Attenuation of RF fields by atmosphere and vegetation direct impacts).  The paper indicates that millimeter-wave frequencies (the types that will be used for 5G) are severely attenuated by foliage.  A quote from the paper:

“Foliage losses at millimeter wave frequencies are significant. In fact, the
foliage loss may be a limiting propagation impairment in some cases… … For example, the foliage loss at 40 GHz for a penetration of 10 meters (which is about equivalent to a large tree or two in tandem) is about 19 dB.  This is clearly not a negligible value.”

That means that organisms will be absorbing this radiation.  What are the environmental effects on the trees and other vegetation that will be bombarded with this higher frequency EMF radiation 24/7, given the effects we already see with 3G/4G?  Not to mention, the effects on the health of people.

Links to more information on the health and ecological effects of EMFs:

Quotes from Experts

“Cells in the body react to EMFs as potentially harmful, just like to other environmental toxins, including heavy metals and toxic chemicals. The DNA in living cells recognizes electromagnetic fields at very low levels of exposure; and produces a biochemical stress response. The scientific evidence tells us that our safety standards are inadequate, and that we must protect ourselves from exposure to EMF due to power lines, cell phones and the like, or risk the known consequences. The science is very strong and we should sit up and pay attention.”  — Martin Blank, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University

Here’s a paper by a few engineers on the levels of safety of different types of wireless devices including a discussion on the 5G rollout:  EMF Exposure Studies from IEEE.

https://www.electricalpollution.com/WirelessKillsTrees.html

http://www.stayonthetruth.com/electromagnetic-fields-killing-fields.php (Arthur Firstenburg article on the harmful effects of electrosmog)

https://sites.google.com/site/understandingemfs/books (Long list of books by scientists, doctors and others on the effects of electrosmog)

https://gustenviro.com/the-14-ways-to-better-health/ (Larry Gust is an indoor air quality expert and a building biologist, and he is working to make indoor environments much healthier than they currently are)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/277641.The_Body_Electric (This book by Dr. Robert O. Becker and Gary Selden is a great introduction to the electromagnetic foundation of life and the possible adverse effects of electrosmog)

Here is a link to a presentation I gave to the town I lived in at the time:  EMF Radiation and 5G rollout issues presentation

Here is a video by Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt on the “missing link” underlying the chronic disease epidemic among industrialized nations: