What the Experts Say

“The electromagnetic radiation standards used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continue to be based on thermal heating, a criterion now nearly 30 years out of date and inapplicable today.”

U.S. Department of the Interior, 2014

“Scientists are now realizing that non-ionizing radiation also can cause biological effects in all systems of the body and in wildlife, including changes in DNA.”

Natural Resources Defense Council, Amicus Brief for EHT et al v FCC 2020

“Now we have 5G rolling out in massive quantities, without due diligence to determine are these sources of radiation safe not only for humans but for wildlife. And the answer is, no, they are not.”

Albert M. Manville II, Ph.D. 
Retired Wildlife Biologist, Division of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,  Senior Lecturer and Adjunct Professor, Johns Hopkins University.
Research Suggests Cell-Tower Radiation Harms Wildlife

“We measured electromagnetic radiation (EMR) at 4 distances (50, 100, 200 and 400 m) from 10 antennas (5 on Limnos Island and 5 on Lesvos Island, eastern Mediterranean, Greece), and correlated EMR values with insect abundance and richness (the latter only for wild bees and hoverflies). All pollinator groups except butterflies were affected by EMR.”

A. Lázaro et al (2016). Electromagnetic radiation of mobile telecommunication antennas affects the abundance and composition of wild pollinators. In Journal of Insect Conservation  

“Radio frequency fields in the MHz range disrupt insect and bird orientation. Existing guidelines do not adequately protect wildlife.”

Alfanso Balmori Anthropogenic radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as an emerging threat to wildlife orientation. Science of The Total Environment (2015). 

“Our analysis demonstrates that the data from a substantial amount of the studies on RF-EMFs from mobile phones show physiological and/or morphological effects (89.9%, p < 0.001). Additionally, our analysis of the results from these reported studies demonstrates that the maize, roselle, pea, fenugreek, duckweeds, tomato, onions and mungbean plants seem to be very sensitive to RF-EMFs.”

Malka N. Halgamuge  Review: Weak radiofrequency radiation exposure from mobile phone radiation on plants. Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine (2017)

“This study suggests that the RF background may have strong adverse effects on growth rate and fall anthocyanin production in aspen, and may be an underlying factor in aspen decline.”

Katie Haggerty Adverse Influence of Radio Frequency Background on Trembling Aspen Seedlings: Preliminary Observations. International Journal of Forestry Research (2010)  

“There is enough evidence to indicate we may be damaging non-human species at ecosystem and biosphere levels across all taxa from rising background levels of anthropogenic non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) from 0 Hz to 300 GHz.” 

Blake Levitt et al Low-level EMF effects on wildlife and plants: What research tells us about an ecosystem approach. Front. Public Health (2022)

“The current study demonstrated that mobile phone radiation is harmful to honey bee stomach cells, and we recommend limiting the use of mobile phones near hives.”

Mahmoud EA and Gabarty A Impact of Electromagnetic Radiation on Honey Stomach Ultrastructure and the Body Chemical Element Composition of Apis mellifera,” African Entomology (2021)

“A shift of 10% of the incident power density to frequencies above 6 GHz would lead to an increase in absorbed power between 3–370%. This could lead to changes in insect behaviour, physiology, and morphology over time due to an increase in body temperatures, from dielectric heating.”

Thielens et al. Exposure of Insects to Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields from 2 to 120 GHz. Scientific Reports (2018)

“Statistical analysis demonstrated that electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone masts is harmful for trees. These results are consistent with the fact that damage afflicted on trees by mobile phone towers usually start on one side, extending to the whole tree over time.”

Waldmann-Selsam et al Radiofrequency radiation injures trees around mobile phone base stations. Science of The Total Environment (2016)

“The audiograms and spectrograms revealed that active mobile phone handsets have a dramatic impact on the behavior of the bees, namely by inducing the worker piping signal. In natural conditions, worker piping either announces the swarming process of the bee colony or is a signal of a disturbed bee colony.”

Daniel Favre Mobile phone-induced honeybee worker piping. Apidologie, (2011) 

“Electromagnetic pollution (in the microwave and in the radiofrequency range) is a possible cause for deformations and decline of some amphibian populations.”

Balmori, A. (2006). The incidence of electromagnetic pollution on the amphibian decline: Is this an important piece of the puzzle? In Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry 

“RF-EMF had a significant effect on birds, insects, other vertebrates, other organisms and plants in 70% of the studies. Development and reproduction of birds and insects are the most strongly affected endpoints. There is a lack of field  and ecological studies on populations and the interaction of species. There is an urgent need for repetitions of studies finding effects and investigations into effects on ecosystems.”

Cucurachi et al  A review of the ecological effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). Environment International (2013)

“ For a same incident field strength, the power absorption by the mosquito is 16 times higher at 60 GHz than at 6 GHz. The higher absorption of RF power by future technologies can result in dielectric heating and potentially influence the biology of this mosquito.”

Borre et al Radio-frequency exposure of the yellow fever mosquito (A. aegypti) from 2 to 240 GHz. PLOS Computational Biology (2021)

“we propose that the main entry point for the biological effects of EMF-r corresponds to an increase in ROS metabolism and cytosolic calcium that leads to various cellular responses including changes in gene expression and/or enzymatic activities, which could ultimately result in immediate cellular alterations or delayed plant growth.”

Kaur et al  Sensitivity of plants to high frequency electromagnetic radiation: Cellular mechanisms and morphological changes. Reviews in Environmental Science (2021)

Share this: