What a lawyer says about 5G

 

What a lawyer says about 5G

A prominent German lawyer asks whether new 5G technology should be rolled out, given that scientific research indicates it may be harmful.

Writing in the January issue of ‘Nature and Law’, Professor Hans-Jürgen Müggenborg, a lawyer in Aachen who specialises in administrative law, said that, while 5G offers benefits of faster internet and higher transmission rates, it has the following disadvantages.

Health

Studies show that exposure changed blood flow, impaired sperm viability, resulted in genetic effects, cell death and oxidative stress and increased rates of cancer in rodents. At higher frequencies (60 GHz), exposure can damage oxygen molecules in blood, affecting blood flow, he said.

‘There is no study that proves the safety of 5G microwave radiation, but there are numerous studies suggesting health consequences.’

Müggenborg referred to the German newspaper ‘Der Tagesspiegel’, which described the International Commission on Nonionizing Radiation Protection (ICNRIP), which publishes guidelines that form the basis of Australia’s radiation standard, as a ‘cartel’ and said it ‘systematically discredits all studies that show possible dangers to human health’.

Environmental impacts

The use of 5G technologies will also increase the consumption of coal-based electricity, leading to higher levels of pollution.

Protection of people

Müggenborg said, ‘the protection of health and human life is of high import in European law’ and references the relevant legislation. He refers to the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development of 1992 which says that people have a right to a healthy and productive life, living in harmony with nature.

Precautionary approach

Müggenborg says that European and international law embody the precautionary principle which the Rio Declaration defines as follows: ‘Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.’

Policy

Applying a precautionary approach, to 5G means introducing some restrictions on the rollout. ‘The radiation must ...be prevented wherever it can be prevented and permitted where it will be predominantly beneficial.’

He says it would not be appropriate to ‘pollute all houses and apartments with radio waves and to endanger the people staying there’ because this would impact residents, particularly people who are electro-sensitive. Nor does he believe the benefits of smart meters used by utilities are sufficient to justify exposing the entire population.

Müggenborg suggests precautions could include reducting signal strength to ensure that radiation does not enter neighbouring apartments.

 

What can you do

  • Don’t buy 5G technologies.

  • Use radiation-free equipment – wired-only modems/routers and landline phones – where you can connect without any exposure at all.

  • Reduce your use of wireless devices.

What else you can do

  • If you found the information above of interest, please forward this email to others.

  • If you’d like more information, you can download our March issue of EMR and Health here.

  • If you’ve been sent this message by a friend and would like to subscribe to future updates, you can do that here.

 

 

 

Back to Blog