The most basic fact about cell phones and cell towers is that they emit microwave radiation; so do Wi-Fi (wireless Internet) antennas, wireless computers, cordless (portable) phones and their base units, and all other wireless devices. If it’s a communication device and it’s not attached to the wall by a wire, it’s emitting radiation. Most Wi-Fi systems and some cordless phones operate at the exact same frequency as microwave ovens, while other devices use different frequencies. Wi-Fi is always on and always radiating. The base units of most cordless phones are always radiating, even when no one is using the phone. A cell phone that is on but not in use is also radiating and, needless to say, cell towers are always radiating. We are all being bombarded, day in and day out, whether we use a cell phone or not, by levels of microwave radiation that is some ten million times as strong as the average natural background levels. It is also a fact that most of this radiation is due to technology that has been developed since the 1970s.

Why do we care? Environmental exposures to artificial EMFs can interact with fundamental biological processes in the human body. The deployment of wireless infrastructure (cell tower sites) to support cell phone use has accelerated greatly in the last decades. The spread of cell towers in communities, often placed on pre-school, church day-care, school campuses,old age homes, means that young children can have thousands of times higher RF exposures in home and school environments than existed even 20-25 years ago. These wireless antennas for cellular phone voice and data transmission produce whole-body RFR exposures over broad areas in communities that are an involuntary and unavoidable source of radiofrequency radiation exposure. The taking away of corded landline phones means close and repetitive exposures to both EMF and RFR in the home. Other new RFR exposures that didn’t exist before come from WI-FI access points (hotspots) that radiate 24/7 in cafes, stores, libraries, classrooms, on buses and trains, and from personal WI-FI enabled devices (iPads, tablets, PDAs, etc). Office workers are exposed to increasing levels of exposure from WiFi.

The cumulative RFR burden within any community is largely unknown. Both involuntary sources (like cell towers, smart meters and second-hand radiation from the use of wireless devices by others) plus voluntary exposures from one’s’ personal use of cell and cordless phones, wireless routers, electronic baby surveillance monitors, wireless security systems, wireless hearing aids, and wireless medical devices all add up. No one is tallying up the combined exposure levels. Sometimes, science does not keep pace with new environmental exposures that are by-products of useful things we want to buy and use in society. The deployment runs ahead of knowledge of health risks,as it is now with the 5G roll out. This is the case for EMF and RFR. There is a critical need to to repair the damage already done in this generation, and to think about protecting future generations. Not only is the increasing amount of electrosmog a threat to us humans – it is also putting the environment and ecosystem at risk. It affects all biological systems, birds, bees, insects, tadpoles and plants.