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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8580522/?fbclid=IwAR18bbCdTzVqxHDOJhA-cebDVp67lCEIVO9h4CZzOhZYj6s6zziceKF63TA
2021 Oct 26; 7(5): 666–681.Published online 2021 Sep 29.PMCID: PMC8580522PMID:
34778597
Evidence for a connection between coronavirus disease-19 and exposure to
radiofrequency radiation from wireless communications including 5G
Beverly Rubik 1 , 2 , * and Robert R. Brown 3Author information Article notes
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Abstract
Background and Aim:
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) public health policy has focused on the severe
acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and its effects on
human health while environmental factors have been largely ignored. In
considering the epidemiological triad (agent-host-environment) applicable to
all disease, we investigated a possible environmental factor in the COVID-19
pandemic: ambient radiofrequency radiation from wireless communication systems
including microwaves and millimeter waves. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused
the COVID-19 pandemic, surfaced in Wuhan, China shortly after the
implementation of city-wide (fifth generation [5G] of wireless communications
radiation [WCR]), and rapidly spread globally, initially demonstrating a
statistical correlation to international communities with recently established
5G networks. In this study, we examined the peer-reviewed scientific literature
on the detrimental bioeffects of WCR and identified several mechanisms by which
WCR may have contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a toxic environmental
cofactor. By crossing boundaries between the disciplines of biophysics and
pathophysiology, we present evidence that WCR may: (1) cause morphologic
changes in erythrocytes including echinocyte and rouleaux formation that can
contribute to hypercoagulation; (2) impair microcirculation and reduce
erythrocyte and hemoglobin levels exacerbating hypoxia; (3) amplify immune
system dysfunction, including immunosuppression, autoimmunity, and
hyperinflammation; (4) increase cellular oxidative stress and the production of
free radicals resulting in vascular injury and organ damage; (5) increase
intracellular Ca2+ essential for viral entry, replication, and release, in
addition to promoting pro-inflammatory pathways; and (6) worsen heart
arrhythmias and cardiac disorders.
Relevance for Patients:
In short, WCR has become a ubiquitous environmental stressor that we propose
may have contributed to adverse health outcomes of patients infected with
SARS-CoV-2 and increased the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we
recommend that all people, particularly those suffering from SARS-CoV-2
infection, reduce their exposure to WCR as much as reasonably achievable until
further research better clarifies the systemic health effects associated with
chronic WCR exposure.
Keywords: COVID-19, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease-19, severe acute
respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2, electromagnetic stress, electromagnetic
fields, environmental factor, microwave, millimeter wave, pandemic, public
health, radio frequency, radiofrequency, wirelessGo to:
1. Introduction
1.1. Background
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been the focus of international public
health policy since 2020. Despite unprecedented public health protocols to
quell the pandemic, the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise. We propose
a reassessment of our public health strategies.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the simplest
model of disease causation is the epidemiological triad consisting of three
interactive factors: the agent (pathogen), the environment, and the health
status of the host [1]. Extensive research is being done on the agent, severe
acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Risk factors that make a
host more likely to succumb to the disease have been elucidated. However,
environmental factors have not been sufficiently explored. In this paper, we
investigated the role of wireless communication radiation (WCR), a widespread
environmental stressor.
We explore the scientific evidence suggesting a possible relationship between
COVID-19 and radiofrequency radiation related to wireless communications
technology including fifth generation (5G) of wireless communications
technology, henceforth referred to as WCR. WCR has already been recognized as a
form of environmental pollution and physiological stressor [2]. Assessing the
potentially detrimental health effects of WCR may be crucial to develop an
effective, rational public health policy that may help expedite eradication of
the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, because we are on the verge of worldwide 5G
deployment, it is critical to consider the possible damaging health effects of
WCR before the public is potentially harmed.
5G is a protocol that will use high frequency bands and extensive bandwidths of
the electromagnetic spectrum in the vast radiofrequency range from 600 MHz to
nearly 100 GHz, which includes millimeter waves (>20 GHz), in addition to the
currently used third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) long-term
evolution (LTE) microwave bands. 5G frequency spectrum allocations differ from
country to country. Focused pulsed beams of radiation will emit from new base
stations and phased array antennas placed close to buildings whenever persons
access the 5G network. Because these high frequencies are strongly absorbed by
the atmosphere and especially during rain, a transmitter’s range is limited to
300 meters. Therefore, 5G requires base stations and antennas to be much more
closely spaced than previous generations. Plus, satellites in space will emit
5G bands globally to create a wireless worldwide web. The new system therefore
requires significant densification of 4G infrastructure as well as new 5G
antennas that may dramatically increase the population’s WCR exposure both
inside structures and outdoors. Approximately 100,000 emitting satellites are
planned to be launched into orbit. This infrastructure will significantly alter
the world’s electromagnetic environment to unprecedented levels and may cause
unknown consequences to the entire biosphere, including humans. The new
infrastructure will service the new 5G devices, including 5G mobile phones,
routers, computers, tablets, self-driving vehicles, machine-to-machine
communications, and the Internet of Things.
The global industry standard for 5G is set by the 3G Partnership Project
(3GPP), which is an umbrella term for several organizations developing standard
protocols for mobile telecommunications. The 5G standard specifies all key
aspects of the technology, including frequency spectrum allocation,
beam-forming, beam steering, multiplexing multiple in, multiple out schemes, as
well as modulation schemes, among others. 5G will utilize from 64 to 256
antennas at short distances to serve virtually simultaneously a large number of
devices within a cell. The latest finalized 5G standard, Release 16, is
codified in the 3GPP published Technical Report TR 21.916 and may be downloaded
from the 3GPP server at https://www.3gpp.org/specifications. Engineers claim ;
that 5G will offer performance up to 10 times that of current 4G networks [3].
COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China in December 2019, shortly after city-wide 5G had
“gone live,” that is, become an operational system, on October 31, 2019.
COVID-19 outbreaks soon followed in other areas where 5G had also been at least
partially implemented, including South Korea, Northern Italy, New York City,
Seattle, and Southern California. In May 2020, Mordachev [4] reported a
statistically significant correlation between the intensity of radiofrequency
radiation and the mortality from SARS-CoV-2 in 31 countries throughout the
world. During the first pandemic wave in the United States, COVID-19 attributed
cases and deaths were statistically higher in states and major cities with 5G
infrastructure as compared with states and cities that did not yet have this
technology [5].
There is a large body of peer reviewed literature, since before World War II,
on the biological effects of WCR that impact many aspects of our health. In
examining this literature, we found intersections between the pathophysiology
of SARS-CoV-2 and detrimental bioeffects of WCR exposure. Here, we present the
evidence suggesting that WCR has been a possible contributing factor
exacerbating COVID-19.
1.2. Overview on COVID-19
The clinical presentation of COVID-19 has proven to be highly variable, with a
wide range of symptoms and variability from case to case. According to the CDC,
early disease symptoms may include sore throat, headache, fever, cough, chills,
among others. More severe symptoms including shortness of breath, high fever,
and severe fatigue may occur in a later stage. The neurological sequela of
taste and smell loss has also been described.
Ing et al. [6] determined 80% of those affected have mild symptoms or none, but
older populations and those with comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes,
and obesity, have a greater risk for severe disease [7]. Acute respiratory
distress syndrome (ARDS) can rapidly occur [8] and cause severe shortness of
breath as endothelial cells lining blood vessels and epithelial cells lining
airways lose their integrity, and protein rich fluid leaks into adjacent air
sacs. COVID-19 can cause insufficient oxygen levels (hypoxia) that have been
seen in up to 80% of intensive care unit (ICU) patients [9] exhibiting
respiratory distress. Decreased oxygenation and elevated carbon dioxide levels
in patients’ blood have been observed, although the etiology for these findings
remains unclear.
Massive oxidative damage to the lungs has been observed in areas of airspace
opacification documented on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT)
scans in patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia [10]. This cellular stress may
indicate a biochemical rather than a viral etiology [11].
Because disseminated virus can attach itself to cells containing an
angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor; it can spread and damage
organs and soft tissues throughout the body, including the lungs, heart,
intestines, kidneys, blood vessels, fat, testes, and ovaries, among others. The
disease can increase systemic inflammation and induce a hypercoagulable state.
Without anticoagulation, intravascular blood clots can be devastating [12].
In COVID-19 patients referred to as “long-haulers,” symptoms can wax and wane
for months [13]. Shortness of breath, fatigue, joint pain, and chest pain can
become persistent symptoms. Post-infectious brain fog, cardiac arrhythmia, and
new onset hypertension have also been described. Long-term chronic
complications of COVID-19 are being defined as epidemiological data are
collected over time.
As our understanding of COVID-19 continues to evolve, environmental factors,
particularly those of wireless communication electromagnetic fields, remain
unexplored variables that may be contributing to the disease including its
severity in some patients. Next, we summarize the bioeffects of WCR exposure
from the peer reviewed scientific literature published over decades.
