5G and beyond

Dutch Avisory Panel Calls for Caution on 5G

Published in Microwave News:
November 11, 2020
An advisory panel to the Health Council of the Netherlands is recommending a “cautious approach” to 5G radiation exposures.The committee is also advising that the 26 GHz frequency band (millimeter waves) not be used “for as long as the potential health risks have not been investigated.” The new advisory report, 5G and Health, was originally released in September with an executive summary in English. Now a full 131-page translation is available (it features 807 references). There is also a 33-page overview. The nine-member panel, all from Holland, was chaired by Professor Hans Kromhout, an epidemiologist at the University of Utrecht’s Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences. One of the two scientific secretaries is the Health Council’s Eric van Rongen, the current vice chair of ICNIRP and its chairman from 2016 until earlier this year. While the committee endorses the recently revised ICNIRP guidelines, it notes that, “[I]t cannot be excluded that exposure under the latest ICNIRP standards also has the potential to affect health.” Here is the full text of the committee’s four recommendations to the Dutch Parliament:…SNIP

5G satellites, NASA says “that’s a disaster waiting to happen”

For the first time, NASA is commenting on a private company’s application to launch a mega-constellation of satellites. And its message is clear: It could be disastrous.

AST & Science (AST) wants to launch 240 large satellites that would beam down 4G service and, if all goes to plan, eventually do the same with a 5G network, Ars Technica reports. Because the satellites will be so massive, NASA said in a statement that they would cause thousands of potential collisions every year — though AST says it’s committed to working with NASA to solve the issue.

Other mega-constellations like Starlink also pose collision risks, but it’s the massive size of these telecom satellites and AST’s inexperience in building anything that large that has NASA particularly concerned, Ars reports…SNIP

The Health Council of the Netherlands advisory committee on 5G and health

The Health Council of the Netherlands has long been a naysayer in regards to the potential biological impacts of telecommunications frequency exposures so it is surprising, and concerning, that they now express uncertainties in relation to 5G millimetre wave exposures.  A far cry from Australia’s ARPANSA which spends its time giving a complete ‘bill of health’ to 5G with no uncertainties. However, to be fair to ARPANSA’s little band of scientists, they know all too well that if anyone publicaly questions the party line dogma they risk ending up having to drive a Uber cab in order to pay their bills. NOTE that the Health Council of the Netherlands has “hedged their bet” by recommending that latest ICNIRP guidelines be followed in the Netherlands. However, they did stick in a caveat in order to cover themselves, if and when, the 5G shit hits the fan……For anyone with a 26GHz 5G antenna stuck up outside their home all this is not very reassuring…..

Microwave News: 5G Waveforms in Dispute

From Louis Slesin, Editor of Microwave News: There’s been a lot of talk about the frequencies used in 5G wireless signals. But very little about what the waveforms of this radiation look like. Or, to put it another way: How fast are 5G pulses? And how powerful are they? Behind the scenes, there’s been a contentious dispute with some of the best known researchers in the field on opposing sides. Just last week, the wireless industry was lobbying the U.S. FCC to shelve some proposed rules to tighten the existing limits for these short bursts of radiation…SNIP.

5G base stations use up to three-and-a-half times more energy than 4G infrastructure

Excerpt

When people talk about 5G, they’re often talking about the enormous boost in speed you’ll get from using the new mobile network technology. What many people don’t realise, though, is that it’s also expending a lot more energy for Chinese telecom companies. At the beginning of August, a China Unicom branch announced that it would put some of its ZTE 5G base stations to sleep between 9pm and 9am to reduce electricity costs in the city of Luoyang. A recent white paper from telecom equipment maker Huawei illustrates the problem: 5G base stations use up to three-and-a-half times more energy than 4G infrastructure. Part of the problem is that this new generation of mobile connectivity requires more densely placed base stations. So as China has been rapidly rolling out new 5G base stations, reaching 410,000 nationwide in June, some cities are putting the ones they have to sleep to save energy because there aren’t enough users yet….SNIP

Leszczynski on Significant discrepancy of opinions on 5G and health between ICNIRP and the Health Council of the Netherlands

