Contact: Elaine Unger 414-423-6292

They Ignore Warnings from Doctors, Researchers, and Wisconsinites and Listen to 5G Safety Assurances from an Industry-sponsored Physics Professor

Eric Swanson, a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Pittsburgh, provided industry sponsored testimony at the Wisconsin Assembly Hearing on “small cell” 5G legislation. He was financially supported to deliver testimony by the CTIA (formerly Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association now known as CTIA – The Wireless Association). However, Swanson’s statements were inaccurate and likely slanderous when he spoke about Devra Davis PhD, MPH, whom he discredited as a “former” researcher and stated was “no longer working in the field.”

Dr. Devra Davis, a prominent epidemiologist, is currently Visiting Professor of Medicine at The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel, and Ondokuz Mayis University Medical School, Samsun, Turkey and Associate Editor, Frontiers in Radiation and Health. Davis has over two hundred publications in environmental health and most recently has published several scientific research papers specifically on wireless radiation.

Two of her most recent papers include “Cancer Epidemiology Update, following the 2011 IARC Evaluation of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (Monograph 102)” and Absorption of wireless radiation in the child versus adult brain and eye from cell phone conversation or virtual reality published in 2018. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations Climate Convention tapped her to serve as a Lead Author on their assessment of climate mitigation policies (1999-2005) and as a member of this panel she was a member of the team of IPCC scientists awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with the Honorable Al Gore. Davis also was founding Director, Center for Environmental Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the founding director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the U.S. National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. President Clinton appointed the Honorable Dr. Davis to the newly established Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (1994-99).

Davis co-founded the Environmental Health Trust, a well-respected science-based organization that raises awareness about environmental hazards, along with Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, the founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

Swanson, testifying after Wisconsinites opposed to the legislation due to the hazard it poses to public health and the environment, stated: “I’d like to address a few of the things that were just said. So an author, Devra Davis, is mentioned several times. She is a former public health researcher. And I stress the word former because she’s been discredited because of what she’s said. She no longer works in that field.”

Swanson, in his written testimony given on behalf of CTIA, states erroneously that: “The consensus of the world-wide health and government health and safety organizations is that non-ionizing fields at the levels allowed by the FCC regulations are safe. For example, federal agencies responsible for regulating the safety of cell phones and wireless infrastructure and leading cancer and health research institutions in the United States have not found any link between electromagnetic fields allowed by the FCC regulations and cancer or other adverse health effects.”

The U.S. National Toxicology Program study found “Clear Evidence of Cancer,” DNA breakage, and fetal effects. This finding was replicated by the Ramazzini Institute at lower exposure levels. The Department of Interior stated, “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.” According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “The FCC’s exposure guideline is considered protective of effects arising from a thermal mechanism but not from all possible mechanisms. Therefore, the generalization by many that the guidelines protect human beings from harm by any or all mechanisms is not justified.”

Swanson’s assertions are based on the erroneous assumption, long supported by the telecom industry, that the only mechanisms through which radiation can affect biological organisms are direct ionization damage and tissue heating. Biological effects, including oxidative damage, endocrine disruption, inappropriate activation of voltage-gated ion channels and changes in enzyme function are now well established in the literature.

In fact, Dr. Herberman, himself from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, was among the first to warn about the potential health hazard posed by cell phone use in, especially by children back in 2008. Since then more evidence has accumulated.

In a letter to Governor Evers, Dr. Lennart Hardell, an oncologist and researcher whose research group provided the first evidence to clearly show that individuals exposed to Agent Orange type herbicides had an increased risk for cancer, stated, “RF radiation may now be classified as a human carcinogen, Group 1.” Dr. Hardell was a member of the panel convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer that classified RF radiation emitted by wireless technology as 2B, possibly carcinogenic to humans in 2011. Evidence of carcinogenicity has increased since then.

In response to Swanson’s written testimony, Dr. Paul Heroux, Professor of Toxicology and Health Effects of Electromagnetism at McGill University Medicine, writes to Wisconsin legislators and the Governor, “Swanson has not told you that his main argument, that physics prohibits electromagnetic radiation that is non-ionizing from harming tissues, is a lie propagated by industry for years. The mechanisms by which electromagnetic radiation can harm people are better understood that [sic] those associated with most drugs on the market.”

Dr. Martin Pall, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences, Washington State University, states in a white paper about the guidelines governing wireless radiation exposures: “Effects occur at approximately 100,000 times below allowable levels and the basic structure of the safety guidelines is shown to be deeply flawed. The safety guidelines ignore demonstrated biological heterogeneity and established biological mechanisms. Even the physics underlying the safety guidelines is shown to be flawed.”

Swanson went on to testify erroneously in reference to the large number of serious biological effects caused by wireless radiation: “Cigarette smoke causes lung cancer. Leaded gas causes developmental problems. Bright sunlight causes sunburn. One thing causes one thing.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also increases risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis.” and “A person who is exposed to lead over time may feel: abdominal pain, constipated, depressed, distracted, forgetful, irritable, nauseous/sick. People with prolonged exposure to lead may also be at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, and reduced fertility.” In other words, environmental pollutants often cause more than one health effect.

Far from being discredited, Dr. Davis’ warnings about the hazard posed by wireless technology are firmly based in science and increasing numbers of scientists and doctors are also warning about the hazard posed by wireless radiation exposures because the evidence is so strong.

Wisconsin For Safe Technology (www.WisconsinSafeTech.com) is part of Americans For Responsible Technology, a national coalition of over 100 organizations across the U.S. opposed to 5G that support safe technology like wired fiber optic lines all the way to the premises.

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