3G Archives - EMFSA

31-05-2021 10:00 STOA: Presentation of the studies: ‘Health impact of 5G’ and ‘Environmental impacts of 5G’ (online event)

Editor — Mon, 17 May 2021 14:44:45 +0000

https://twitter.com/EP_ScienceTech/status/1394228147495768065?s=20

Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) European Parliament

31-05-2021 10:00
Presentation of the studies: ‘Health impact of 5G’ and ‘Environmental impacts of 5G’ (online event)

Over the last decades, novel wireless communication technologies, such as mobile telephones, cellular networks, and Wi-Fi, have been developed at unparalleled speed. The forthcoming rollout of 5G technology across the EU is expected to bring new opportunities for citizens and businesses by enabling faster internet browsing, streaming and downloading, as well as by ensuring better connectivity. However, 5G, along with 3G and 4G, with which it will operate in parallel for several years, may also pose threats to human health. This event will present the results of two STOA studies, which take stock of our present understanding of the impacts of 5G on health and the environment.

DRAFT PROGRAMME

10:00-10:15 – WELCOME and INTRODUCTION

Eva KAILI, MEP and STOA Chair

Michèle Rivasi, MEP and STOA Panel member

Ivo Hristov, MEP and STOA Panel member

10:15-10:30 – HEALTH IMPACT OF 5G

Fiorella Belpoggi, Ramazzini Institute, Bologna, Italy

10:30-10:45 – ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF 5G

Arno Thielens, Ghent University – imec, Ghent, Belgium

10:45-10:55 – PRESENTATION OF THE ESMH KNOWLEDGE MAP ON 5G

Julia Köberlein, Bernhard Scholz, Kontextlab, Munich, Germany

10:55-11:35 – DISCUSSANTS

Joachim Schüz, International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO, France (TBC)

Kurt Straif, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Spain

Martin Vácha, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

11:35-11:45 – CLOSING REMARKS

Ivo Hristov, MEP and STOA Panel member

Michèle Rivasi, MEP and STOA Panel member

Moderator: Michel Salvator Israel, Medical University, Pleven, Bulgaria

Event will be held via Interacio platform, interpretation in EN, FR, IT, BG languages (t.b.c.)

Watch the event live: webstreaming link will be placed below when available.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/stoa/en/events/details/presentation-of-the-studies-health-impac/20210506EOT05461

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Public Shut Out of Global RF Health Briefing

Editor — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 19:59:04 +0000

Updates from NTP, Japan, Korea & WHO

Source: https://microwavenews.com/news-center/glore-2020

https://twitter.com/MicrowaveNews/status/1330942527252344840?s=20

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Video streaming: type of data transmission influences climate compatability

Editor — Sat, 12 Sep 2020 15:21:18 +0000

09/10/2020 | Press release No. 144/20 | digitalization, Joint press release with the Federal Environment Agency

Green cloud computing: energy and resource requirements of digital infrastructures

Auto translated from German

For video streaming in HD quality, different amounts of greenhouse gas emissions arise depending on the transmission technology. The share of CO ₂ emissions from data processing in the data center is relatively low at 1.5 grams of CO ₂ per hour. The decisive factor for the climate compatibility of cloud services such as video streaming, however, is the technology with which the data is transmitted from there to the users. Depending on the type of data transmission, greenhouse gas emissions can be saved to a considerable extent. This is shown by the first research results commissioned by the Federal Environment Agency.

The lowest CO ₂ pollution occurs when the HD video is streamed home via a fiber optic connection, with only 2 grams of CO ₂ per hour of video streaming for the data center and data transmission. For copper cables (VDSL) it is 4 grams. With a data transfer with UMTS (3 G), however, it is 90 grams of CO ₂ per hour. If the data is instead transmitted using 5G transmission technology, only around 5 grams of CO _{2 are} emitted per hour. The power consumption of the end device is not taken into account in this calculation.

Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze: “So far, the data on the climate impact of digital infrastructure has been more than poor. That is why we are working to close the existing knowledge gaps with good research. Because: Good politics needs a good database. The latest findings now show us: Climate-friendly streaming is possible if you do it right and choose the right way to transfer data. From an environmental point of view, it is a good idea to set up more public WiFi hotspots, because this is more climate-friendly than streaming in the cellular network

Snippet

Dirk Messner, President of the Federal Environment Agency: “Good news for fans of film and series: If you stream at home via fiber optics or VDSL, you can do so with a good climate awareness. But the amount of data that surrounds us will grow steadily over the next few years, whether Networked driving, home cinema or video conferences. It is therefore important to find the most climate-friendly transmission routes. Our research shows that we should invest more in the expansion of fiber optic networks. From a climate protection perspective, the new 5G transmission technology is also very promising. “

Read the full press release at: https://www.bmu.de/pressemitteilung/video-streaming-art-der-datenuebertragung-entscheidend-fuer-klimabilanz/

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Are there indications for DNA damage associated to radiofrequency radiation from mobile phones? (Smith-Roe et al. 2019)

Editor — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 21:19:24 +0000

The publication by Smith-Roe et al. (2019) describes the genotoxicity analyses of rat and mice tissue samples, which were conducted as part of the life-long bioassay of the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding carcinogenesis of RF-EMF (see BERENIS Newsletter – Special Issue November 2018).

DNA damage was investigated in cells of three brain regions (frontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum), the liver and in leukocytes by the comet assay. Furthermore, chromosomal damage was assessed in red blood cells (immature and mature erythrocytes) by the so-called micronuclei, which detects faulty repair events and/or problems in the DNA replication.

According to the protocol of the NTP study, the animals were exposed to GSM (2G) or CDMA (3G) modulated signals (carrier frequencies, rats: 900 MHz; mice: 1900 MHz) at 10-minute intervals (10 min on, 10 min off) for 18 hours per day and 7 days per week, starting from gestation day 5. This corresponded to a daily cumulative exposure of 9 hours and 10 minutes. After 19 and 14 weeks of exposure for rats and for mice, respectively, tissue samples were collected and refrigerated. For each exposure condition (rats: whole body SAR1 1.5, 3 or 6 W/kg; mice: whole body SAR 2.5, 5 or 10 W/kg), and for both sexes and species, 5 animals were included in the comet assay analysis. Thus, DNA damage data of a total of 800 tissue samples were included.

The authors considered a clear indication of increased DNA damage, when a dose-effect relationship was found as well as a statistically significant difference to control animals (p-value ≤ 0.025). These criteria were met at the highest dose (6 W/kg) in the hippocampus of male rats, in the frontal cortex of male mice after exposure to both signal modulations (10 W/kg), and in the leukocytes of female mice. In addition, some evidence was found in other exposure groups and classified as “equivocal”.

In contrast, no evidence for chromosomal damage was found in any of the exposure groups in the micronucleus assays. It is a well-established concept that induced genome instability results in mutations and thus causes carcinogenesis. Hence, such a study design generally aims to establish a potential causality between tissue-specific DNA damage and increased incidence of tumours.

In this regard, the sex-specific differences found in the cancer and the genotoxicological study of the NTP are remarkable. While little evidence for higher tumour incidence was found in female animals, indications were more frequent in males, especially in rats. The DNA damage observed in brain regions could therefore be related to the increased occurrence of malignant gliomas. However, these ex vivo analyses do not allow for direct conclusions about the causality. DNA damage could be both the cause and the consequence of neoplastic changes as well as non-neoplastic tissue damage.

Notably, the proportion of severely damaged cell nuclei is relatively high, which could indicate extensive tissue damage, but also be due to the methodology used.

