The Scientific Evidence of Harm from Wireless Radiation: Joel Moskowitz Ph.D.

“My name is Joel M. Moskowitz. For the past three decades, I have directed the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2009, I became concerned about the effects of wireless radiation when my center co-authored a research review on mobile phone use and tumor risk, which we updated in 2020. For the past 11 years, I have disseminated research on wireless radiation health effects through my SaferEMR.com website.

So let me tell you why I am very concerned that governmental exposure limits for wireless radiation do not protect human health and ignore impacts on wildlife. In the 1990s, exposure limits for mobile phones and cell towers were adopted in the U.S. by the Federal Communications Commission. Many other countries adopted similar limits promoted by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, a German NGO. In 2020, these limits were reaffirmed and extended to higher-frequency emissions that come with fifth-generation wireless, known as 5G. These limits were reaffirmed without any 5G safety studies.

The current exposure limits assume that any biological effect at exposures above the generally accepted 4 watts per kilogram threshold is due to tissue heating. Yet many studies have found adverse biological and health effects with low-intensity exposure, which proves that 4 watts per kilogram is not the threshold for harmful effects.

This understanding led to the creation of the International EMF Scientist Appeal in 2015 and the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) in 2021. We are challenging the current exposure limits because they are based on 14 problematic assumptions. For example, they erroneously assume that no adverse effects occur below 4 watts per kilogram. This so-called safety threshold was based on a behavioral change observed in studies conducted in the 1980s with small numbers of rats and monkeys exposed to wireless radiation for only an hour or less.

Numerous studies have found that wireless radiation is associated with various health effects, including cancer, DNA damage, sperm damage, heart disease, neurological disorders, and opening the blood-brain barrier to toxic contaminants. Multiple studies of cell phone users have found increased brain tumor risk, which is supported by evidence from animal studies of carcinogenicity in the same cell types.

Moreover, many people have developed electromagnetic hypersensitivity, a clinical syndrome that typically includes central nervous system symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, and poor concentration. Little information is available about the health effects of 4G or 5G radiation due to industry influence that has resulted in limited research funding.

ICBE-EMF and 250 EMF scientists who have published over 2,000 papers in professional journals urge governments to adopt more stringent exposure limits and urge individuals to reduce exposure. Last year, we published a paper that proposed six low-cost engineering fixes that could dramatically reduce our exposure to cell phone radiation. A written report with references, including personal safety tips to reduce exposure, is available at icbe-emf.org. For more information, see the links in the slides appended to this presentation.”