Category: wireless

Federal Research Raises Flags about Cancer Risks From Cellphone Radiation

Environmental Working Group: WASHINGTON – Data from the largest-ever animal study of cellphone radiation effects, released today by the federal National Toxicology Program, confirms earlier evidence from human studies that cellphone radiation increases the risk of cancer.

The research found that male rats exposed to radio-frequency radiation had a greater chance of developing malignant brain cancer, tumors in the heart and tumors in other organs. Various tumors were also observed in mice exposed to radio-frequency radiation. The amount of radiation to which the laboratory animals were exposed included the levels emitted by cellphones millions of people use everyday.

“This is the most authoritative study published that connects cancer with cellphone radiation it should raise alarms for policymakers and awareness for all Americans”, said Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., senior science advisor at EWG. “These studies should have been done before more than 90 percent of Americans, including children, started using this technology day in and day out.”

The threat that radiation from wireless devices could be a public health risk only mounts with todays report from the NTP. In 2011, the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer declared the kind of radiation emitted by cellphones as a possible carcinogen based on human epidemiological studies that found increased gliomas and acoustic neuromas in long-term cellphone users.

“As new telecom networks are built around the country, in-depth assessment of childrens health risks is essential”, Naidenko added.

EWG has been at the forefront of public interest organizations raising concerns about cellphone use and cancer. The decade-long, $25 million federal study confirms reports by EWG from 2009 and 2013 that highlighted potential health risks from cellphones and wireless devices, especially for children.

EWGs 2009 Science Review on Cancer Risks and Childrens Health summarized comprehensive studies showing a variety of health harms linked to long-term cellphone use. This included increased risk of two types of brain tumors, including glioma; decreased sperm counts, motility and vitality among men; neurological effects; and changes in brain metabolism.

In December 2017, the state of California officially issued guidelines advising cellphone users to keep phones away from their bodies. When the groundbreaking guidelines were made public, California Department of Public Health Director Karen Smith said: “Simple steps, such as not keeping your phone in your pocket and moving it away from your bed at night, can help reduce exposure for both children and adults Children’s brains develop through the teenage years and may be more affected by cell phone use. Parents should consider reducing the time their children use cell phones and encourage them to turn the devices off at night.”

To help concerned consumers take steps to protect themselves and their families, EWG has created tools and tips that can help reduce exposure to cellphone radiation. This includes EWGs Guide to Safer Cellphone Use and Six Questions about Cellphone Radiation and Your Health.

What Do GMOs and Wi-Fi Have in Common?

By Diane Testa, PhD:  Apple season here in New England yielded an abundant harvest this year. But this year, consumers have a new apple option in supermarket bins: GMO apples. Genetically-modified organisms, or GMOs for short, look the same, taste the same, and smell the same as conventionally grown produce. A GMO apple’s main difference is that the cells of the apple have been altered in a laboratory whereby in most cases it contains genetic information from another organism. The developers of this technology claim these alterations lead to better crop yields or larger produce by killing off pests and weeds. However, in order for these effects to take place, large amounts of pesticides and herbicides must be sprayed on the plants and trees for the GMO technology to have its full effect.
One popular GMO herbicide is Roundup, but despite its popularity, many researchers have serious concerns with its potency as a chemical trigger for disease. When someone eats a GMO food, researchers have found that the main chemical in Roundup, called glyphosate, triggers the body to make a dangerous compound named peroxynitrite. At the same time, glyphosate causes the destruction of some essential amino acids, which are the building blocks for many critical life processes. In a landmark study performed by Dr. Pal Patcher and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health, peroxynitrite generation was implicated as a crucial mechanism underlying more than 40 chronic diseases, such as stroke, heart attack, diabetes, cancer, asthma, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Doctors don’t often consider one unifying factor as causing such diverse disease states as allergies and hypertension, but Dr. Patcher considers peroxynitrite as the “smoking gun” in chronic disease.
With the prevalence of so many chronic diseases on the rise, is there another external factor besides glyphosate in GMO foods that triggers the production of peroxynitrite?

Continue reading What Do GMOs and Wi-Fi Have in Common?

