Dangers to health of 5G technology

This letter sent to the Star was written by John Scattergood, Totley
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As my family and friends will laughingly tell you I am something of a technophobe. E mail and BBC IPlayer are about the limit of my knowledge of interacting with wireless technology. So the fuss about 5G, the next generation of wireless carrier, has until now not particularly interested me.

Ironically it came to my attention whilst surfing the net looking for something completely different, but due in part to the way search engines work, (or so I'm told), I blundered into an environmental site which lead me to some disturbing research about the way 5G works.In a nutshell it appears that to get enough space on the electromagnetic spectrum to allow the speed to be dramatically increased the boffins are going to exploit the micro frequencies as carriers. Research by respected scientists suggests that exploiting these frequencies may well have serious public health implications. One site likened 5G as potentially as dangerous long term as asbestos and tobacco. The really short waves used to broadcast 5G are less able to travel long distances, and this has serious implications, one site suggested that each transmitter would probably serve two to ten domestic properties. Transmitters on every lamppost. The infrastructure alone is mind boggling.As with all these things there are plenty of alternative interpretations, Public Health England are on record saying everything is fine, nothing to worry about, everything falls well within existing guidelines. But won't disclose the details of whose research, or what findings they are basing their guidance. Big business, especially computing and telecoms companies have plenty of evidence that there is no case to answer but can they be believed. It's no surprise that a Google search for "radiation fears 5G" will direct you to numerous web sites downplaying the supposed dangers, finding the contrary views takes a little more guile. Which brings me to what I think is the point. The current furore over Huawei, a Chinese company, being courted to provide the infrastructure, for this next generation communications system. Is it beyond belief that this has been stirred up to detract us from the possible dangers, not of spying, but health. Or cynically are our government now trying to stop 5G by saying that it may compromise national security, a much more palatable excuse than "we fear that it may be dangerous." Several European countries have either scrapped or put on hold plans to roll out 5G. Clearly the jury is still out on the science.May I suggest we should all try to inform ourselves, on this issue, as it would seem to me to be an issue hiding in plain sight.

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