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U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal  and U.S. Representative Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18)  letter to Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Car  About 5G Health Hazards

Dec 6, 2018 | 0 comments

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal  and U.S. Representative Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18)  letter to Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Car  About 5G Health Hazards

December 3, 2018

BLUMENTHAL, ESHOO RAISE SAFETY CONCERNS TO FCC COMMISSIONER REGARDING 5G TECHNOLOGIES

  U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr seeking answers regarding potential health risks posed by new 5G wireless technology.

On November 1, 2018, the National Toxicology Program released the final results of the longest and most expensive study to date on cellphones and cancer. Those studies found “clear evidence” of a link to cancer in male rats.  

 5G is a new wireless technology will rely on the deployment of thousands of “small cell” antennas closer to the ground and near homes and school. At a recent hearing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Commissioner Carr dismissed Mayor Paul TenHaken’s awareness about the health ramifications of these cell towers. (Watch video of Carr assuring safety here.)

Blumenthal and Eshoo write in the letter to Commissioner Carr.

“To ensure we communicate accurate information to our constituents—many of whom have concerns similar to Mayor TenHaken’s—we respectfully request you provide to our offices the 5G safety determination from FCC and relevant health agencies that you referred to during the field hearing. Please also include current citations for the studies informing that safety determination. Like Mayor TenHaken, we recognize that the literature on 5G technology may be limited ‘because it’s so new,’ and are interested in acquainting ourselves with the latest studies evaluating the health effects of high-band frequencies and modulations that would be used in 5G networks,”

In the letter, the lawmakers urge the FCC to act on its March 27, 2013 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Inquiry on radiofrequency exposure policies, to ensure that

“all individuals, and especially those working in close proximity to the hundreds of thousands of small cell facilities to be deployed, are protected from any kind of excess radiofrequency radiation.”

Blumenthal and Eshoo request a response by December 17, 2018. Read the full letter here. On December 3, 2018 Blumenthal held a press conference and invited Blake Levitt Communications Director of the BerkshireLitchfield Environmental Council, along with David Weidlich, head of the Connecticut local of the Communication Workers of America. 

Letter from Blumenthal and Eshoo to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on the Safety of 5G

More Resources:

As the MiddleTown Press reports:

“Blake Levitt of the Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council said the “signaling characteristics of 5G are incredibly complex using phased array and beam-forming technology.”

She said thin skinned amphibians and insects are at particular risk from this new technology and they won’t be part of any consideration, but are important to the ecosystem and the food chain.

“5G is not like anything that we have going now,” Levitt said. “5G actually has the theoretical ability even at very low densities to punch irreparable holes in the food chain.”

David Weidlich, president of the Communication Workers of America, said the AT&T workers they represent have RF monitors when they work at the cell towers. However, these microtowers could go on individual telephone poles where “there is no consistent safety mechanism for RF,” he said.”

More News Coverage

News Articles Citing the Letter 

LA Times “Can’t wait for a 5G iPhone? You’ll have to”

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