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Stamford Rejects 5G Proposal After Presentation by Science, Policy and Law Experts on Health and Environment Impacts

Oct 29, 2023

Science, Policy and Law of 5G and Wireless

Health and Environment Impacts

In a huge win for wireless safety in Connecticut, the Stamford Board of Representatives rejected a proposal that would have proliferated 5G/4G “small” cell antennas into neighborhoods.

The story: An industry-friendly proposal was poised to allow wireless antennas in front of homes and schools. EHT experts, along with colleagues with expertise in law, policy, and health, were invited to present to the Board of Representatives Land Use Committee. On October 18th, the expert panel shared critical information on the health and environmental impacts of wireless proliferation.

We also presented on the need for federal accountability and protective policy.  That evening, after hours of deliberation, the committee voted against the proposal that would proliferate 5G and “small” cell antennas.

A few weeks later, the full Board joined the Committee and voted “no” on the proposal. 

EHT was grateful for the opportunity to share critical health and safety information. We know land-use decisions made in Stamford on the 5G buildout will reverberate statewide and far beyond.

Please share the video of expert testimony and these news stories with your decision-makers.

On October 18, 2023, several experts in law, policy, health and science testified to the Stamford, Connecticut Board of Representatives Land use Committee on 5G and health and environmental impacts.

A growing body of scientific evidence links cell phone radiofrequency (RF) radiation to a broad range of harmful effects at legally allowed levels including cancer, memory damage and impacts on brain development, the endocrine system, thyroid function, reproduction, and DNA/genetic damage (Panagopoulos et al. 2021, Lai 2021, Smith-Roe et al. 2020, Davis et al 2023, ICBE-EMF 2022, Lai and Levitt 2022, Hardell and Carlberg 2017, Miller et al. 2018, Belpomme et al 2018, Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services European Parliament 2021). Environmental impacts include harm to birds, bees and trees (Levitt et al 2022, Levitt et al 2021). 

Watch Clips excerpted from the full meeting below featuring Rob Brown MD,  B. Blake Levitt, Devra Davis Ph.D. MPH, Theodora Scarato, Kent Chamberlin Ph.D and attorney Joe Sandri. 

Rob Brown MD 

Orthopedic radiology specialist

Rob Brown MD presented on how non- ionizing radiation RF radiation has biological impacts to the body and demonstrated how RF levels are increasing due to the proliferation of wireless networks. 

Rob Brown, MD is a board certified, diagnostic radiologist with over 30 years of clinical experience. After graduating Brown University, Dr. Brown completed medical school at the University of Miami School of Medicine, in Miami, FL, a radiology residency program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a fellowship in musculoskeletal radiology at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Brown also published “Assessment of radiofrequency radiation intensity on 35 Main Streets throughout Pennsylvania, USA during the fall of 2021” in the American Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Review which surveyed outdoor exposure intensity levels shoppers and pedestrians may have been exposed to while walking down a “Main Street” in 35 towns and cities within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The paper concludes that power densities produced by the 5G/4G LTE antennas are more than 10 times and up to 100 times more intense than older networks. 

 

Blake Levitt 

Blake Levitt provided a brief history of Stamford’s health department/RF monitoring program back in the 1970-80’s, and scientific information on the health and environmental effects of wireless radiation.  

Blake Levitt is an award-winning journalist who has specialized in medical and science writing for three decades. She has researched the biological effects of nonionizing radiation since the late 1970’s and is a former New York Times freelance contributor. She has been listed in Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, and Who’s Who of International Writers and Authors. Recent publications she co-authored include Cellular and molecular effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields, Low-level EMF effects on wildlife and plants: What research tells us about an ecosystem approach and The roles of intensity, exposure duration, and modulation on the biological effects of radiofrequency radiation and exposure guidelines. 

 

Devra Davis Ph.D. MPH, President of Environmental Health Trust 

Devra Davis, PhD shared research into myriad wireless effects to humans, with a focus on children’s vulnerability. 

Dr. Devra Davis is founder of Environmental Health Trust, a scientific think tank that publishes research and educates policymakers and the public on environmental health hazards. Davis was Founding Director, Center for Environmental Oncology and the  University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and founding director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the U.S. National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. Davis was Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services and appointed to the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board by President Clinton.   