Source: BERENIS – The Swiss expert group on electromagnetic fields and non-ionising radiation Newsletter No. 21 / June 2020

https://www.emfsa.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Newsletter_BERENIS_Nr._21_-_ENGLISH-1-2.pdf

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High Exposure to Radio Frequency Radiation Associated With Cancer in Male Rats

Editor — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 14:06:38 +0000

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 1, 2018, 10:00 a.m. EDT

Contact: Virginia Guidry, NIEHS
919-541-1993

National Toxicology Program releases final reports on rat and mouse studies of radio frequency radiation like that used in 2G and 3G cell phone technologies

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) concluded there is clear evidence that male rats exposed to high levels of radio frequency radiation (RFR) like that used in 2G and 3G cell phones developed cancerous heart tumors, according to final reports released today. There was also some evidence of tumors in the brain and adrenal gland of exposed male rats. For female rats, and male and female mice, the evidence was equivocal as to whether cancers observed were associated with exposure to RFR. The final reports represent the consensus of NTP and a panel of external scientific experts who reviewed the studies in March after draft reports were issued in February.

“The exposures used in the studies cannot be compared directly to the exposure that humans experience when using a cell phone,” said John Bucher, Ph.D., NTP senior scientist. “In our studies, rats and mice received radio frequency radiation across their whole bodies. By contrast, people are mostly exposed in specific local tissues close to where they hold the phone. In addition, the exposure levels and durations in our studies were greater than what people experience.”

The lowest exposure level used in the studies was equal to the maximum local tissue exposure currently allowed for cell phone users. This power level rarely occurs with typical cell phone use. The highest exposure level in the studies was four times higher than the maximum power level permitted.

“We believe that the link between radio frequency radiation and tumors in male rats is real, and the external experts agreed,” said Bucher.

The $30 million NTP studies took more than 10 years to complete and are the most comprehensive assessment, to date, of health effects in animals exposed to RFR with modulations used in 2G and 3G cell phones. 2G and 3G networks were standard when the studies were designed and are still used for phone calls and texting.

“A major strength of our studies is that we were able to control exactly how much radio frequency radiation the animals received — something that’s not possible when studying human cell phone use, which has often relied on questionnaires,” said Michael Wyde, Ph.D., lead toxicologist on the studies.

He also noted the unexpected finding of longer lifespans among the exposed male rats. “This may be explained by an observed decrease in chronic kidney problems that are often the cause of death in older rats,” Wyde said.

The animals were housed in chambers specifically designed and built for these studies. Exposure to RFR began in the womb for rats and at 5 to 6 weeks old for mice, and continued for up to two years, or most of their natural lifetime. The RFR exposure was intermittent, 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off, totaling about nine hours each day. RFR levels ranged from 1.5-6 watts per kilogram in rats, and 2.5-10 watts per kilogram in mice.

These studies did not investigate the types of RFR used for Wi-Fi or 5G networks.

“5G is an emerging technology that hasn’t really been defined yet. From what we currently understand, it likely differs dramatically from what we studied,” said Wyde.

For future studies, NTP is building smaller RFR exposure chambers that will make it easier to evaluate newer telecommunications technologies in weeks or months, rather than years. These studies will focus on developing measurable physical indicators, or biomarkers, of potential effects from RFR. These may include changes in metrics like DNA damage in exposed tissues, which can be detected much sooner than cancer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration nominated cell phone RFR for study by NTP because of widespread public use of cell phones and limited knowledge about potential health effects from long-term exposure. NTP will provide the results of these studies to FDA and the Federal Communications Commission, who will review the information as they continue to monitor new research on the potential effects of RFR.

NTP uses four categories to summarize the evidence that a substance may cause cancer:

Clear evidence (highest)
Some evidence
Equivocal evidence
No evidence (lowest)

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsroom/releases/2018/november1/index.cfm

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/cell_phone_radiofrequency_radiation_studies_508.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0kZG3n6afMv-RAZYMRYHaz_OINeVWrgPOmngx31pmwPbms2QQiYTpjJZM

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