“Readings for Now” Seminar #4: This Is Not a Russian Plot

Texts for discussion (click to view):

Devra Davis, “The Miseducation of America on 5G: The New York Times Gets It Spectacularly Wrong,” Medium, July 22, 2019 (later deleted by the author)

Americans for Responsible Technology

We are Americans who believe in the implementation of safe, reliable and responsible technology. We believe in the democratic process, and in our right to determine how new technologies will be integrated into our neighborhoods, our homes and our lives.  We believe the issues that surround the widespread deployment of new wireless 4G/5G technologies must be addressed before taxpayer money is used to expand them.  No vague promise of future benefits is worth jeopardizing our democratic principles, our freedom of choice, or our health, safety, security and privacy.

Feinstein, Blumenthal Demand Answers on FCC Role in Frivolous 5G ...

https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=6D69E7FF-C301-4051-9274-C1BDFE377BCF Jan 30, 2019 -Washington—Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D -Calif.) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) ...

Physicians for Safe Technology

Paul Héroux, “5G and IoT: A Trojan Horse,” La Maison du 21e siècle, February 11, 2018

International Society of Doctors for Environment 

“5G networks in European Countries appeal for a standstill in respect of the precautionary principle”

Martin L. Pall, “Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage‐gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects,” Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Volume 17, Issue 8, August 2013, pages 958-965

The Internet of Things Poses Human Health Risks. Scientists Question the Safety of Untested 5G Technology at International Conference

Sue Halpern, “The Terrifying Potential of the 5G Network,” The New Yorker, April 26, 2019

The future of wireless technology holds the promise of total connectivity. But it will also be especially susceptible to cyberattacks and surveillance.

Gandhi, O.p., and A. Riazi. “Absorption of Millimeter Waves by Human Beings and Its Biological Implications.”

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 34, no. 2, 1986, pp. 228–235., doi:10.1109/tmtt.1986.1133316. [online] [Accessed 5 Jun. 2019].

With recent advances in millimeter-wave technology, including the availability of high-power sources in this band, it has become necessary to understand the biological implications of this energy for human beings. This paper gives the millimeter-wave absorption efficiency for the human body with and without clothing. Ninety to ninety-five percent of the incident energy may be absorbed in the skin with dry clothing, with or without an intervening air gap, acting as an impedance transformer. On account of the submillimeter depths of penetration in the skin, superficial SAR'S as high as 65-357 W/Kg have been calculated for power density of incident radiation corresponding to the ANSI guideline of 5 mW/cm/sup 2/. Because most of the millimeter-wave absorption is in the region of the cutaneous thermal receptors (0.1 - 1.0 mm), the sensations of absorbed energy are likely to be similar to those of IR. For the latter, threshold of heat perception is near 0.67 mW/cm/sup 2/, with power densities on the order of 8.7 mW/cm/sup 2/ likely to cause sensations of "very warm to hot" with a latency of 1.0+-0.6s. Calculations are made for thresholds of hearing of pulsed millimeter waves. Pulsed energy densities of 143-579 µJ/cm/sup 2/ are obtained for the frequency band 30-300 GHz. These are 8-28 times larger than the threshold for microwaves below 3 GHz. The paper also points to the need for evaluation of ocular effects of millimeter-wave irradiation because of high SAR's in the cornea.

Joel Moskowitz, University of California, Berkeley, "Cell Phones, Cell Towers, and Wireless Safety"

Joel Moskowitz is a Research Faculty Member at the University of California, Berkeley, in the School of Public Health. His talk "Cell Phones, Cell Towers, and Wireless Safety" was presented as part of the "Balancing Technology" Series at the University Health Services, UC Berkeley on February 27, 2019

Nasim, I. and Kim, S. (2019). Human Exposure to RF Fields in 5G Downlink [Accessed 5 Jun. 2019]

While cellular communications in millimeter wave (mmW) bands have been attracting significant research interest, their potential harmful impacts on human health are not as significantly studied. Prior research on human exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields in a cellular communications system has been focused on uplink only due to the closer physical contact of a transmitter to a human body. However, this paper claims the necessity of thorough investigation on human exposure to downlink RF fields, as cellular systems deployed in mmW bands will entail (i) deployment of more transmitters due to smaller cell size and (ii) higher concentration of RF energy using a highly directional antenna. In this paper, we present human RF exposure levels in downlink of a Fifth Generation Wireless Systems (5G). Our results show that 5G downlink RF fields generate significantly higher power density (PD) and specific absorption rate (SAR) than a current cellular system. This paper also shows that SAR should also be taken into account for determining human RF exposure in the mmW downlink.

Verizon CEO Vestberg [sic] Takes 5G Hype to 11 at CES – Multichannel

Jan 9, 2019 - ... Hans Vesterberg stressed during his jam- -packed CES keynote at the ... was New York Times CEO Mark Thompson, who presented how 5G ...

Preview YouTube video US Senator Blumenthal Raises Concerns on 5G Wireless Technology Health Risks at Senate Hearing 

https://ehtrust.org/5g-and-its-small-cell-towers-threaten-public-health-harvard-phd-scientist/

“Mill Valley Joins Effort to Constrain 5-G Proliferation”

By ADRIAN RODRIGUEZ | arodriguez@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

PUBLISHED: September 9, 2018 at 4:09 pm | UPDATED: September 9, 2018 at 5:44 pm

The city of Mill Valley has enacted an urgency ordinance to regulate “small cell” towers amid concerns that cellphone companies want to grow their 5G networks and install new equipment in Marin.

“Head of NOAA says 5G deployment could set weather forecasts back ...,Head of NOAA says 5G deployment could set weather forecasts back 40 years. The wireless industry denies it,” Washington Post, May 23, 2019

May 23, 2019 - Last week, Neil Jacobs, the acting head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told Congress that 5G interference could set the accuracy of weather forecasts back 40 years. ... (The study, a collaborative effort between NOAA, NASA and the FCC, still under deliberation, is not public.

What is 5G?

https://whatis5g.info

Proximity to a cell tower typically lowers property values by more than 20%.

See https://ehtrust.org/cell-phone-towers-lower-property-values-documentation-research/  A cell tower could easily take hundreds of thousands- if not millions- in value away from local real estate.

Susan Crawford (John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law, Harvard Law School), “Why 5G Makes Me Reconsider the Health Effects of Cellphones,” Wired, April 1, 2019 (ORIGINAL VERSION OF ARTICLE)

The FCC's safety standards for cellular communications date from 1996. 5G networks will require many more cell sites, operating at higher frequencies.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190401150103/https://www.wired.com/story/why-5g-makes-reconsider-health-effects-cellphones/

Susan Crawford, “5G and the Health Effects of Cell Phones,” Wired, April 1, 2019 (EDITED VERSION OF ARTICLE)

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story relied on some source materials that did not meet WIRED’s standards for scientific rigor. The piece has now been modified to cite more reputable sourcing and reflect their findings. You can read an archived version of the article here.

https://www.wired.com/story/why-5g-makes-reconsider-health-effects-cellphones/

See also YaleGlobal Online: https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/unknowns-5g-health-effects-wired

Martin L. Pall, “5G: Great risk for EU, U.S. and International Health! Compelling Evidence for Eight Distinct Types of Great Harm Caused by Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Exposures and the Mechanism that Causes Them”

Devra Davis, “Cell Phone Radiation: Is It Dangerous?” Huffington Post, THE BLOG,03/01/2011 07:20 am ET (updated May 25, 2011)

Tom Banse, “Pushback against superfast 5G wireless spreads to at least 7 Pacific Northwest cities,” May 31, 2019

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