Children's Health Defense Files FOIA Requests: Why Did Government Shut Down Studies on Cellphone Radiation and Cancer?

CHD Files FOIA Requests: Why Did Government Shut Down Studies on Cellphone Radiation and Cancer?

By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., childrenshealthdefense.org, 10 April 2024

The requests are for key communications and research documents related to studies that were underway and the factors that led the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences to discontinue the studies, despite previous research finding evidence of cancer and DNA damage related to cellphone use.

Children’s Health Defense (CHD) today filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for documents and communications related to the agency’s decision to discontinue studies on the potential health effects of cellphone radiofrequency radiation (RFR) — even after a 10-year, $30-million study, completed in 2018, found evidence of cancer and DNA damage.

“We think it is important to understand what led to this decision, because we know too often big industry interests play a significant role” in shutting down this type of research, said Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia, director of CHD’s Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless program.

Scientists Set New Internet Speed World Record: 4.5 Million Times Faster Than Average Broadband

Scientists Set New Internet Speed World Record: 4.5 Million Times Faster Than Average Broadband
By CircleID Reporter, circleid.com, 2 April 2024

Dr. Ian Phillips with the wavelength management device. Photo: Aston University

In a groundbreaking development, scientists from Aston University, in collaboration with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Japan and Nokia Bell Labs in the US, have set a new world record in internet speed. Achieving data transmission rates of 301,000,000 megabits per second through standard optical fiber, this speed is about 4.5 million times faster than the average UK broadband connection and over a million times quicker than average US download speeds.

IARC Again Asked to Review RF Cancer Risk, Just Not Right Away

IARC Again Asked to Review RF Cancer Risk, Just Not Right Away
Same Advice Was Given in 2019

microwavenews.com, 13 April 2024

An advisory group to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has —once again— recommended a new assessment of the cancer risk posed by RF radiation. RF is one of about a hundred agents listed as “high priority” for evaluation over the next five years, 2025-2029.

The panel, made up of 28 independent scientists from 22 countries, met last month in Lyon, France (IARC’s hometown), to consider more than 200 agents that had been nominated for evaluation or reevaluation. The panel’s recommendations were announced yesterday in the news section of Lancet Oncology and an IARC press release.

Others on the high-priority list include acetaminophen (Tylenol), methamphetamine, bisphenols, hair dyes, the hepatitis D virus and smoking cannabis. The full list is below.

Switzerland: Resistance to 5G antennas grows nationwide

Everyone wants fast Internet, even on the go - but no one wants a 5G antenna in the garden. Resistance is increasing nationwide - including in the canton of Schwyz.

Resistance to 5G antennas
hoefner.ch, April 8, 2024 - auto-translation

A 5G antenna - here from the mobile phone provider Sunrise.

It's a nationwide trend: When it comes to building a 5G antenna, there's a hail of objections. The three Swiss mobile phone providers Swisscom, Salt and Sunrise can tell you a thing or two about it. According to Swisscom, around 3,000 such projects from all providers are currently pending or blocked due to objections. The canton of Schwyz is no exception. The Schwyz Office for the Environment and Energy has recorded an enormous increase since the introduction of the 5G standard - as head of office Peter Inhelder explains upon request. Most objections come from private parties and have a health-related background. However, getting away with it with such arguments is very unlikely. The same federal regulations and limit values ​​for non-ionizing radiation (NIS) apply to the installation and operation of 5G antennas as to all mobile communications systems - and these are stricter in Switzerland than in other European countries. And compliance with these regulations is regularly checked by the cantons.

Switzerland: 5G Mobile Communications: Warning about the Quick Fix

Warning about the Quick Fix
By Pascal Sigg (text) and Florian Bachmann (photo), woz.ch, 28 March 2024 - auto-translation

The federal government could soon allocate mobile phone frequencies for so-called millimeter waves. What pleases telecommunications companies and the digital economy worries environmental protection doctors.

(Photo): It doesn't really work yet: The effects of the frequencies required for 5G technology on our bodies have hardly been researched.

The hopes for 5G technology are high because it could finally fulfill many of the promises of digitalization: fast mobile internet even on hills, drone-controlled weeding robots in fields, self-driving cars in the city. Telecommunications companies and the Federal Council want to push ahead with the corresponding expansion of the 5G network. But there is a problem: Such applications require mobile communications at higher frequencies. Swisscom, Salt and Sunrise currently only operate at a maximum of 3.5 gigahertz (GHz). The Federal Council is now toying with awarding higher mobile phone frequencies in the 6, 26 and 40 GHz ranges – so-called millimeter waves. In order to examine the specific need for higher frequencies, the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) recently carried out a public consultation process. The Federal Council could have the frequencies auctioned in just three years.