1.3. Overview on bioeffects of WCR exposure
Organisms are electrochemical beings. Low-level WCR from devices, including
mobile telephony base antennas, wireless network protocols utilized for the
local networking of devices and internet access, trademarked as Wi-Fi
(officially IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence protocol; IEEE, Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers) by the Wi-Fi alliance, and mobile phones,
among others, may disrupt regulation of numerous physiological functions.
Non-thermal bioeffects (below the power density that causes tissue heating)
from very low-level WCR exposure have been reported in numerous peer-reviewed
scientific publications at power densities below the International Commission
on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) exposure guidelines [14].
Low-level WCR has been found to impact the organism at all levels of
organization, from the molecular to the cellular, physiological, behavioral,
and psychological levels. Moreover, it has been shown to cause systemic
detrimental health effects including increased cancer risk [15], endocrine
changes [16], increased free radical production [17], deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) damage [18], changes to the reproductive system [19], learning and memory
defects [20], and neurological disorders [21]. Having evolved within Earth’s
extremely low-level natural radiofrequency background, organisms lack the
ability to adapt to heightened levels of unnatural radiation of wireless
communications technology with digital modulation that includes short intense
pulses (bursts).
The peer-reviewed world scientific literature has documented evidence for
detrimental bioeffects from WCR exposure including 5G frequencies over several
decades. The Soviet and Eastern European literature from 1960 to 1970s
demonstrates significant biological effects, even at exposure levels more than
1000 times below 1 mW/cm2, the current guideline for maximum public exposure in
the US. Eastern studies on animal and human subjects were performed at low
exposure levels (<1 mW/cm2) for long durations (typically months). Adverse
bioeffects from WCR exposure levels below 0.001 mW/cm2 have also been
documented in the Western literature. Damage to human sperm viability including
DNA fragmentation by internet-connected laptop computers at power densities
from 0.0005 to 0.001 mW/cm2 has been reported [22]. Chronic human exposure to
0.000006 – 0.00001 mW/cm2 produced significant changes in human stress hormones
following a mobile phone base station installation [23]. Human exposures to
cell phone radiation at 0.00001 – 0.00005 mW/cm2 resulted in complaints of
headache, neurological problems, sleep problems, and concentration problems,
corresponding to “microwave sickness” [24,25]. The effects of WCR on prenatal
development in mice placed near an “antenna park” exposed to power densities
from 0.000168 to 0.001053 mW/cm2 showed a progressive decrease in the number of
newborns and ended in irreversible infertility [26]. Most US research has been
performed over short durations of weeks or less. In recent years, there have
been few long-term studies on animals or humans.
Illness from WCR exposure has been documented since the early use of radar.
Prolonged exposure to microwaves and millimeter waves from radar was associated
with various disorders termed “radio-wave sickness” decades ago by Russian
scientists. A wide variety of bioeffects from nonthermal power densities of WCR
were reported by Soviet research groups since the 1960s. A bibliography of over
3700 references on the reported biological effects in the world scientific
literature was published in 1972 (revised 1976) by the US Naval Medical
Research Institute [27,28]. Several relevant Russian studies are summarized as
follows. Research on Escherichia coli bacteria cultures show power density
windows for microwave resonance effects for 51.755 GHz stimulation of bacterial
growth, observed at extremely low power densities of 10−13 mW/cm2 [29],
illustrating an extremely low level bioeffect. More recently Russian studies
confirmed earlier results of Soviet research groups on the effects of 2.45 GHz
at 0.5 mW/cm2 on rats (30 days exposure for 7 h/day), demonstrating the
formation of antibodies to the brain (autoimmune response) and stress reactions
[30]. In a long-term (1 – 4 year) study comparing children who use mobile
phones to a control group, functional changes, including greater fatigue,
decreased voluntary attention, and weakening of semantic memory, among other
adverse psychophysiological changes, were reported [31]. Key Russian research
reports that underlie the scientific basis for Soviet and Russian WCR exposure
guidelines to protect the public, which are much lower than the US guidelines,
have been summarized [32].
By comparison to the exposure levels employed in these studies, we measured the
ambient level of WCR from 100 MHz to 8 GHz in downtown San Francisco,
California in December, 2020, and found an average power density of 0.0002
mW/cm2. This level is from the superposition of multiple WCR devices. It is
approximately 2 × 1010 times above the natural background.
Pulsed radio-frequency radiation such as WCR exhibits substantially different
bioeffects, both qualitatively and quantitatively (generally more pronounced)
compared to continuous waves at similar time-averaged power densities [33-36].
