The following essay, written by a friend of WiRED, supplements the page "Reasons to Resist 5G." Although she discusses health & environmental concerns, please note that these represent a fraction of the many reasons to resist 5G.
Introduction
Telecommunications companies are planning to blanket towns throughout the U.S.--including Berkeley--with huge numbers of wireless “small” cell installations, in order to implement 5G, which stands for "5th Generation Wireless." Many people assume that 5G stands for 5GHz, the number they see on their internet connection. 5th Generation Wireless is something entirely different, and will have devastating impacts on our health, quality of life, and environment.
Unless we can delay, stop, or circumvent these installations, soon there will be ugly, radiation-emitting structures appearing on utility poles throughout our residential and commercial areas, even directly outside of our homes.
The frequencies of the new 5G antennas will be much, much stronger than the current 4G. (4G operates at 6GHz or less, while 5G begins at 24 GHz and can go up to 100 GHz). Thousands of studies have found harm to health and the environment from wireless radiation, and these dangerous effects will be magnified tremendously with 5G.
Cities have been severely hampered in their ability to regulate or prohibit the 5G rollout, based on federal legislation and regulations issued by the FCC. Numerous cities are suing to get these FCC orders overturned and our group, Wireless Radiation Education and Defense (WiRED), is pursuing different strategies to try to stop the rollout and/or protect Berkeley residents and workers to the extent legally permitted by law.
Fire Risks
Each wireless small cell can have over 1000 antennas that are transmitting simultaneously and 24/7. In addition to the pole-mounted equipment that contains the antennas, there is also a back-up power supply for each installation on the ground. Overloading utility poles has been recognized as a major cause of fires (for example, the huge Malibu fire in 2007) and the back-up power boxes usually contain either propane or lithium batteries, both known fire hazards. Cars run into utility poles and strong winds can knock them over. Do we really need to add more fire hazards to our residential neighborhoods, in a state which has already seen so many lives utterly devastated by fire?
Human and Wildlife Health
5G will not only utilize 3G and 4G wireless frequencies already in use, but also add higher frequency millimeter waves. As described in an article by Dr. Joel Moskowitz of Berkeley’s School of Public Health, over 250 scientists and medical doctors from around the world have issued a declaration calling for an immediate moratorium on the rollout of 5G cell antennas, citing human health effects, and impacts to wildlife.
Peer-reviewed, published science indicates that exposures to wireless radiation increases rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, male infertility, memory loss and Alzheimers. (See the work of BioInitiative.org and Sarah Benson's research briefing "Connecting the Dots." Note the cancer clusters that have been found to occur in people living close to cell towers, which Benson describes beginning on p. 9.) The evidence of harmful health impacts was given a big boost recently with the release of a $30-million dollar study, conducted by the National Toxicology Program of NIH, which found clear evidence of a link between wireless radiation from cell phones/wireless devices and cancer.
In Europe, where 5G installations are much further along than in the U.S., there have been large demonstrations of people opposing 5G, since residents immediately noticed the detrimental effects on their health.
Cybersecurity & Surveillance
Contrary to popular belief, 5G will do nothing to bring high speed internet to under-served communities. For those who already have highspeed access, it may provide even faster download speeds and connect the Internet of Things (IoT). Wireless radiation harms various forms of wildlife, and will provide much more surveillance of our personal lives. (Info about surveillance and cyber security issues here.)
Inefficiency
Because 5G emissions are somewhat blocked by buildings and trees, the quality of connections will not be great and the speeds will slow down when many people are using it. 5G even prevents accurate weather prediction, which is so essential in these days of increasingly devastating climate events.
Conclusion
If you agree with us that we should not trade the health and safety of our community, our internet security and privacy, and protection for the natural world, so that some can have access to a vast number of new wireless gadgets that no one needs, or so they can have (possibly) slightly faster download speeds, please join our efforts at WiRED Berkeley.
Introduction
Telecommunications companies are planning to blanket towns throughout the U.S.--including Berkeley--with huge numbers of wireless “small” cell installations, in order to implement 5G, which stands for "5th Generation Wireless." Many people assume that 5G stands for 5GHz, the number they see on their internet connection. 5th Generation Wireless is something entirely different, and will have devastating impacts on our health, quality of life, and environment.
Unless we can delay, stop, or circumvent these installations, soon there will be ugly, radiation-emitting structures appearing on utility poles throughout our residential and commercial areas, even directly outside of our homes.
The frequencies of the new 5G antennas will be much, much stronger than the current 4G. (4G operates at 6GHz or less, while 5G begins at 24 GHz and can go up to 100 GHz). Thousands of studies have found harm to health and the environment from wireless radiation, and these dangerous effects will be magnified tremendously with 5G.
Cities have been severely hampered in their ability to regulate or prohibit the 5G rollout, based on federal legislation and regulations issued by the FCC. Numerous cities are suing to get these FCC orders overturned and our group, Wireless Radiation Education and Defense (WiRED), is pursuing different strategies to try to stop the rollout and/or protect Berkeley residents and workers to the extent legally permitted by law.
Fire Risks
Each wireless small cell can have over 1000 antennas that are transmitting simultaneously and 24/7. In addition to the pole-mounted equipment that contains the antennas, there is also a back-up power supply for each installation on the ground. Overloading utility poles has been recognized as a major cause of fires (for example, the huge Malibu fire in 2007) and the back-up power boxes usually contain either propane or lithium batteries, both known fire hazards. Cars run into utility poles and strong winds can knock them over. Do we really need to add more fire hazards to our residential neighborhoods, in a state which has already seen so many lives utterly devastated by fire?
Human and Wildlife Health
5G will not only utilize 3G and 4G wireless frequencies already in use, but also add higher frequency millimeter waves. As described in an article by Dr. Joel Moskowitz of Berkeley’s School of Public Health, over 250 scientists and medical doctors from around the world have issued a declaration calling for an immediate moratorium on the rollout of 5G cell antennas, citing human health effects, and impacts to wildlife.
Peer-reviewed, published science indicates that exposures to wireless radiation increases rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, male infertility, memory loss and Alzheimers. (See the work of BioInitiative.org and Sarah Benson's research briefing "Connecting the Dots." Note the cancer clusters that have been found to occur in people living close to cell towers, which Benson describes beginning on p. 9.) The evidence of harmful health impacts was given a big boost recently with the release of a $30-million dollar study, conducted by the National Toxicology Program of NIH, which found clear evidence of a link between wireless radiation from cell phones/wireless devices and cancer.
In Europe, where 5G installations are much further along than in the U.S., there have been large demonstrations of people opposing 5G, since residents immediately noticed the detrimental effects on their health.
Cybersecurity & Surveillance
Contrary to popular belief, 5G will do nothing to bring high speed internet to under-served communities. For those who already have highspeed access, it may provide even faster download speeds and connect the Internet of Things (IoT). Wireless radiation harms various forms of wildlife, and will provide much more surveillance of our personal lives. (Info about surveillance and cyber security issues here.)
Inefficiency
Because 5G emissions are somewhat blocked by buildings and trees, the quality of connections will not be great and the speeds will slow down when many people are using it. 5G even prevents accurate weather prediction, which is so essential in these days of increasingly devastating climate events.
Conclusion
If you agree with us that we should not trade the health and safety of our community, our internet security and privacy, and protection for the natural world, so that some can have access to a vast number of new wireless gadgets that no one needs, or so they can have (possibly) slightly faster download speeds, please join our efforts at WiRED Berkeley.