California: ‘Huge Win’: Court Rules Big Telecom Must Comply With State Environmental Laws

‘Huge Win’: Court Rules Big Telecom Must Comply With State Environmental Laws
By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., childrenshealthdefense.org, 4 April 2024

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge last week ruled that federal law does not preempt California’s state environmental law, which requires environmental impact reviews before telecom companies can apply for permits to build new wireless infrastructure on scenic highways and historic sites.

Los Angeles County officials must comply with state environmental law when issuing permits for new wireless infrastructures, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled.

The ruling is a win for Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and a coalition of community and environmental groups in a historic case challenging the fast-tracked proliferation of wireless infrastructure in Los Angeles County.

W. Scott McCollough, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a press release, “The court’s ruling is a huge win in the battle against unfettered proliferation of wireless because of the known risks to the environment and people’s health.”

Study: Electromagnetic Fields Harm Insects

This link will take you to the study in English, French and German as well as Fact Sheets: https://protect-insects.info/beefi-study/#study

Are electromagnetic fields such as mobile communications harmful to insects?

diagnose:funk, 2024

The results of the meta-analysis by Thill, Cammaerts & Balmori (2023) show that mobile phone radiation has negative effects on insects

BEEFI: Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Insects: a Systematic Review and Metaanalysis, Reviews on Environmental Health; Authors: Thill A, Cammaerts M-C, Balmori A., 2023 doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2023-0072 | www.emf-portal.org/de/article/52384

The negative effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on insects are the subject of intensive scientific research. New findings indicate that EMFs can affect the reproductive ability, behavior, DNA and health of insects. Studies show disturbed behavior in bees, a decrease in pollination performance and a decline in insect populations near EMF sources such as power lines and mobile phone masts. The strong effect of the combination of various damaging influences in the field further intensifies these negative effects.

It is strongly recommended that the precautionary principle be applied to the expansion of mobile communications infrastructure, as it cannot be ruled out that the effects on insect populations will be problematic. More research is needed to understand interactions with other factors. These findings should be taken into account in political decisions and planning so as not to further accelerate insect extinction.

The 2023 study by Thill, Cammaerts & Balmori documents the harmful effects of EMF on insects. Take a look at the key findings and facts of this study.

Original article in German:
The original study is available for free download here in English, German and French, as is a fact sheet in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian.

https://protect-insects.info/beefi-study/#study

27 New Papers on Electromagnetic Fields and Biology or Health (3 April 2024)

27 New Papers on Electromagnetic Fields and Biology or Health, 

Electromagnetic Radiation Safety, 3 April, 2024

Dr. Joel Moscowitz, University of California Berkeley, has been circulating abstracts of newly-published scientific papers on radio frequency and other non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) monthly since 2016. The complete collection of these papers contains more than 2,000 abstracts with links to the papers. Several hundred EMF scientists around the world receive these updates.

To see abstracts for the most recent papers or to download volumes 1 to 3 of this collection go to:
https://www.saferemr.com/2022/06/recent-research-on-wireless-radiation.html

Recent Research on Wireless Radiation and Electromagnetic Fields

Invited Perspective: Why Systematic Reviews, Scoping Reviews, and Evidence-to-Decision Frameworks Are Critical for Transparent, Consistent, Equitable, and Science-Based Decision-Making in Environmental Health

Mobile phone use and brain tumour risk – COSMOS, a prospective cohort study (Note: Methodological problems undermine validity of results.)

5G papers

United States: NIH probe of ‘Havana syndrome’ finds no sign of brain injuries

NIH probe of ‘Havana syndrome’ finds no sign of brain injuries  

By Joel Achenbach and Shane Harris, Washington Post, March 18, 2024

(No subscription required to read)

The four-year study comes amid ongoing conjectures about ‘targeted attacks’ with pulsed-energy weapons

Repeated scans of patients suffering from the mysterious ailment commonly known as “Havana syndrome” found no significant evidence of brain injury, according to an ongoing investigation by the National Institutes of Health.

A man pushes a wheelbarrow near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, where government employees were working when they mysteriously became ill. (Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images)

Two studies, published Monday in JAMA, found few significant differences in a range of cognitive and physical tests among more than 80 patients who had been stationed in Cuba, Austria, China and other locations compared with a control group of people with similar job descriptions.

Wireless Radiation Health Effects Compilation Cell Towers and Cell Phones and Wi Fi

Excellent 20-minute video

Wireless Radiation Health Effects Compilation Cell Towers and Cell Phones and Wi Fi
Environmental Health Trust, 14 March 2024

Hundreds of scientists, doctors and public health experts recommend the public reduce exposure to wireless radiation to mitigate risk due to the growing scientific evidence of harm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9TMTexPb_0