Take Action to oppose 5G and federal wireless expansion


We need your help!

Yesterday we mailed 541 joint letters to Congress members. The letter is signed by dozens of health, environment and justice advocates and organizations asking them to oppose the many federal bills related to 5G and wireless radiation expansion. It is packed with peer-reviewed science references and solid reasons to oppose.

Please contact your own US Senators and Representative to let them know you support the letter. This is really important because they place more value on hearing from their constituents.

It is easy to contact them via their websites. Below is a sample email, which you can edit, copy and paste into their website contact page. If you’d prefer you can mail, or fax them the letter.

Find your US Senators here:
https://www.congress.gov

Find Your US Representative here:
https://www.house.gov/htbin/findrep

SAMPLE EMAIL

Subject line: Joint Letter to Congress, oppose 5G and wireless radiation expansion

Honorable [Representative or Senator] [name]

I support this joint letter to Congress requesting you oppose the many pending federal bills related to the expansion of electromagnetic radio frequency radiation (wireless radiation or RFR) and 5G millimeter wave technology including but not limited to: S.1988 SPEED Act, S.19 Mobile Now Act, S.1682 Airwaves Act, S-88 DIGIT Act, H.Res.521, and S.Res.242.

This letter was mailed to all Congress members on November 14, 2017. The letter provides peer-reviewed science references and solid reasons to oppose 5G and wireless expansion. You can find it online at http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Letter-to-Congress-2017-1.pdf

Peer-reviewed published science shows wireless radiation harms public health and nature. Health effects include: fatigue, headaches, sleep problems, anxiety, ringing in the ears, heart problems, learning and memory disorders, increased cancer risk, and more. Children, the ill, and the elderly are more vulnerable. International independent scientists are calling for biologically-based public exposure standards and reducing wireless radiation.

Communications are safer using wired and corded connections. It is in the best public and environmental interest to avoid unnecessary wireless radiation exposures.

Please oppose any and all bills related to 5G and wireless radiation expansion.

Thank you for your consideration,

Warm regards from your constituent,
[your name]

Defeat of Cell Tower Bill SB 649 Celebrated and Next Steps

On Sunday, Oct. 29 Sebastopol Mayor Una Glass joined EMF Safety Network for a photo at the Sebastopol Farmers Market to celebrate the defeat of Senate Bill 649, which would have created a state mandated system of cell towers in California. Governor Brown vetoed SB 649 two weeks ago.
Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, and Sonoma County were among the 300 cities, 47 counties and over 100 organizations opposed to SB 649. Senator McGuire and Assemblyman Levine also opposed the bill.
The defeat of SB 649 was won by a consortium of organizations, especially the League of California Cities, RCRC representing Rural Counties, Best Best and Krieger, Environmental Working Group and the many organizations who opposed the bill.
As for our contributions, early on EMF Safety Network (EMFSN) partnered with Ecological Options Network (EON) and formally opposed SB 649 when it was first introduced in March, and re-introduced our opposition to the subsequent committees.
We were fortunate to have Environmental Working Group to guide us on how to oppose the bill. We created a letter template and brought in many groups to oppose SB 649.  We kept our list members informed via email, website, Facebook and Twitter. We gave people the science, tools, flyers and information on how to take action to oppose SB 649.

Read more including next steps

Unlocking the door:  How to successfully get through to people about wireless radiation.

By: Rachel Gaunt: For years I have been talking to people about the risks of wireless radiation. People who already “get it” are an easy audience. They nod and agree vehemently. But conversing with people who are new to this subject has not been so easy.

Too often I see their eyes glaze over, watch them shift uncomfortably, or frown and get defensive. The more I ramp up my passion about the subject the more they retreat.

As someone who has worked extensively in the field of communication and consumer motivation, I’m no stranger to activist campaigns, but this was a new level of puzzle. Why didn’t these folks – my family and my dear friends -want to hear the truth about some critical information pertinent to their health?

I used to fantasize that if I just got the exact right message or the right order of facts, they would magically come around and see the light.

But if there was one exact right message I hadn’t yet found it.

