Safety Limits and Political Conflicts of Interest:
ICNIRP ‘safety’ guidelines are not protective:
The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines (devised in 1998)1 only avoid acute, thermally induced (tissue heating) effects. They do not protect against chronic effects, or the copiously documented non-thermal, low intensity effects of non-ionising radiation which can occur several hundred thousand times below current ICNIRP guidelines1. Additionally non-compliance with these guidelines has been demonstrated2,3. Concerns regarding conflict of interests have been raised4,5. Analysis of proposed 5G emissions has shown that the exposure limits ‘tolerated by ICNIRP may lead to permanent tissue damage even after short exposures’.6 Their updated guidelines7 address this issue but actually allow overall higher cumulative exposures and concerns continue8. They have been shown to make ‘extensive incorrect and misleading statements’ in important literature appraisals9.
A growing global movement to protect citizens by authorities has begun:
Some countries have chosen to adopt safety limits orders of magnitude below ICNIRP guidelines based on scientifically observed biological effects. Furthermore, some such as France10 have already banned or restricted Wi-fi in some educational settings accommodating children. Others such as Cyprus have government led, targeted public information campaigns and medical statements published to better inform and educate their citizens11. These important steps are overdue in the UK and public health agencies are currently failing in their duty to safeguard and inform the UK population regarding the proven hazards of these emissions.
Health Authorities’ guidance is often out of date, biased and inaccurate:
Resources from advisory groups including Public Health England (PHE) and WHO, are lacking appraisal of the latest research regarding this fast-moving subject. Additionally, there are often conflicts of interest within these groups and many public statements do not withstand scientific scrutiny12,13. Specifically, the Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR) report of 2012 that was used to construct current UK policy is out of date and has been found to be ‘inaccurate’, ‘biased’ and ‘misleading’14. The group has disbanded but, nonetheless, the report is still being used to inform current policy15.