The specific interaction mechanisms are not well understood. All types of
wireless communications employ extremely low frequency (ELFs) in the modulation
of the radiofrequency carrier signals, typically pulses to increase the
capacity of information transmitted. This combination of radiofrequency
radiation with ELF modulation(s) is generally more bioactive, as it is surmised
that organisms cannot readily adapt to such rapidly changing wave forms
[37-40]. Therefore, the presence of ELF components of radiofrequency waves from
pulsing or other modulations must be considered in studies on the bioeffects of
WCR. Unfortunately, the reporting of such modulations has been unreliable,
especially in older studies [41].
The BioInitiative Report [42], authored by 29 experts from ten countries, and
updated in 2020, provides a scholarly contemporary summary of the literature on
the bioeffects and health consequences from WCR exposure, including a
compendium of supporting research. Recent reviews have been published [43-46].
Two comprehensive reviews on the bioeffects of millimeter waves report that
even short-term exposures produce marked bioeffects [47,48].
Go to:
2. Methods
An ongoing literature study of the unfolding pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 was
performed. To investigate a possible connection to bioeffects from WCR
exposure, we examined over 250 peer-reviewed research reports from 1969 to
2021, including reviews and studies on cells, animals, and humans. We included
the world literature in English and Russian reports translated to English, on
radio frequencies from 600 MHz to 90 GHz, the carrier wave spectrum of WCR (2G
to 5G inclusive), with particular emphasis on nonthermal, low power densities
(<1 mW/cm2), and long-term exposures. The following search terms were used in
queries in MEDLINE® and the Defense Technical Information Center
(https://discover.dtic.mil) to find relevant study reports: radiofrequency
radiation, microwave, millimeter wave, radar, MHz, GHz, blood, red blood cell,
erythrocyte, hemoglobin, hemodynamic, oxygen, hypoxia, vascular, inflammation,
pro-inflammatory, immune, lymphocyte, T cell, cytokine, intracellular calcium,
sympathetic function, arrhythmia, heart, cardiovascular, oxidative stress,
glutathione, reactive oxygen species (ROS), COVID-19, virus, and SARS-CoV-2.
Occupational studies on WCR exposed workers were included in the study. Our
approach is akin to Literature-Related Discovery, in which two concepts that
have heretofore not been linked are explored in the literature searches to look
for linkage(s) to produce novel, interesting, plausible, and intelligible
knowledge, that is, potential discovery [49]. From analysis of these studies in
comparison with new information unfolding on the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2,
we identified several ways in which adverse bioeffects of WCR exposure
intersect with COVID-19 manifestations and organized our findings into five
categories.
Go to:
3. Results
Table 1 lists the manifestations common to COVID-19 including disease
progression and the corresponding adverse bioeffects from WCR exposure.
Although these effects are delineated into categories — blood changes,
oxidative stress, immune system disruption and activation, increased
intracellular calcium (Ca2+), and cardiac effects — it must be emphasized that
these effects are not independent of each other. For example, blood clotting
and inflammation have overlapping mechanisms, and oxidative stress is
implicated in erythrocyte morphological changes as well as in hypercoagulation,
inflammation, and organ damage.
Table 1
Bioeffects of Wireless Communication Radiation (WCR) exposure in relation to
COVID-19 manifestations and their progression
| Wireless communications radiation (WCR) exposure bioeffects | COVID-19
manifestations |
| Blood changes
Short-term: rouleaux, echinocytes
Long-term: reduced blood clotting time, reduced hemoglobin, hemodynamic
disorders | Blood changes
Rouleaux, echinocytes
Hemoglobin effects; vascular effects
→Reduced hemoglobin in severe disease; autoimmune hemolytic anemia; hypoxemia
and hypoxia
→Endothelial injury; impaired microcirculation; hypercoagulation; disseminated
intravascular coagulopathy (DIC); pulmonary embolism; stroke |
| Oxidative stress
Glutathione level decrease; free radicals and lipid peroxide increase;
superoxide dismutase activity decrease; oxidative injury in tissues and organs
| Oxidative stress
Glutathione level decrease; free radical increase and damage;
apoptosis→Oxidative injury; organ damage in severe disease |
| Immune system disruption and activation
Immune suppression in some studies; immune hyperactivation in other studies
Long-term: suppression of T-lymphocytes; inflammatory biomarkers increased;
autoimmunity; organ injury | Immune system disruption and activation
Decreased production of T-lymphocytes; elevated inflammatory biomarkers.
→Immune hyperactivation and inflammation; cytokine storm in severe disease;
cytokine-induced hypo-perfusion with resulting hypoxia; organ injury; organ
failure |
| Increased intracellular calcium
From activation of voltage-gated calcium channels on cell membranes, with
numerous secondary effects | Increased intracellular calcium
→Increased virus entry, replication, and release
→Increased NF-κB, pro-inflammatory processes, coagulation, and thrombosis |
| Cardiac effects
Up-regulation of sympathetic nervous system; palpitations and arrhythmias |
Cardiac effects
Arrhythmias
→Myocarditis; myocardial ischemia; cardiac injury; cardiac failure |
Open in a separate window
Supportive evidence including study details and citations are provided in the
text under each subject heading, i.e., blood changes, oxidative stress, etc.
3.1. Blood changes
WCR exposure can cause morphologic changes in blood readily seen through phase
contrast or dark-field microscopy of live peripheral blood samples. In 2013,
Havas observed erythrocyte aggregation including rouleaux (rolls of stacked red
blood cells) in live peripheral blood samples following 10 min human exposure
to a 2.4 GHz cordless phone [50]. Although not peer reviewed, one of us (Rubik)
investigated the effect of 4G LTE mobile phone radiation on the peripheral
blood of ten human subjects, each of whom had been exposed to cell phone
radiation for two consecutive 45-min intervals [51]. Two types of effects were
observed: increased stickiness and clumping of red blood cells with rouleaux
formation, and subsequent formation of echinocytes (spiky red blood cells). Red
blood cell clumping and aggregation are known to be actively involved in blood
clotting [52]. The prevalence of this phenomenon on exposure to WCR in the
human population has not yet been determined. Larger controlled studies should
be performed to further investigate this phenomenon.
Similar red blood cell changes have been described in peripheral blood of
COVID-19 patients [53]. Rouleaux formation has been observed in 1/3 of COVID-19
patients, whereas spherocytes and echinocyte formation is more variable. Spike
protein engagement with ACE2 receptors on cells lining the blood vessels can
lead to endothelial damage, even when isolated [54]. Rouleaux formation,
particularly in the setting of underlying endothelial damage, can clog the
microcirculation, impeding oxygen transport, contributing to hypoxia, and
increasing the risk of thrombosis [52]. Thrombogenesis associated with
SARS-CoV-2 infection may also be caused by direct viral binding to ACE2
receptors on platelets [55].
Additional blood effects have been observed in both humans and animals exposed
to WCR. In 1977, a Russian study reported that rodents irradiated with 5 – 8 mm
waves (60 – 37 GHz) at 1 mW/cm2 for 15 min/day over 60 days developed
hemodynamic disorders, suppressed red blood cell formation, reduced hemoglobin,
and an inhibition of oxygen utilization (oxidative phosphorylation by the
mitochondria) [56]. In 1978, a 3-year Russian study on 72 engineers exposed to
millimeter wave generators emitting at 1 mW/cm2 or less showed a decrease in
their hemoglobin levels and red blood cell counts, and a tendency toward
hypercoagulation, whereas a control group showed no changes [57]. Such
deleterious hematologic effects from WCR exposure may also contribute to the
development of hypoxia and blood clotting observed in COVID-19 patients.
It has been proposed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus attacks erythrocytes and causes
degradation of hemoglobin [11]. Viral proteins may attack the 1-beta chain of
hemoglobin and capture the porphyrin, along with other proteins from the virus
catalyzing the dissociation of iron from heme [58]. In principle this would
reduce the number of functional erythrocytes and cause the release of free iron
ions that could cause oxidative stress, tissue damage, and hypoxia. With
hemoglobin partially destroyed and lung tissue damaged by inflammation,
patients would be less able to exchange carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2),
and would become oxygen depleted. In fact, some COVID-19 patients show reduced
hemoglobin levels, measuring 7.1 g/L and even as low as 5.9 g/L in severe cases
[59]. Clinical studies of almost 100 patients from Wuhan revealed that the
hemoglobin levels in the blood of most patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 are
significantly lowered resulting in compromised delivery of oxygen to tissues
and organs [60]. In a meta-analysis of four studies with a total of 1210
patients and 224 with severe disease, hemoglobin values were reduced in
COVID-19 patients with severe disease compared to those with milder forms [59].
In another study on 601 COVID-19 patients, 14.7% of anemic COVID-19 ICU
patients and 9% of non-ICU COVID-19 patients had autoimmune hemolytic anemia
[61]. In patients with severe COVID-19 disease, decreased hemoglobin along with
elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein, lactate
dehydrogenase, albumin [62], serum ferritin [63], and low oxygen saturation
[64] provide additional support for this hypothesis. In addition, packed red
blood cell transfusion may promote recovery of COVID-19 patients with acute
respiratory failure [65].
In short, both WCR exposure and COVID-19 may cause deleterious effects on red
blood cells and reduced hemoglobin levels contributing to hypoxia in COVID-19.
Endothelial injury may further contribute to hypoxia and many of the vascular
complications seen in COVID-19 [66] that are discussed in the next section.
