Category: FCC

FCC seeks comments on wireless risks

FCCThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oversees the “safety guidelines” for public exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation (wireless) from a myriad of common devices now in use in many homes and communities.  Industry routinely points to these guidelines as proof of safety, however they were only designed to protect from thermal harm, and only for thirty minutes of exposure.

A majority of wireless devices, (cordless phones, cell phones, cell towers, wi-fi routers, baby monitors, smart meters and more) constantly emit RF radiation, 24/7.

The FCC says it’s now taking another look at their guidelines, (See FCC proposal) These guidelines were created in 1996 and they have not been reassessed since then. They also state they “have confidence in the current exposure limits and notes that more recent international standards have a similar basis.”

Phillip Janquart of Courthouse News Service recently wrote an article on this issue and he recognized the BioInitiative 2012 Report, “with over 1800 new scientific studies, indicating current guidelines are inadequate to protect the public from physical harm, which warns that cell phone users, pregnant women and young children are at particular risk.”  He further noted the following:

“There is a consistent pattern of increased risk for glioma (a malignant brain tumor) and acoustic neuroma (a tumor near the ear) with use of mobile and cordless phones. Epidemiological evidence shows that radiofrequency should be classified as a human carcinogen,” Dr. Lennart Hardell, of Orebro University in Sweden.

New studies also purportedly link phone radiation to sperm damage, according to the BioInitiative report.

“Even a cell phone in the pocket or on a belt may harm sperm DNA, result in misshapen sperm, and impair fertility in men. Laptop computers with wireless Internet connections can damage DNA in sperm,” according to the BioInitiative report.

The report added there is “strong evidence” that EMFs can increase the risk for autism and alter brain development of fetuses.

“This has been linked to both animal and human studies to hyperactivity, learning and behavior problems,” according to the BioInitiative report.

Dr. David O. Carpenter, co-author of the BioInitiative report, said “there is now much more evidence of risks to health affecting billions of people world-wide. The status quo is not acceptable in light of the evidence for harm.”

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The FCC does not want to impose an “undue burden on industry”, but is seeking comments on whether the limits should be “more restrictive, less restrictive or remain the same,” but purely as a matter of “good government.”

The EMF Safety Network will be submitting comments on this proposal which are are due by Sept. 3, 2013.  More on this subject later…

Reject the Fox (Wheeler) to guard the hen house (FCC)

https://www.change.org/petitions/reject-president-obama-s-nomination-of-thomas-wheeler-to-head-the-fcc

President Obama could not have picked a worse nominee than Tom Wheeler to head the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  Wheeler has obvious industry ties and conflicts of interest:

  • Wheeler chaired the CTIA, the Wireless Association, which includes Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile;
  • Wheeler chaired the National Cable Television Association, which includes Comcast, Time Warner, and others;
  • Wheeler is the director of Core Capital Partners LP, a venture capital firm that manages $350 million in the high-growth technology sector- they rely on friendly regulation at the FCC;
  • Wheeler raised millions of dollars for Obama’s presidential campaign;
  • Wheeler is listed on Fierce Wireless’ top ten list of people who helped shape the wireless industry.

The FCC regulates the nation’s airwaves and all communications plus its accompanying infrastructure. The FCC sets the “safety” standards for radio frequency radiation (RF) used in all wireless devices. The standards are inadequate and obsolete because they do not address long term health effects, and they were created before cell towers, cell phones, wi-fi and “smart” meters.

Importantly, the FCC is set to update these RF “safety” standards soon. With trillions of wireless products in use today, babies, children, adults, animals, the environment, and future generations are all at risk from chronic exposure to wireless radiation based on inadequate safety standards.

With a wireless industry leader as the head of the FCC there’s little chance for safe oversight. These crucial decisions will threaten us for decades to come.

MORE INFO:

CALL TO ACTION: Reject Obama’s Wheeler to head the FCC

Last week, President Obama nominated Tom Wheeler, the founder of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), the wireless lobbyist group to head the FCC.  Wheeler is also a venture capitalist and a fund-raiser in Obama’s presidential campaign.

Authors of the BioInitiative Report signed a letter to US Senators urging them to reject Wheeler stating,

“Mr. Wheeler should not be in charge of the nation’s safety standards and deployment for a technology he promotes without regard to public health and safety, the integrity of the national electric grid or homeland security.

The FCC has recently announced a review of radiofrequency health and safety limits. This process must not be carried out under a new chairman who has shown antipathy toward public safety, and who puts industry economic considerations ahead of the protection of children and pregnant women.”

Blake Levitt, award-winning medical/science journalist writes in Counterpunch.org, “Why the Senate Should Reject Tom Wheeler- Another Industry Crony at the FCC?

“President Obama’s nomination of Tom Wheeler to head the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the height of cynical cronyism and industry-pandering. He should not be confirmed. Obama, in fact, could not have found a worse nominee than Tom Wheeler to head this most significant regulatory agency – one with long tentacles into all our lives whether we know it or not. Wheeler is the last person who should have his hands on the levers of the FCC, though he’s been aching to do just that for decades.”

“Wheeler has far too many conflicts of interest and industry biases to head the FCC. The FCC, regulates the nation’s airwaves and all communications plus its accompanying infrastructure, including all broadcasters, cable companies, telephone-service providers both wired and wireless, satellite communications and the Internet. FCC is at a crucial juncture regarding decisions on new airwave auctions, further media consolidation, net neutrality, and most importantly the updating of the nation’s obsolete exposure standards for radiofrequency radiation. The stakes are high. These decisions will affect all U.S. citizens for decades to come in ways great and small….”

