FCC Should Revisit Exposure Limits For Radio Frequency Radiation
The FCC guidelines for public radiation exposure were established over two decades ago before wireless technology infiltrated our neighborhoods, homes and even the sanctity of our bodies.
Are the safety guidelines for radio frequency radiation, set in 1996 by the Federal Communications Commission to facilitate the growth of the wireless industry, adequate for the exposure levels the public receives today?
The health complaints of Pittsfield residents following the placement of a Verizon tower in a residential neighborhood and the resulting legal battle was the topic of a November 2022 investigative article by ProPublica “How the FCC Shields Cellphone Companies From Safety Concerns.”
When Pittsfield Board of Health Chair Bobbie Orsi, a 66-year old registered nurse, who previously fought PCBs with General Electric in Pittsfield, decided to become educated about the health effects of cellphone technology, she quickly discovered there are mountains of scientific evidence of harm. The strongest comes from the government in a large, two-decade National Toxicology Program study published in 2018. The study found “clear evidence” that cellphone radiation caused cancer in lab animals and DNA damage.
What Orsi also discovered is that industry leads municipalities to believe FCC rules gives telecom companies absolute power over certain state and local laws, and thereby, an insidious control over the health of every citizen in the country. They lead towns to believe neither the local Board of Health nor any state agency would be able to withstand a tower placement legal challenge from the telecom industry, which is explicitly empowered by the FCC to sue government entities blocking their expansions.
The FCC guidelines for public radiation exposure were established over two decades ago before wireless technology infiltrated our neighborhoods, homes and even the sanctity of our bodies. By clinging to this outdated risk assessment of the potential health dangers of wireless radiation, and shielding the telecom industry from responsibility for public safety due to the popularity of the products and services it provides, comparisons can easily be made to the decades-long cover-up of the health hazards of smoking tobacco.
The public remains largely unaware that the FCC ignored hundreds of comments and expert testimonies that were submitted from 2013 to 2019 during its six-year reassessment period of wireless safety exposure limits. In 2021, however, in response to a suit filed by the Environmental Health Trust, Children’s Health Defense and others that the FCC had failed to meet “even the low threshold of reasoned analysis,” the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., ruled that the FCC’s decision not to revise its exposure limits was “arbitrary, capricious, and not evidence-based.”
The court looked at 11,000 pages of testimony and identified four concerns: impacts of long-term wireless exposure, impacts to children, testimony of people injured, and impacts to wildlife and the environment. The relevance of the court’s decision should give pause to anyone even remotely wondering about the potential harm of wireless radiation.
This issue is pressing for residents everywhere because of the installation of new toxic, close-range 5G small cell infrastructure, and the impending roll-out of wireless smart utility meters by investor-owned utilities. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has failed to address serious complaints about the National Grid smart meter pilot program, including the reliance on an industry “safety” spokesperson, who also represents the tobacco industry.
Voters will have a chance to support citizen petitions at their spring Town Meetings in a number of Massachusetts towns. Other communities are actively reviewing their zoning bylaws. Please see important dates below to learn more about safer solutions to wireless technology and participate in town meeting discussions. See more on these forums at Massachusetts for Safe Technology’s Events page.
THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 6-8pm. Online. Not Sleeping? Anxious? Depressed? Who knew it could be the radiation from your wireless devices? Wireless Technology Risks and Safer Solutions with Cece Doucette of Massachusetts For Safe Technology. Co-hosted by New Hampshire for Safe Technology. Register here.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 12-1pm. Online, Massachusetts For Safe Technology monthly Zoom call, All are welcome. Register here.
THURSDAY, APRIL 20TH, 6pm. Great Barrington, MA. 5G Info Session, Friend’s Meeting House. 280 State Street, Great Barrington MA. Information about 5G concerns, and the Citizen’s Petitions for Great Barrington and Sheffield Town Meeting Warrant items. The warrant will be discussed with information on what 5G is and what implications it has for the environment, pollinators, birds and humans. A short video by Frank Clegg, former head of Microsoft Canada on the dangers of 5G will be shown. Come get educated about this important subject to be voted on at the May 1 town meetings. Get more info. Sponsored by The Scientific Alliance for Education (SAFEhelpsyou.org.) RSVP to safe@bcn.net.
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 12-2 pm. Online. Not Sleeping? Anxious? Depressed? Who knew it could be the radiation from your wireless devices? Wireless Technology Risks and Safer Solutions with Cece Doucette of Massachusetts For Safe Technology. Co-hosted by New Hampshire for Safe Technology . Register here.
THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 7-8:30pm. Online. “Why Concern about Wireless? FCC and Health Court Defeat, Smart Meter Risks, Citizens’ Petitions.” In May, several towns in MA will hear town meeting citizen petitions that reference requiring the FCC to address its radio frequency radiation exposure guidelines, and the safety of 5G. Learn about the FCC lawsuit, 5G, local zoning, and steps you can take in your town now to help protect health and the environment. Contact: Safetechmillis@gmail.com
FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 6:30-8:30pm. Upton, MA. United Parish Church, 1 Church Street, Upton, MA. Free talk: Information and 5G Concerns, and the Citizen’s Petitions for Upton and Millis Town Meeting Warrant items. Sponsored by Massachusetts For Safe Technology. Get more info or email sustainableuptonma@gmail.com.
TUESDAY, MAY 2, 6-7:30pm. Providence, RI. Rochambeau Library 708 Hope Street, Providence. Free talk: “Wireless Technology: Choosing Safer Options To Protect Our Health and the Environment” with Cece Doucette of Massachusetts For Safe Technology. Co-hosted by 5G Free Rhode Island. Get more info.
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 6 -8pm. Online. Not Sleeping? Anxious? Depressed? Who knew it could be the radiation from your wireless devices? Wireless Technology Risks and Safer Solutions with Cece Doucette of Massachusetts For Safe Technology. Co-hosted by New Hampshire for Safe Technology. Register here.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 12-1pm. Online. Massachusetts For Safe Technology monthly Zoom call, All are welcome. Register here.
MONDAY, MAY 22, 12-2pm. Online. Not Sleeping? Anxious? Depressed? Who knew it could be the radiation from your wireless devices? Wireless Technology Risks and Safer Solutions with Cece Doucette of Massachusetts For Safe Technology. Co-hosted by New Hampshire for Safe Technology. Register here.
Patricia Burke is a writer working with Safe Tech International, “seeking to end the implementation of technologies that are incompatible with health, wellbeing and life.” She has been advocating for safety in Massachusetts for over a decade, after becoming injured by smart meters in California.