3.2. Oxidative stress
Oxidative stress is a non-specific pathological condition reflecting an
imbalance between an increased production of ROS and an inability of the
organism to detoxify the ROS or to repair the damage they cause to biomolecules
and tissues [67]. Oxidative stress can disrupt cell signaling, cause the
formation of stress proteins, and generate highly reactive free radicals, which
can cause DNA and cell membrane damage.
SARS-CoV-2 inhibits intrinsic pathways designed to reduce ROS levels, thereby
increasing morbidity. Immune dysregulation, that is, the upregulation of
interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) [68] and suppression of
interferon (IFN) α and IFN β [69] have been identified in the cytokine storm
accompanying severe COVID-19 infections and generates oxidative stress [10].
Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction may further perpetuate the
cytokine storm, worsening tissue damage, and increasing the risk of severe
illness and death.
Similarly low-level WCR generates ROS in cells that cause oxidative damage. In
fact, oxidative stress is considered to be one of the primary mechanisms in
which WCR exposure causes cellular damage. Among 100 currently available
peer-reviewed studies investigating oxidative effects of low-intensity WCR, 93
of these studies confirmed that WCR induces oxidative effects in biological
systems [17]. WCR is an oxidative agent with a high pathogenic potential
especially when exposure is continuous [70].
Oxidative stress is also an accepted mechanism causing endothelial damage [71].
This may manifest in patients with severe COVID-19 in addition to increasing
the risk for blood clot formation and worsening hypoxemia [10]. Low levels of
glutathione, the master antioxidant, have been observed in a small group of
COVID-19 patients, with the lowest level found in the most severe cases [72].
The finding of low glutathione levels in these patients further supports
oxidative stress as a component of this disease [72]. In fact, glutathione, the
major source of sulfhydryl-based antioxidant activity in the human body, may be
pivotal in COVID-19 [73]. Glutathione deficiency has been proposed as the most
likely cause of serious manifestations in COVID-19 [72]. The most common
co-morbidities, hypertension [74]; obesity [75]; diabetes [76]; and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease [74] support the concept that pre-existing
conditions causing low levels of glutathione may work synergistically to create
the “perfect storm” for both the respiratory and vascular complications of
severe infection. Another paper citing two cases of COVID-19 pneumonia treated
successfully with intravenous glutathione also supports this hypothesis [77].
Many studies report oxidative stress in humans exposed to WCR. Peraica et al.
[78] found diminished blood levels of glutathione in workers exposed to WCR
from radar equipment (0.01 mW/cm2 – 10 mW/cm2; 1.5 – 10.9 GHz). Garaj-Vrhovac
et al. [79] studied bioeffects following exposure to non-thermal pulsed
microwaves from marine radar (3 GHz, 5.5 GHz, and 9.4 GHz) and reported reduced
glutathione levels and increased malondialdehyde (marker for oxidative stress)
in an occupationally exposed group [79]. Blood plasma of individuals residing
near mobile phone base stations showed significantly reduced glutathione,
catalase, and superoxide dismutase levels over unexposed controls [80]. In a
study on human exposure to WCR from mobile phones, increased blood levels of
lipid peroxide were reported, while enzymatic activities of superoxide
dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in the red blood cells decreased,
indicating oxidative stress [81].
In a study on rats exposed to 2450 MHz (wireless router frequency), oxidative
stress was implicated in causing red blood cell lysis (hemolysis) [82]. In
another study, rats exposed to 945 MHz (base station frequency) at 0.367 mW/cm2
for 7 h/day, over 8 days, demonstrated low glutathione levels and increased
malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase enzyme activity, hallmarks for
oxidative stress [83]. In a long-term controlled study on rats exposed to 900
MHz (mobile phone frequency) at 0.0782 mW/cm2 for 2 h/day for 10 months, there
was a significant increase in malondialdehyde and total oxidant status over
controls [84]. In another long-term controlled study on rats exposed to two
mobile phone frequencies, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz, at power densities 0.04 –
0.127 mW/cm2 for 2 h/day over 7 months, significant alterations in
oxidant-antioxidant parameters, DNA strand breaks, and oxidative DNA damage
were found [85].
There is a correlation between oxidative stress and thrombogenesis [86]. ROS
can cause endothelial dysfunction and cellular damage. The endothelial lining
of the vascular system contains ACE2 receptors that are targeted by SARS-CoV-2.