Read the full article at Counterpunch.org

Americans Beware: Nationwide Violations of FCC Radiation Limits at Wireless Antenna Sites

From The EMRadiation Policy Institute (EMRPI):  US workers and families are at risk of overexposure to RF at hazardous levels.  Hundreds of wireless industry-operated antenna sites from Maine to California have been tested by EMRPI and found to be in gross violation — up to and in excess of 600% — of the FCC’s public exposure limits. These sites include rooftops as well as locations where the general public, including children, can gain access, and where workers are on the job.  (See video below.)

Wireless Radiation Can Harm Health.

Public health is threatened by wireless radiation exposure at current FCC lawful limits as they are among the least protective in the world.  FCC safety limits do not acknowledge current science, nor the 2011 World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer’s classification of wireless radiation as a 2B carcinogen.  The FCC does not even enforce its own inadequate radiation limits.

FCC Fails to Enforce Its Own Wireless Radiation Limits.

EMRPI informed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in December 2011 of widespread FCC rules violations.  Despite detailed complaint letters sent to FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief P. Michele Ellison, of RF safety violations in 23 states across all regions of the US, EMRPI has received no response that the FCC has taken any enforcement action against any noncompliant site.  EMRPI’s investigation re-tested sites and found violations still occurring months after EMRPI’s initial filings with the FCC.  The FCC responded to a US Senator’s inquiry on sites in her state with misleading information about the safety of the Senator’s constituents.

Are the FCC and the Wireless Industry Turning a Blind Eye to RF Violations?

FCC policy allows wireless companies to self-report their compliance with the lawful RF limits. The FCC website provides no information or procedures for either the public or workers to report potential or actual violations. Despite hundreds of thousands of wireless antenna sites across the US, since 1996 the FCC has issued only one wireless Notice of Violation, and not until 2010. Is FCC policing site violations and are violations hidden from the public?

The American Public Is Not Protected.

Congress must act to hold the FCC accountable. If not, Americans will remain at risk from unlawful RF radiation exposures at antenna sites across the country. The American people have a right to know and a right to be protected.  EMRPI urges the American people to demand that the FCC enforce its own RF safety limits to protect all Americans.

Smart Meters: unregulated, unsafe…

In a recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) letter to Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, Julias Knapp, the FCC Chief of Office of Engineering and Technology, responds to an inquiry from the EMF Safety Network. The letter downplays the need for FCC oversight and regulation of their own installation RF safety conditions stating, “The grants of equipment authorization routinely list the four conditions cited by EMF [Safety Network] for the broad class of transmitters that include most Smart Meters….adherence to those conditions is not necessarily required for Smart Meters to achieve compliance with our RF exposure guidelines….the utility is responsible for ensuring compliance with any installation conditions listed on the grant of equipment authorization .”

In addition the FCC falsely claims, “the devices normally transmit for less than one second a few times a day and consumers are normally tens of feet or more from the meter face…”

See the following video about Smart Meter radiation. Listen to the clicks to see how often the meters are transmitting, and compare that to the FCC claims.

FCC’s Inadequate Response to Smart Meter Complaint

On November 4, 2010, I filed a complaint with the FCC, and yesterday received the following response.

You are receiving this email in response to your inquiry to the FCC.

Dear Ms. Maurer,

Thank you for contacting the Federal Communications Commission.

This letter is in response to your complaint, 10-C00258888, filed with the FCC.

PG&E’s SmartMeter program is part of a statewide effort driven by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to upgrade California’s energy infrastructure with automated metering technology. This technology will enable new programs that help California energy customers use less energy and save money.

The SmartMeter system uses programmable solid-state meter technology that provides two-way communication between the meter at your home or business and the utility, using secure wireless network technology records hourly meter reads and periodically transmits the reads via a dedicated radio frequency (RF) network back to PG&E.

Please reference PG&E’s web site concerning questions about potential health effects related to radio frequency (RF) emissions from the meters,http://www.pge.com/myhome/edusafety/systemworks/rf/.

The California Council on Science and Technology released a preliminary study entitled “Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from Smart Meters”. You may view this study at: http://www.ccst.us/publications/2011/2011smartA.pdf.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) limits for radio transmitters of all types, including SmartMeters. The FCC standard provides a currently accepted factor of safety against known thermally induced health impacts of smart meters and other electronic devices in the same range of RF emissions. Exposure levels from smart meters are well below the thresholds for such effects.

There is no evidence that additional standards are needed to protect the public from smart meters.

For questions concerning this study, you may wish to contact the California Council on Science and Technology, 1130 K Street, Suite 280, Sacramento, California 95814. Phone: (916) 492 0996. E-mail: ccst@ccst.us

Thank you for your inquiry.

Brenda Althoff

Consumer Advocate and Mediation Specialist

Federal Communications Commission

Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau

Representative Number : TSR22

Complaint Sent:

“PG&E is deploying radio frequency radiation (RF) smart

meters throughout its service territory in California. PG&E

claims there are no health impacts and states they are safe

because they comply with FCC Safety Standards. PG&E has

not provided realistic RF specifications like the peak RF power

at one foot. We need accurate RF emissions information for

their Smart Meters.

“People are reporting health impacts from RF smart meters,

including sleep problems, headaches, anxiety, tinnitus, ear pain

and more. There are people who are EHS and immune

compromised and this is a huge threat to their homes and

health. See stories here:

http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?page_id=2292

“Since the FCC is the jurisdictional body that regulates RF

emissions we call on you to impose an immediate moratorium

on PG&E Smart Meters.”