 

Theodora Scarato

Executive Director of Environmental Health Trust

Theodora Scarato presented on the Environmental Health Trust’s lawsuit against the FCC and the complete absence of regulatory safeguards at any regulatory agencies for cell tower infrastructure like towers or 5G/4G small cells. In the lawsuit EHT et al v. the FCC, the US Appeals Court, DC Circuit ordered the FCC to  address issues such as children’s vulnerability and long term health effects as well as environmental impacts. 

Environmental Health Trust Is  a scientific think tank that publishes research and educates the public and policymakers on environmental health issues.  Scarato is lead policy analyst for the EHT database on international policy on wireless radiation. Scarato helped coordinate the 2019 US medical conference designed exclusively to train medical professionals on electromagnetic radiation and also  presented at the 2021 EMF Medical Conference.  She is on the board of PhoneGate Alert which works on revealing the fact that most cell phones violate radiation limits when tested in body contact positions. 

Kent Chamberlin

Past-Chair and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringUniversity of New Hampshire 

Kent Chamberlin spoke about RF engineering issues and the New Hampshire State 5G Health and Environment Commission’s findings and recommendations on wireless radiation. 

Kent Chamberlin received his Ph.D. from Ohio University, specializing in computational electromagnetics. His research has been devoted to modeling radio wave propagation including interfering radiation from computing devices and wave phenomena in the human body.  In his more than thirty-five years in academia, he has performed research for more than twenty-five sponsors, including the National Science Foundation.  He has received two Fulbright awards, including the prestigious Fulbright Distinguished Chair, which he served in Aveiro, Portugal.  He has also served as an Associate Editor for the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and recently served on the New Hampshire State Commission to explore the health and environmental impacts of wireless communication.

 

Joe Sandri

Telecommunications Lawyer 

Attorney Joe Sandri spoke about telecommunications law, radiofrequency engineering, and what powers are reserved to communities that they need to be aware of to control unfettered wireless deployment. 

Mr. Sandri has been an executive officer with multiple publicly traded corporations.  He most recently was co-president of FiberTower Corporation which was sold to AT&T on February 9, 2018.   He was president of IDT Spectrum prior to FiberTower.  He serves on several boards in the technology and public service sectors.  Prior to his executive experiences he served in private practice for a Washington, DC law firm, representing numerous Fortune 100 companies in telecommunications matters. Mr. Sandri has training and experience in communications law, journalism and radiofrequency engineering.  He holds a Certification from the Institute for Communications Law Studies and a Juris Doctor from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, Washington, DC, and a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Maryland – College Park. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a long-standing board member of the National Spectrum Management Association (NSMA).  He is on the board of the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive.   

Please share the expert testimony with your decision-makers along with the news stories below: 

 

Watch Stamford Board of Representatives meetings on the 5G proposal:

 

Additional Scientific Briefings 

Wildlife and Environment

Cell Towers and 5G

 

Policy and Regulation

 

Scientific Research to Know

Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (European Parliament), & Belpoggi, F. (2021). Health impact of 5G: Current state of knowledge of 5G related carcinogenic and reproductive/developmental hazards as they emerge from epidemiological studies and in vivo experimental studies. Publications Office of the European Union. 

International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF), (2022). Scientific evidence invalidates health assumptions underlying the FCC and ICNIRP exposure limit determinations for radiofrequency radiation: implications for 5G. Environ Health. Oct 18;21(1):92.  

McCredden, J. E., Cook, N., Weller, S., & Leach, V. (2022). Wireless technology is an environmental stressor requiring new understanding and approaches in health care. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. 

Miller, A. B., Sears, M. E., Morgan, L. L., Davis, D. L., Hardell, L., Oremus, M., & Soskolne, C. L. (2019). Risks to Health and Well-Being From Radio-Frequency Radiation Emitted by Cell Phones and Other Wireless Devices. Frontiers in Public Health, 7.  

Miller, A. B., Morgan, L. L., Udasin, I., & Davis, D. L. (2018). Cancer epidemiology update, following the 2011 IARC evaluation of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (Monograph 102). Environmental Research, 167, 673–683. 

Panagopoulos, D. J., Johansson, O., & Carlo, G. L. (2015). Polarization: A Key Difference between Man-made and Natural Electromagnetic Fields, in regard to Biological Activity. Scientific Reports, 5, 14914.