The resulting endotheliitis can cause luminal narrowing and result in
diminished blood flow to downstream structures. Thrombi in arterial structures
can further obstruct blood flow causing ischemia and/or infarcts in involved
organs, including pulmonary emboli and strokes. Abnormal blood coagulation
leading to micro-emboli was a recognized complication early in the history of
COVID-19 [87]. Out of 184 ICU COVID-19 patients, 31% showed thrombotic
complications [88]. Cardiovascular clotting events are a common cause of
COVID-19 deaths [12]. Pulmonary embolism, disseminated intravascular
coagulation (DIC), liver, cardiac, and renal failure have all been observed in
COVID-19 patients [89].
Patients with the highest cardiovascular risk factors in COVID-19 includ males,
the elderly, diabetics, and obese and hypertensive patients. However, increased
incidence of strokes in younger patients with COVID-19 has also been described
[90].
Oxidative stress is caused by WCR exposure and is known to be implicated in
cardiovascular disease. Ubiquitous environmental exposure to WCR may contribute
to cardiovascular disease by creating a chronic state of oxidative stress [91].
This would lead to oxidative damage to cellular constituents and alter signal
transduction pathways. In addition, pulse-modulated WCR can cause oxidative
injury in liver, lung, testis, and heart tissues mediated by lipid
peroxidation, increased levels of nitric oxides, and suppression of the
antioxidant defense mechanism [92].
In summary, oxidative stress is a major component in the pathophysiology of
COVID-19 as well as in cellular damage caused by WCR exposure.
3.3. Immune system disruption and activation
When SARS-CoV-2 first infects the human body, it attacks cells lining the nose,
throat, and upper airway harboring ACE2 receptors. Once the virus gains access
to a host cell through one of its spike proteins, which are the multiple
protuberances projecting from the viral envelope that bind to ACE2 receptors,
it converts the cell into a virus self-replicating entity.
In response to COVID-19 infection, both an immediate systemic innate immune
response as well as a delayed adaptive response has been shown to occur [93].
The virus can also cause a dysregulation of the immune response, particularly
in the decreased production of T-lymphocytes. [94]. Severe cases tend to have
lower lymphocyte counts, higher leukocyte counts and neutrophil-lymphocyte
ratios, as well as lower percentages of monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils
[94]. Severe cases of COVID-19 show the greatest impairment in T-lymphocytes.
In comparison, low-level WCR studies on laboratory animals also show impaired
immune function [95]. Findings include physical alterations in immune cells, a
degradation of immunological responses, inflammation, and tissue damage.
Baranski [96] exposed guinea pigs and rabbits to continuous or pulse-modulated
3000 MHz microwaves at an average power density of 3.5 mW/cm2 for 3 h/day over
3 months and found nonthermal changes in lymphocyte counts, abnormalities in
nuclear structure, and mitosis in the erythroblastic cell series in the bone
marrow and in lymphoid cells in lymph nodes and spleen. Other investigators
have shown diminished T-lymphocytes or suppressed immune function in animals
exposed to WCR. Rabbits exposed to 2.1 GHz at 5mW/cm2 for 3 h/day, 6 days/week,
for 3 months, showed suppression of T-lymphocytes [97]. Rats exposed to 2.45
GHz and 9.7 GHz for 2 h/day, 7 days/week, for 21 months showed a significant
decrease in the levels of lymphocytes and an increase in mortality at 25 months
in the irradiated group [98]. Lymphocytes harvested from rabbits irradiated
with 2.45 GHz for 23 h/day for 6 months show a significant suppression in
immune response to a mitogen [99].
In 2009, Johansson conducted a literature review, which included the 2007
Bioinitiative Report. He concluded that electromagnetic fields (EMF) exposure,
including WCR, can disturb the immune system and cause allergic and
inflammatory responses at exposure levels significantly less than current
national and international safety limits and raise the risk for systemic
disease [100]. A review conducted by Szmigielski in 2013 concluded that weak
RF/microwave fields, such as those emitted by mobile phones, can affect various
immune functions both in vitro and in vivo [101]. Although the effects are
historically somewhat inconsistent, most research studies document alterations
in the number and activity of immune cells from RF exposure. In general,
short-term exposure to weak microwave radiation may temporarily stimulate an
innate or adaptive immune response, but prolonged irradiation inhibits those
same functions.
In the acute phase of COVID-19 infection, blood tests demonstrate elevated ESR,
C-reactive protein, and other elevated inflammatory markers [102], typical of
an innate immune response. Rapid viral replication can cause death of
epithelial and endothelial cells and result in leaky blood vessels and
pro-inflammatory cytokine release [103]. Cytokines, proteins, peptides, and
proteoglycans that modulate the body’s immune response, are modestly elevated
in patients with mild-to-moderate disease severity [104]. In those with severe
disease, an uncontrolled release of pro-inflammatory cytokines--a cytokine
storm--can occur. Cytokine storms originate from an imbalance in T-cell
activation with dysregulated release of IL-6, IL-17, and other cytokines.