On September 2, 2020, the Health Council of the Netherlands has published opinion on 5G and health. The opinion is being translated to English and will be available in this language in October 2020. Right now, only the executive summary of the opinion is available in English. This opinion of the Netherlands’ Health Council is significant for its membership overlap with ICNIRP: It is first opinion on 5G and health published after the ICNIRP published its updated safety guidelines for EMF exposures. The chair of the ICNIRP during the preparation of the 2020 guidelines was Eric van Rongen who is also listed as one of the two secretaries of the Netherlands’ committee on EMF (highlighted red)Another member of ICNIRP, Anke Huss, is also member of the Netherlands’ committee on EMF (highlighted red) As an invited expert, the Netherlands’ committee on EMF invited Zenon Sienkiewicz who was member of ICNIRP during the preparation of the ICNIRP 2020 guidelines (highlighted red) Of interest is that during the preparation of the opinion the committee had continuously observer from the The Dutch ‘Agentschap Telecom’ that is part of the Ministry of Economical Affairs and Climate. (highlighted blue)This is the Composition of the Electromagnetic Fields Committee of the Netherlands’ Health Council for the advice 5G and health:…SNIP

Astronomers Slam SpaceX’s Growing Starlink Satellite Constellation (And beware the Kessler Syndrome)

Excerpt

From Futurism According to a new report by the Satellite Constellations 1 (Satcon1) workshop, attended by more than 250 astronomers in late July, SpaceX’s Starlink internet-beaming satellite constellation could have an “extreme” impact on astronomy and scientific progress. The workshop used computer simulations to examine how satellite constellations such as Starlink, once fully deployed, could affect the operations of Earth-based observatories. “In the last year, the sky has changed, with growing numbers of satellite trails contaminating astronomical images,” reads the report.Ruining the Night SkyStarlink officially has the permission of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch more than 30,000 small satellites, designed to bring broadband internet to the entire globe. But, as the last couple of months have shown, the highly reflective satellites are already ruining wide-field observations of the night sky. Some of them turned out to be so bright, they could be easily seen with the naked eye. And that could be bad news for astronomers. Scientific discoveries such as the identification of a near-Earth object or a super-Earth exoplanet candidate could be missed thanks to noise created by the satellites’ trails. “If the 100,000 or more [low-Earth satellites] proposed by many companies and many governments are deployed, no combination of mitigations can fully avoid the impacts of the satellite trails on the science programs of current and planned ground-based optical-NIR astronomy facilities,” concludes the report…SNIP (Also see the Kessler Syndrome link)

5G unease and concerns over human rights issues mar China’s charm offensive through Europe

Published: 6:00am, 27 Aug, 2020 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is lobbying his European counterparts for support amid a geopolitical spat with the United States  but he has been met with concerns over human rights and 5G technology security. Wang arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday after beginning his first European tour of the pandemic era in Italy on Tuesday, when he met Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. His week-long trip will continue with stops in Norway, France and Germany. On his visit to Italy, Wang warned the country to stay away from the “new cold war” that he said the US was trying to promote, and to instead to focus on economic cooperation with China. Wang also applauded Italy for showing “understanding and support” towards Beijing’s “core interests and major issues”. While Di Maio said Italy and China needed to forge closer ties, he also gave Wang a stern warning that China ought to respect Hong Kong citizens’ freedom of speech – signalling the European Union’s continued disapproval of the national security law Beijing imposed on the city. Wang’s visit follows criticism of Beijing in Europe over its handling of the coronavirus as well as China’s hardline policy in Hong Kong. More European countries are also rejecting Chinese 5G technology. Beijing has rejected claims that it covered up the pandemic after the first outbreak was recorded in China and denied security concerns related to its technology development. It has also deemed international concerns about the erosion of autonomy in Hong Kong an intervention in its internal affairs….SNIP

Review of physiological effects of mm-waves on skin (Leszczynski)

Notice from Dariusz Leszczynski: Here is the abstract of the paper, published in Reviews on Environmental Health. It is, unfortunately, not an open access.
“Physiological effects if millimeter-waves on skin and skin cells: an overview of the to-date published studies” Abstract follows…SNIP