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Liability, 5G and Cell Tower Radiation Health Effects

Feb 26, 2022

Wireless companies warn their shareholders of the risk of cell phone and cell tower radiation but they do not warn consumers. They do not warn the people living in homes near cell towers regarding the fact that hundreds of scientists are cautioning that cell towers can have health effects.  Wi-Fi, cell phones, and 5G in the classroom as well as cell towers on school property present serious liability issues due to to the lack of long term safety data. 

Insurers rank 5G and electromagnetic radiation as a “high” risk, comparing the issue to lead and asbestos. A 2019 Report by Swiss Re Institute, a world leading provider of insurance, classifies 5G mobile networks as a “high”, “off-the-leash” risk stating, “Existing concerns regarding potential negative health effects from electromagnetic fields (EMF) are only likely to increase. An uptick in liability claims could be a potential long-term consequence” and “[a]s the biological effects of EMF in general and 5G in particular are still being debated, potential claims for health impairments may come with a long latency.” 

Due to their understanding of the magnitude of this future financial risk most insurance plans have “electromagnetic field exclusions” applied as the market standard.  Portland Oregon Public School Insurance (Pg 30) states as an example, ”Exclusions: This insurance does not apply to: Bodily injury, personal injury, advertising injury, or property damage arising directly or indirectly out of, resulting from, caused or contributed to by electromagnetic radiation, provided that such loss, cost or expense results from or is contributed to by the hazardous properties of electromagnetic radiation.”

US Mobile operators have been unable to get insurance to cover liabilities related to damages from long term exposure to radiofrequency emissions for over a decade. 

Wireless and non ionizing electromagnetic radiation are defined as a type of “pollution” by wireless companies themselves. According to pg. 10 of the  Verizon Total Mobile Protection Plan, “Pollution” is defined as  “The discharge, dispersal, seepage, migration or escape of pollutants. Pollutants means any solid, liquid, gaseous, or thermal irritant or contaminant including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, acid, alkalis, chemicals, artificially produced electric fields, magnetic field, electromagnetic field, sound waves, microwaves, and all artificially produced ionizing or nonionizing radiation and/or waste.” We found similar definitions for pollution in the product protection plans for AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and Asuria. 

Wireless companies warn their shareholders of this potential future risk related to radiofrequency radiation exposure but they do not warn the users of these products, nor do they warn the people exposed to emissions from their products and infrastructure. These corporate investor warnings by companies such as  AT&T, Verizon, Vodaphone and Crown Castle  are contained in their Annual Reports filed on Form 10-K (or Form 20-F or 40-F for foreign companies) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and they clearly inform shareholders that companies may incur significant financial losses related to electromagnetic fields. Safety is not assured. 

As an example, Crown Castle states in their 2020 Annual Report, “If radio frequency emissions from wireless handsets or equipment on our communications infrastructure are demonstrated to cause negative health effects, potential future claims could adversely affect our operations, costs or revenues. The potential connection between radio frequency emissions and certain negative health effects, including some forms of cancer, has been the subject of substantial study by the scientific community in recent years. We cannot guarantee that claims relating to radio frequency emissions will not arise in the future or that the results of such studies will not be adverse to us…If a connection between radio frequency emissions and possible negative health effects were established, our operations, costs, or revenues may be materially and adversely affected. We currently do not maintain any significant insurance with respect to these matters.” 

 

Research on Cell Tower Radiation

  • A 2011 review found a year of operation of a powerful cell base station resulted in a dramatic increase in cancer incidence among the population living nearby.  
  • A large-scale animal study published in Environmental Research which exposed rats to cell tower levels of RF found increased cancers, the same tumor types as found by the National Toxicology program animal studies (Falcioni 2018). 
  • A 2020 study considering liability issues for wireless companies recommends that “although direct causation of negative human health effects from RFR from cellular phone base stations has not been finalized, there is already enough medical and scientific evidence to warrant long-term liability concerns for companies deploying cellular phone towers. In order to protect cell phone tower firms from the ramifications of the failed paths of other industries that have caused unintended human harm (e.g. tobacco)” the author recommends, “voluntarily restrictions can be made on the placement of cellular phone base stations within 500 m of schools and hospitals.”  
  • An analysis of studies found ~80% showed biological effects near towers. “Many biological effects have been documented at very low intensities comparable to what the population experiences within 200 to 500 ft (*60–150 m) of a cell tower, including effects that occurred in studies of cell cultures and animals after exposures to low-intensity RFR. Effects re- ported include: genetic, growth, and reproductive; increases in permeability of the blood–brain barrier; behavioral; mo- lecular, cellular, and metabolic; and increases in cancer risk.” (PDF).
  • A 2021 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Found higher cell tower RFR radiation exposures linked to increased mortality for all cancers including breast, cervix, lung, and esophagus cancers.
  • A study from Germany found that stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline significantly increased over the first 6 months after cell tower antenna activation and after 18 month dopamine and PEA levels decreased. 
  • A study by a Municipal Health Department and several universities in Brazil found a clearly elevated relative risk of cancer mortality at residential distances of 500 meters or less from cell phone towers.  
  • A review published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health of epidemiological studies found in 80% of the studies, people living <500 m from base stations had an increased adverse neuro-behavioral symptoms and cancer. 
  • An analysis by human rights experts published in Environmental Science & Policy argues that cell tower placement near schools is a human rights issue for children because “protection of children is a high threshold norm in Human Right  law” and “any widespread or systematic form of environmental pollution that poses a long-term threat to a child’s rights to life, development or health may constitute an international human rights violation.” The authors document numerous studies indicating a myriad of effects and conclude that, “because scientific knowledge is incomplete, a precautionary approach is better suited to State obligations under international human rights law.” (PDF)
  • A 2014 study entitled “RF radiation from mobile phone towers and their effects on human body” published in the Indian Journal of Radio & Space Physics surveyed residents 6 years after the cell tower was erected. They measured the RF and notably found very high levels when the antennas were closest to homes and also very high levels  when the antennas were directly facing the antennas without any obstructions. Residents living within 50 meters had more health complaints (fatigue, nausea, sleep, headache etc.) than those living over 50 meters from the antennas. 
  • A 2021 research study with a total of 268 surveys  completed by residents of a Madrid neighborhood surrounded by nine telephone antennas, and 105 measurements of electromagnetic radiation both outside and inside the houses found people who are exposed to higher radiation values present more severe headaches, dizziness and nightmares. Moreover, they sleep fewer hours.“