A group of South Surrey residents concerned with the possible radiation emitted from 5G cellular networks are hosting a public forum featuring “one of the world’s leading experts on the impacts of wireless radiation exposure on human health.”
Washington State University professor emeritus of biochemistry and basic medical sciences Martin Pall is to host a presentation at Elgin Hall (14250 Crescent Rd.), July 7 at 2 p.m.
Fifth-generation wireless (5G), is the latest iteration of cellular network, and is designed to increase speed and responsiveness of wireless networks.
Paul LeMay, who co-authored a press release sent to Peace Arch News announcing the upcoming event, wrote that 5G could be more to devastating to human health than HIV/AIDS.
When asked to explain the comparison, LeMay said Pall has talked about how the health effects of current cellular technology occurs over a matter of years, however, the effects of the new technology – once it’s deployed in full force – can occur over a matter of months.
“His number one concern is a breakdown in mental function of the general population in cities.
“That means their memories, their ability to cope with stress, their ability to sleep, their abilities to sleep properly, etc.,” LeMay said.
“Number two has to do with a loss of fertility among the youth or people of reproduction age.
“Number three has to do with heart function. You start stacking all of those together and you basically have a breakdown of the society in terms of its ability to take care of itself and health care costs.”
Last March, South Surrey residents Pixie Hobby and Carl Katz were successful in their efforts to have a cellular company scrap plans for a cell tower proposed near 12189 Beecher St. Their biggest concern was that the cell tower would emit electromagnetic energy that would impact human health.
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“We’ve had a small little, I’m going to call it a citizens’ rebellion, here in Crescent Beach,” Pixie – who’s part of a team organizing Sunday’s event – told PAN Tuesday.
“I thought it was kind of a localized matter because of the nature of the people who live here… It’s a huge issue that has really taken off, not only in Europe and the U.S., but also in other places in B.C.”
Hobby says she’s seen the impacts of electromagnetic field radiation first-hand. Her son and former partner both began experiencing health impacts after they put WiFi in their household, she said.
“I was skeptical of all of this. I thought it was a big load of horse poop – even when my boys got sick… then it hit me,” Hobby said.
“After I heard Dr. Pall speak… when he talks about the results of his study. I’m going, ‘Oh my God, no wonder.’ When he explains it in terms of what it does to our cells in our body.
“He’s not an alarmist, he’s a research scientist, complete with the mismatching socks, the Wallabees and the tweed jacket. He’s a real independent academic and he’s not a sensationalist type of individual.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) and International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radio-frequency electromagnetic fields as “possibly” carcinogenic to humans, and the WHO concluded – in a separate document – that electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not a medical diagnosis.
The BC Centre for Disease Control website offers a “Radiofrequence Toolkit,” which says that electromagnetic hypersensitive individuals make up one to 10 per cent of the population.
The document says that, in general, people who identify with having an electromagnetic hypersensitivity “do not reliably detect RF (radio frequency) when blinded to the source.”
