Portland City Council Fears That 5G Networks Cause Cancer To Users

The City Council in Portland, Oregon, US, is voting on Wednesday to oppose launching 5G wireless networks due to fear of unknown health risks.

In particular, three members of the council, Mayor Ted Wheeler, Commissioners Amanda Fritz, and Chloe Eudaly, write that there is evidence of 5G’s health risks, including cancer.

They worry that the Federal Communications Commission hasn’t done enough research to prove that 5G is safe while prohibits local and state governments from deploying their own regulations on telecommunications tech.

And while the three are correct about how the FCC can control how local and state governments monitor wireless networks, the relation between 5G and cancer is much more complex.

From the Science perspective

The proposed resolution said there is evidence of adverse health problems due to exposure to radio frequency emissions by wireless technology, especially cancer. This evidence is from the US National Toxicology Program’s large-scale study, which came out back in November 2018.

According to the study results, the radiation used for cell phone signals is strongly associated with certain kind of cancerous tumors found in lab rats.

But there’s more.

The aforementioned study lasted for more than 10 years, in which over 7,000 mice and rats were exposed to radio-frequency radiation, which mobile phones use, didn’t include 5G. It didn’t even include currently used 4G and 4G LTE. The study only focused on wireless tech under 2G and 3G.

While these tech standards use the radiation frequency range equal to the 4G, they modulate the signal in different ways. At first, 2G and 3G could be the most powerful wireless technology, but over time, there have been a lot of evolutions. So we can’t say for sure if the study results are true for 5G.

Because of that, the resolution requests the FCC to start another study into 5G’s health risks. If they do so, the new study may take another decade to complete, by which the world has already moved on to 6G or even 7G.

Which one, local regulations or federal regulations?

The resolution also focused on local control. The council members show their dismay that federal law prevents local and state governments from declining federal orders on telecommunications standards.

In addition, it is required in FCC regulations that local and state governments accept all applications from telecom firms to set up new wireless communication infrastructure. The mayor and commissioners are concerned about the impact of federal control over the use of the wireless network on the exposure to 5G frequencies.

According to the resolution, there will be around 300,000 new antennas installed by US wireless companies, which is almost equal to the number of cell towers set up in the last thirty years. The document writes:

Apparently, we can only claim the adverse effect of this is exposure to 5G can negatively affect human health. And for that to be known, the DHHS or FCC must carry out a similar study on 5G, which cannot be done in time as the technology is almost here.

However, that doesn’t mean we should skip studying it. In fact, European scientists are warning about 5G amid its dawning across the globe. They argue that just looking at the health risks illustrated in existing cell phone radiation is already more than enough to stay alert of the new telecommunications tech.

On Wednesday, the Portland City Council will gather to vote, setting the tone for the federal government’s response to public concerns over 5G’s health impacts as well as local and state governments’ control over its use.

While we’ll have to wait till Wednesday to know the voting result, it’s sure that the opposition against 5G is thriving.