It wasn’t until I conducted some creative concept focus groups that I glimpsed the answer. This small-scale qualitative research helped me see what NOT to do. It also shed light on a way to get through the defense and reach people successfully.

Today I feel like there is a way to get through to people. It is not magic, it is a particular four step formula that I want to share.

Step One: Making the Invisible Visible

First off, the opening gambit has to change their worldview. It has to affect them viscerally. It is not enough to appeal to their rational brain alone, it has to touch their whole being, head, heart and instinct…. something they feel deep in their gut. It is only a visceral response that changes their worldview and opens the door.

Read More

SB 649 barely passes Assembly and Senate moves to the Governor

On Sept.13, the California Assembly voted on SB 649, the bill that would allow cell towers on every block. On the first vote, the bill did not get enough votes to pass. On the second it passed, but just barely. On Sept. 14 the Senate also barely passed the bill. Now SB 649 goes to the Governor’s desk. Since the bill received less than 50 votes in the Assembly, that could help support a veto. The Governor has until October 15 to sign or veto the bill.

UPDATE! Governor Jerry Brown VETOED SB 649.  Please thank him!
Governor Jerry Brown
c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841 Fax: (916) 558-3160

Learn more about SB 649 here: http://emfsafetynetwork.org/stop-sb-649-in-california/

How did your representative vote on SB 649? If they voted NO, or did not vote please consider sending them a thank you. If they votes yes, you can let them know you are disappointed with their vote.

Assembly person: 16 Noes: Baker, Caballero, Chiu, Cooley, Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Kalra, Levine, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O’Donnell, Quirk-Silva, Ridley-Thomas, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting
17 No Votes Recorded: Berman, Bloom, Bonta, Calderon, Chau, Chu, Cunningham, Dahle, Friedman, Gallagher, Eduardo Garcia, Holden, Limón, Mullin, Reyes, Wood, Rendon
46 Ayes: Acosta, Aguiar-Curry, Travis Allen, Arambula, Bigelow, Bocanegra, Brough, Burke, Cervantes, Chávez, Chen, Choi, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez Fletcher, Gray, Grayson, Harper, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kiley, Lackey, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Quirk, Rodriguez, Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Voepel, Waldron, Weber

Senators: 10 Noes: Allen, Beall, Glazer, Hill, Jackson, Leyva, McGuire, Monning, Portantino, Wieckowski
8 No Votes Recorded: Bradford, Galgiani, Mendoza, Mitchell, Moorlach, Newman, Roth, Stern
22 Ayes: Anderson, Atkins, Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, De León, Dodd, Fuller, Gaines, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hueso, Lara, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Skinner, Stone, Vidak, Wiener, Wilk

STOP cell towers on every block in California #STOPSB649

Cell towers emit harmful radiation.
If Senate Bill 649 passes you could awake in 2018 to find a cell tower outside your bedroom window, or on your children’s school. Senate Bill 649 would create a state mandated system of cell towers every couple hundred feet apart.  SB 649 would harm California.

SB 649 would eliminate local control and public input.  It would allow refrigerator-size cell equipment on utility poles, streetlights, sidewalks, in parks, on schools, hospitals, and any public building with no safety oversight. Only fire stations, coastal commission and historic areas are exempt. Cities would have no recourse to remove a tower even if every resident complained.

Peer-reviewed published science shows harmful effects of cell tower radiation include: fatigue, headaches, sleep problems, anxiety, ringing in the ears, heart problems, learning and memory disorders, increased cancer risk, and more.  Children are especially vulnerable. See  Biological Effects from Radiofrequency Radiation  and www.emfscientist.org

SB 649 would harm nature. Peer reviewed published studies found radiation harms trees, birds, bees and insects.  Studies of radiation impacts on wild birds documented nest abandonment, plumage deterioration and death. https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/us_doi_comments.pdf More studies here: http://www.emfresearch.com/emf-wildlife/

SB 649 would lay the groundwork for 5G millimeter wave technology.  What is 5G?  See this fact sheet.  Peer reviewed published science shows millimeter waves adversely affect health. https://goo.gl/gbBKHL More studies here.

