Login
Children’s Health Defense (CHD) is urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to drop a proposed four-fold increase in power limits for wireless devices, citing potential health risks, especially to children.
On July 1, the FCC released a report and order for a slew of changes, including allowing mobile and portable wireless devices to transmit at 4 watts instead of 1 watt. The change would apply to devices that operate in the C-band — the spectrum used for 5G. C-band frequencies range from 3.7 to 4.2 gigahertz.
The agency proposed the change without conducting a public health analysis of how it could affect people’s exposure to wireless radiation, according to Miriam Eckenfels, director of CHD’s Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless Program.
“It’s ludicrous for the FCC to increase the power of wireless devices,” Eckenfels told The Defender. “A mountain of science has accumulated over the last 30 years that shows exposure to wireless radiation has negative health impacts.”
In a July 14 letter, CHD told the FCC that it should first comply with a 2021 court order requiring the agency to explain how it determined that current radiofrequency (RF) radiation exposure limits adequately protect people and the environment.
Eckenfels said, “Before the FCC even thinks of increasing the amount of power devices can emit, the agency needs to explain to the court and the public why its 1996 wireless radiation exposure limits adequately protect human health today.”
A person’s exposure to wireless radiation depends on several factors, not just the device’s power level, said Fariha Husain, manager of CHD’s EMR & Wireless Program.
She explained:
“Actual human exposure from emitted devices does depend on antenna design, distance from the body, duty cycle, adaptive power control, beamforming, modulation, frequency and usage patterns.
“But this only fortifies the proposition that the commission should analyze the health implications before — not after — adopting any rule allowing higher emission powers in any band and for any device.”
The FCC plans to consider the change at its July 22 meeting.
Increasing power limit is about increasing profits for wireless industry
CHD’s letter is the latest in a series of moves by grassroots activists to force the FCC to protect human health instead of promoting the wireless industry’s interests.
Kent Chamberlin, Ph.D., science adviser to the Environmental Health Trust, told The Defender he thinks the FCC’s proposed power limit change is motivated by profit. “The more lax the limits are, the greater the profit,” he said.
If the FCC allows higher power levels for wireless devices, those devices will be able to transmit more data with fewer cell towers or Wi-Fi routers. “More data transmission with fewer base stations means greater profit,” Chamberlin said.
Chamberlin is past chair and professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at the University of New Hampshire. He served on the New Hampshire Commission to Study the Environmental and Health Effects of Evolving 5G Technology, a team of independent experts convened by the state to answer questions about the impacts and safety of 5G and wireless radiation.
He said:
“Science is crystal clear that exposures are harmful for everyone, so increasing power limits will increase that harm. A four-fold increase in power translates to a significant increase in harm, while the specific relationship between harm and exposure is currently not known due to the lack of research.”
Instead of allowing devices to emit more power, the FCC should fund research that identifies a safe threshold for power emissions.
Paul Héroux, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, agreed that EMR science strongly suggests that people’s exposure to wireless radiation needs to decrease — not increase.
Héroux called the FCC’s proposed power limit change a “very short-sighted engineering convenience rather than a thoughtful reassessment of human safety.”
He noted that the FCC’s electromagnetic compatibility and testing standards take into account peak electromagnetic emission levels for protecting computer equipment, but not human health. “Are human cells less valuable than computer chips?” he asked.
Héroux is vice chair of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF), a “consortium of scientists, doctors and researchers” who study wireless radiation and make recommendations for wireless radiation exposure “based on the best peer-reviewed research publications.”
In 2023, the commission published a report showing that a few “simple engineering fixes” could dramatically reduce the wireless radiation emitted by cellphones.
FCC stonewalls on 2021 court order
The FCC continues to ignore a 2021 court order directing it to review 11,000 pages of evidence supporting claims that wireless radiation at levels currently allowed by the FCC harms people — especially kids — and the environment.
On May 18, CHD filed a new federal case asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the FCC to comply with the 2021 mandate within 90 days.
According to the petition:
“Instead of taking any steps to comply with the order, the Commission has taken significant steps to hasten nationwide buildout of wireless infrastructure, notwithstanding the serious, ongoing harm to individuals, communities, flora, and fauna that flows from these growing exposures.”
Theodora Scarato, director of the Wireless and EMF Program at Environmental Health Sciences and a petitioner in the original 2021 lawsuit against the FCC, told The Defender there is a large scientific record attesting to health harms at currently allowed wireless radiation limits.
“I submitted scientific comments in this proceeding and numerous other FCC proceedings documenting adverse effects reported in numerous studies at RF exposure levels well below the FCC’s exposure limits,” Scarato said.
She said the FCC’s move to allow higher power levels for wireless devices is “another reckless move that places industry profits ahead of public health.”
“The FCC is captured by the wireless industry and cannot be relied upon for safety,” she added.
The FCC has not yet responded publicly to the letter or the latest legal action.
Related articles in The Defender
- Children’s Health Defense Seeks to Force FCC to Comply With 2021 Ruling
- ‘New Phase of Attack’: Children’s Health Defense Tells FCC to Protect People, or ‘Get Out of the Way’
- Children’s Health Defense Urges FCC to Drop Plan That Would Strip Communities of Local Control Over Cell Towers
- FCC Limits for Wireless Radiation Exposure Decades Out of Date, Experts Say
- ‘Historic Win’: CHD Wins Case Against FCC on Safety Guidelines for 5G and Wireless
