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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0986.313 2018-2020 From: Eric Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2020 11:20 AM To: Council Testimony COUNTY CLERK Subject: No on Resolution 678-20 - Bad Science COUNTY OF HAWAI I RECEIVED Time 11:20044 BY ofer To whom it concerns, Date JUL 1 4 2020 My background is I'm an electrical engineer who has spent a majority of my professional career working on wireless products and I specialize in electromagnetics or radio frequency design and testing. The subject and physics behind electromagnetism is by far one of mankind's greatest achievements in understanding the universe. It is the most tested and perfected theory we have ever created by science. One of the telescopes on Mauna Kea is a testament to James Clark Maxwell's incredible insights into the physics of electromagnetism. Since this is such a well understood science that has withstood the test of time more than any other theory we should not take the musing of people unschooled in the subject seriously. It's like going to a farmer for serious advice on heart surgery. If the people providing advice have never solved Maxwell's equations, never taken a college level physics course on electromagnetism then we should not be heading their advice on how these things work or their risks because they are just promoting fear. I'm deeply disturbed by the aggressive protesters who are dictating what happens in Hawaii with no rational or logical reason behind them. I have no vested interests in 5G or any wireless companies or design work as I no longer work in that industry. Here's some background about why 678-20 is unnecessary: • Tissue heating is the main mechanism of interaction between radio frequency (RF) fields or electromagnetic (EM) fields and the human body. Radio frequency exposure levels from current regulated technologies result in negligible temperature rise in the human body. This has been demonstrated scientifically since 1950's. • As the frequency increases like with some 5G bands, there is less penetration into the body tissues and absorption of the energy becomes more confined to the surface of the body (skin and eye). Provided that the overall exposure remains below international guidelines, no consequences for public health are anticipated. • The FCC requires all cellular products to be tested for Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for any tissue effects. This ensures no rogue devices are producing interference mostly, but the side effect is it guarantees less SAR heating of tissue for every product sold in the US. • People argue about cancer or tumors they should embrace 5G as some of the higher frequency bands will penetrate skin even less. 5G is also less power overall due to more efficient spectrum use which will lead to less exposure then 4G.There is nothing unique about 5G radiation from 4G, 3G, 2G or 1G which has been around since the 1990's.There has been hundreds of studies of RF energy and tissues.The people speaking against 5G are not scientists that have relevant backgrounds in electromagnets and their risks. o Former President of Microsoft Canada, and CEO of Canadians for Safe Technology Frank Clegg. Outspoken critic has no background in electromagnetics or medicine. Yet his youtube videos of conspiratorial thinking have fueled much of the anger about 5G. o Patti Wood of Grassroots Environmental Education - no degrees or information or credentials available. • We have been irradiated by the sun by almost all frequencies of the spectrum since our evolution has begun. Electromagnetic (EM) exposure is nothing new to life on this planet and indeed it's a requirement. There are two types of radiation categories: non-ionizing and ionizing. Everything concerning 5G and wireless technology is in the lower energy non-ionizing category. Things like UV radiation and X-rays enter into the ionizing category and are excluded from all these discussions as irrelevant (and are mostly filtered by the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic fields). CM). Comm. �tll� 1 Ref.To: kUL �� ZOCl1 Ref.Dote o 100khz to 6GHz has been in use since we discovered radio over 150 years ago. We use extremely high powered systems like TV broadcast and FM radio for decades with no issues or epidemics around antennas. These are dramatically more powerful than cell phone towers. o 6 GHz to 100 GHz has very little effect on anything containing water as the energy is unable to pass even thin layers of water. There has not been many studies as to their effects due to this aspect of physics. Ifs equivalent to asking, "How harmful is looking towards the sun while in a blacked out room?" o All the way back in 1991 we had a lot of research data. The Yale physicist Robert K. Adair wrote in Physical Review that "there are good reasons to believe" that weak fields "can have no significant biological effect at the cell level—and no strong reason to believe otherwise." o The best evidence that electromagnetic radiation does not cause brain cancer is simple: We have been placing antennae on our bodies and next to our heads almost 24 hours a day for two decades, and the world has not seen an epidemic of brain cancer. In fact, in the U.S., the rate of new brain-cancer cases (https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/brain.html) was lower in 2017 than in 1992. o For years, scientific attempts to find a meaningful relationship between brain cancer and cellular radiation have failed. For 13 years starting in 1982, scientists followed (https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/93/3/203/2906436) every adult in Denmark who had a cellphone plan-420,000 people. In the end, they found no evidence at all of an association between brain tumors and cellphone use. • Towers provide very little RF exposure. Most people are exposed to significantly higher levels (though still safe) by the devices they use - cell phone, wifi laptops, etc. This isn't because they are powerful but because they are physically close to your body. o RF field energy decays geometrically rapidly away from the source. o 5G towers are even lower levels than 4G with only a few rare exceptions and they will still be below established limits by the FCC. • "Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome" (EHS) is a related fear scam for people to make money selling fake products. o https://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs296/en/ "The majority of studies indicate that EHS individuals cannot detect EMF exposure any more accurately than non-EHS individuals. Well controlled and conducted double-blind studies have shown that symptoms were not correlated with EMF exposure." o In a classic case in South Africa in 2010 a town was in a large uproar over a wide variety of EHS problems. A cell tower operator(iBurst) revealed at a public meeting that the tower that nearby residents were blaming for their current EHS symptoms had been turned off over six weeks prior to the meeting, thus making it a highly unlikely cause of EHS symptoms. https://mybroadband.co.za/news/wireless/11099-massive-revelation-in-iburst-tower-battle.html o Considering 5G will lower overall energy exposure than many other forms of existing technology and the extremely low prevalence of people complaining of EHS symptoms (California 3.2%) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7139347/the risk seems very low. Especially when the top reported symptoms are mild like headaches, insomnia or fatigue. o People who feel they are afflicted with EHS can simply stop using cell phones and wifi. I encourage the council to ask me any follow up questions. Regards, Eric l3aicy .rr ..-.rs.s....rv;.ti.+ywwa...n •„++hw.r