New report finds that WiFi radiation is damaging the
environment and wildlife
Earlier this year, Qatar become the world’s first
country to have a 5G – or 5th generation – cellular
mobile network, but by 2020, this technology is
expected to be rolled out across the globe. There are
already well over 2 billion smartphone users
worldwide, and this number is expected to increase to
2.5 billion by next year. There is mounting evidence
that the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted by
all these cell phones and other mobile devices is
harmful to humans, affecting brain functionality and
causing anxiety, stress and concentration problems.
Even more concerning, in 2011, the World Health
Organization’s International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) classified the RF-EMF waves emitted by
WiFi networks, cell towers and smartphones as
category 2B – or a “possible human carcinogen.”
Now, a metanalysis of 97 peer-reviewed studies
conducted by EKLIPSE, a European Union-funded
biodiversity and ecosystem project, has found that
humans are not the only living organisms that are
negatively affected by this type of radiation. The
researchers found conclusive evidence that animals
like bats, mice and birds, which have a “magnetic
sense” – or magnetoreception – are negatively
impacted by EMR. (Related: 5G is already linked to
rising health problems … Concerns about “health
calamity” on the rise.)
Finding their way home
Homing pigeons, as well as other birds, animals and
invertebrates, including red foxes, deer, worms and
fruit flies, all use the Earth’s magnetic fields to
orient themselves and sense direction. As reported by
Waking Times, the EKLIPSE team found that “even weak
magnetic fields in the radio frequency range can
disrupt birds’ magnetoreception, their ability to use
the Earth’s magnetic fields to orient themselves and
find their way home.”
In addition, the review found that EMR can
significantly change the metabolism of plants at both
the cellular and molecular levels.
Waking Times reported further:
The authors noted that even a low level exposure to
EMR “caused a rapid increase in stress-related
transcript accumulation in tomato [plants].”
Transcription is the first phase in the expression of
a gene, in which a specific segment of DNA is copied
into RNA.
Safe limits of electromagnetic radiation need to be
determined and applied
Matt Shardlow, CEO of the organization Buglife, notes
that limits are applied to all the types of pollution
which affect the environment, but safe limits have
not been determined – and certainly not enforced –
for electromagnetic radiation.
“This is a classic case of out of sight out of mind,”
Shardlow noted. “Just because humans cannot see
electromagnetic radiation this does not mean that
animals cannot ‘see’ the pollution or be
significantly impacted at a neural or cellular level.
A proper research program and clear policy measures
are long overdue.”
One person commenting on the report observed that the
evidence that wildlife and the environment are being
negatively affected by EMR can be seen all around us:
“When you start to observe and realize that swallows
and house martins no longer nest in towns and
villages, when you realize that the sparrows have all
disappeared, that in the evenings there are no bats
flying in the dusk and that you no longer hear owls
hooting, then you will begin to know what effect
microwaves from cell towers and antennas are having
on the environment,” she said. (Related:
Electromagnetic radiation from power lines a “very
real” threat to wildlife.)
It has become clear that cellular technology can be
harmful to humans, wildlife and the environment. With
the demand for cellular devices increasing with each
passing day, the world’s scientists and governments
urgently need to start regulating the use of this
potentially disastrous technology.
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