EMFs: All the updates you need
From the new Starlink satellite switch-on to plans for 6G, the global march of wireless tech – and the electromagnetic radiation risk that comes with it – continues. With the safety of our homes and health potentially at stake, we’ve gathered all the info you need to know together in one easy update.
Recent developments that we think are worth noting include:
A historic win for 5G & wireless safety guidelines
On the 13th August 2021, Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and the Environmental Health Trust (EHT) won their historic case against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), challenging the agency’s decision not to review its 1996 health and safety guidelines regarding wireless technologies including 5G.
CHD Chairman and attorney for the case, Robert F Kennedy, Jr. said: “The court’s decision exposes the FCC and FDA as captive agencies that have abandoned their duty to protect public health in favour of a single-minded crusade to increase telecom industry profits.”
CHD’s lead attorney for the case, Scott McCollough, a telecommunication and administrative law attorney who represented the petitioners in the hearing, said: “This is a historic win. The FCC will have to re-open the proceeding and for the first time meaningfully and responsibly confront the vast amount of scientific and medical evidence showing that current guidelines do not adequately protect health and the environment.”
Meanwhile, the court’s decision stated that “the FCC completely failed to acknowledge, let alone respond to, comments concerning the impact of RF radiation on the environment…The record contains substantive evidence of potential environmental harms.”
Elon Musk’s ‘Starlink’ is switched on
On the 29th of June, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk spoke at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona. He said his company, SpaceX, currently had about 70,000 active beta testers of the Starlink satellites in 12 countries, and that full, global commercial service would begin in August 2021.
Fast forward to today, and that ‘full, global commercial service’ is closer to completion.
Musk’s latest venture, Starlink, aims to sell internet connections to almost anyone, anywhere on the planet, thanks to a vast network of private satellites orbiting overhead.
After years of development and significant funding from the Federal Communications Commission (yes, them again), this summer, Starlink’s progress sped up. Global service – available worldwide except at the North and South Poles – is expected to be reached by the end of autumn. Earlier this month, Musk tweeted that Starlink would exit its initial beta phase in October, which suggests the service is ramping up.
According to reports in The Telegraph, the Tesla founder is planning to construct a satellite station on the Isle of Man (alongside bases in Buckinghamshire and Cornwall), which will allow his company to “blanket Britain” with Starlink broadband – whether we want it or not. And, anyone who buys a user terminal and pays the $100 a month subscription fee will have high-speed internet by satellite from their home or vehicle anywhere in the world except the polar regions. The effects of this invasive satellite internet coverage on the environment, astronomy, meteorology and people’s health remain to be seen.
View Starlink daily coverage estimates here
View Starlink live satellite map here
Track Starlink coverage here
6G: Closer than you think
In his August newsletter, Arthur Firstenberg – an expert in the health effects of electromagnetic radiation – revealed how several international groups are already working towards 6G. “6G will use frequencies from 40 GHz to 330 GHz, called ‘sub-terahertz’ frequencies,” he wrote, “in order to support ‘extreme data rates up to 1 Tbps.’ The signal bandwidth will be in tens of GHz to ‘over 100 GHz.’”
Among other things, 6G will enable autonomous drones, cars, forklifts, trains, excavators and harvesters.
Firstenberg also cited the third issue of 6G Waves magazine, published earlier this year. “In it,” he says “we read that “the role of 5G/6G is to cognitively connect every feasible device, process, and human to a global information grid.”
Dr. Ian Oppermann, a government scientist and professor at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, wrote in one of the magazine’s articles of his vision for the future. He imagines “a smart home, where the lights turn on and off as you move from room to room, where the heating is controlled intelligently by the number of people at home […] and a smart toilet analyses your urine chemistry and gives you recommendations for what to eat.” The obvious question, says Firstenberg, is “do you consent to all of this?”
Reported symptoms of Electro Hypersensitivity (EHS) on the rise
Presenting with symptoms ranging from headaches and heart palpitations to fatigue, anxiety, nausea, tinnitus and brain fog, electro hypersensitivity (EHS) is a real and sometimes debilitating condition linked with exposure to electromagnetic radiation – and it’s on the rise.
The International Classification of Diseases formally recognised EHS in 2015, while it was recognised as a functional impairment in Sweden, the USA and Canada in 2000, 2002 and 2007 respectively.
Increasingly, Conscious Spaces customers are reporting EHS symptoms.
One client told us that she had recently experienced “insomnia and body burning” – two issues that were “new to her”. She also reported finding it “difficult to walk towards areas with masts”. She suspected smart street lamps might be a trigger, “along with more 5G”. Since purchasing the Qi-Shield EMF device, she says it has “helped me regain sleep and life, and although I still have a little body burning and wakefulness at times, it’s 1/10 rather than 8/10.”
Another Qi device customer explained how he “lives in an environment surrounded by technology, and developed an interest in EMF exposure and the negative effects it has on our bodies.” He had experienced feeling lethargic upon waking, coupled with heart palpitations. After conducting an EMF reading of his house, the customer was “surprised at how high and potentially harmful the EMF levels were,” prompting him to “research ways to inhibit this exposure” – and ultimately, purchase a Qi-Me. “When I received the Qi-Me,” he says, “I noticed positive effects after only a few hours. I had one of the best night's sleep and continue to do so.”
We’ve found that some of our customers need to combine using EMF devices during the day with total shielding at night. Discover how to shield a room from radiation here.
UK 5G rollout picks up pace
Are you aware of the UK government proposal to change rules in tech infrastructure as part of their 5G rollout – and how it could affect your home and health?
Did you know that within the proposed plans, 5G equipment will be installed in Conservation Areas, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty and National Parks? How about increasing the height of mobile phone masts without the need for approval, or the deployment of building-based 5G masts without prior consent?
As part of a public consultation (which closed for review in June), the government also proposed changes to the safeguarding procedure and technical changes to the definition of ‘small cell system’.
With these proposals rumbling on in the background, we know that many people are already noticing 5G masts going up in their neighbourhoods, creating concerns about the impact of this additional EMF exposure on their children and loved ones.
To track the 5G rollout in your area, including a map of ground antenna, visit: https://www.speedtest.net/ookla-5g-map
To view the 5G coverage from space, take a look at the Starlink service tracker links above.
If you’d like a helping hand in understanding the levels of EMFs and 5G in your space and what steps you should take next, why not book in for a Conscious Spaces EMF Survey? An EMF survey carried out by our professionally trained and accredited EMF surveyors will provide you with a detailed understanding of your environment. From accurate testing to proven protection, a survey can mitigate the harmful effects of EMFs and provide you with a better quality of life. We cover all of England and can help with surveyors abroad, too. Get in touch for more details.