300 cities, 47 (out of 58) counties, and dozens of health, environment, consumer, and justice organizations representing millions of Californians have opposed SB 649. Organizations opposed to SB 649 9:8:2017

Here are letters from specific groups: Environmental Working Group  AARP American Association of Retired Persons  Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments  Ecological Options Network, EMF Safety Network  Dr. Golomb Oppose SB 649

UPDATE! Governor Jerry Brown vetoed SB 649!

On October 15 Governor Brown Vetoed SB 649!  Can you thank him? You can call his office, send a letter by mail, fax, or contact him through his website.

Governor Jerry Brown
c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841 Fax: (916) 558-3160

 

 

SB 649 is a shameless gift to the telecom industry

photo courtesy Kevin MottusIf Senate Bill 649 passes…
in 2018 you could awake to a cell tower right outside your bedroom window.

Unless you live in a fire station, a coastal commission or a historical city, SB 649 would put cell towers in every neighborhood and countryside in California. SB 649 would only allow design of how refrigerator sized equipment on and near poles can look.

Over the counter permits would eliminate local review of radiation impacts and essentially deregulate the telecom industry.  300 California cities and 47 counties oppose SB 649.

SB 649 will increase harmful radiation pollution.  Independent scientists are calling for immediate action to reduce radiation:

“Effects include increased cancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful free radicals, genetic damages, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans.” https://www.emfscientist.org/

Peer reviewed published studies found radiation causes a wide range of health impacts including sleep problems, headaches, tinnitus, DNA damage and cancer. Children are more vulnerable.

“The harmful effects of electromagnetic fields, regardless of their frequencies, are now scientifically settled. Pregnant women (the fetus) and children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable.”- Dominique Belpomme, MD, MPH, Paris V Descartes University, European Cancer & Environment Research institute.

Peer reviewed published studies found radiation harms nature, trees, birds, and bees. Studies of radiation impacts on wild birds documented nest abandonment, plumage deterioration and death. https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/us_doi_comments.pdf

Read our opposition letter here: SB 649 UPDATE 7:6:2017

SB 649 abandons the public to trust the telecom industry to certify radiation safety.

EMFSN, EON and CABTA in the news on KPFA and here.

Health, environment, consumer, and justice organizations  representing millions of Californians have opposed SB 649 including:  Environmental Working Group, Sierra Club California, California League of Conservation Voters, AARP American Association of Retired Persons, Association of Environmental Professionals, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, California Communities Against Toxics, Center for Environmental Health, Citizens for Health, SF Public Utilities Commission, The Greenlining Institute, The Utility Reform Network, Teens Turning Green, As You Sow, Baby Safe Project, Bay Area Educators for Safe Tech, California Brain Tumor Association, Chico Chapter of Weston A. Price Foundation, Citizens For A Radiation Free Community, Consumers for Safe Cell Phones, Daily Acts, East Bay Move to Amend, Ecological Options Network, EMF Safety Network, Environmental Health Trust, Environmental Voices, EMR Protection Forum, Grassroots Environmental Education, Green Sangha, Health & Habitat Inc, Healthy 880 Communities, Law Offices of Harry V. Lehmann PC, Marin Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Mom’s Across America, Moms Advocating Sustainability, National Association For Children and Safe Technology, Parents for a Safer Environment, The Peoples Initiative Foundation, Physicians for Safe Technology, Radiation Research Trust, Sacramento Smart Meter Awareness, Sage Associates, Scientists for Wired Technology, Seniors for Environmental Awareness, Stop Smart Meters, Veterans for Radiation Safety, Windheim EMF Solutions, Wireless Radiation Alert Network, Wireless Radiation Education and Defense, and Your Own Health and Fitness.

The majority of these groups listed above oppose SB 649 based on the science of wireless harm.

The Communication and Conveyance committee passed the bill on  July 12. The Assembly Appropriations Committee passed the bill on September 1.

The State Assembly and Senate barely passed SB 649 and the bill now awaits the Governor’s signature or veto.  Find how your representatives voted here: http://emfsafetynetwork.org/sb-649-barely-passes-the-assembly-moves-to-the-senate/

Update on Oct.15, 2017 Governor Brown Vetoed SB 649!