Programmed cell death (apoptosis), ARDS, DIC, and multi-organ system failure
can all result from a cytokine storm and increase the risk of mortality.
By comparison, Soviet researchers found in the 1970s that radiofrequency
radiation can damage the immune system of animals. Shandala [105] exposed rats
to 0.5 mW/cm2 microwaves for 1 month, 7 h/day, and found impaired immune
competence and induction of autoimmune disease. Rats irradiated with 2.45 GHz
at 0.5 mW/cm2 for 7 h daily for 30 days produced autoimmune reactions, and 0.1
– 0.5 mW/cm2 produced persistent pathological immune reactions [106]. Exposure
to microwave radiation, even at low levels (0.1 – 0.5 mW/cm2), can impair
immune function, causing physical alterations in the essential cells of the
immune system and a degradation of immunologic responses [107]. Szabo et al.
[108] examined the effects of 61.2 GHz exposure on epidermal keratinocytes and
found an increase in IL-1b, a pro-inflammatory cytokine. Makar et al. [109]
found that immunosuppressed mice irradiated 30 min/day for 3 days by 42.2 GHz
showed increased levels of TNF-α, a cytokine produced by macrophages.
In short, COVID-19 can lead to immune dysregulation as well as cytokine storms.
By comparison, exposure to low-level WCR as observed in animal studies can also
compromise the immune system, with chronic daily exposure producing
immunosuppression or immune dysregulation including hyperactivation.
3.4. Increased intracellular calcium
In 1992, Walleczek first suggested that ELF electromagnetic fields (<3000 Hz)
may be affecting membrane-mediated Ca2+ signaling and lead to increased
intracellular Ca2+ [110]. The mechanism of irregular gating of voltage-gated
ion channels in cell membranes by polarized and coherent, oscillating electric
or magnetic fields was first presented in 2000 and 2002 [40,111]. Pall [112] in
his review of WCR-induced bioeffects combined with use of calcium channel
blockers (CCB) noted that voltage-gated calcium channels play a major role in
WCR bioeffects. Increased intracellular Ca+2 results from the activation of
voltage-gated calcium channels, and this may be one of the primary mechanisms
of action of WCR on organisms.
Intracellular Ca2+ is essential for virus entry, replication, and release. It
has been reported that some viruses can manipulate voltage-gated calcium
channels to increase intracellular Ca2+ thereby facilitating viral entry and
replication [113]. Research has shown that the interaction between a virus and
voltage-gated calcium channels promote virus entry at the virus-host cell
fusion step [113]. Thus, after the virus binds to its receptor on a host cell
and enters the cell through endocytosis, the virus takes over the host cell to
manufacture its components. Certain viral proteins then manipulate calcium
channels, thereby increasing intracellular Ca2+, which facilitates further
viral replication.
Even though direct evidence has not been reported, there is indirect evidence
that increased intracellular Ca2+ may be involved in COVID-19. In a recent
study, elderly hospitalized COVID-19 patients treated with CCBs, amlodipine or
nifedipine, were more likely to survive and less likely to require intubation
or mechanical ventilation than controls [114]. Furthermore, CCBs strongly limit
SARS-CoV-2 entry and infection in cultured epithelial lung cells [115]. CCBs
also block the increase of intracellular Ca2+ caused by WCR exposure as well as
exposure to other electromagnetic fields [112].
Intracellular Ca2+ is a ubiquitous second messenger relaying signals received
by cell surface receptors to effector proteins involved in numerous biochemical
processes. Increased intracellular Ca2+ is a significant factor in upregulation
of transcription nuclear factor KB (NF-κB) [116], an important regulator of
pro-inflammatory cytokine production as well as coagulation and thrombotic
cascades. NF-κB is hypothesized to be a key factor underlying severe clinical
manifestations of COVID-19 [117].
In short, WCR exposure, therefore, may enhance the infectivity of the virus by
increasing intracellular Ca2+ that may also indirectly contribute to
inflammatory processes and thrombosis.
3.5. Cardiac effects
Cardiac arrhythmias are more commonly encountered in critically ill patients
with COVID-19 [118]. The cause for arrhythmia in COVID-19 patients is
multifactorial and includes cardiac and extra-cardiac processes [119]. Direct
infection of the heart muscle by SARS-CoV-19 causing myocarditis, myocardial
ischemia caused by a variety of etiologies, and heart strain secondary to
pulmonary or systemic hypertension can result in cardiac arrhythmia. Hypoxemia
caused by diffuse pneumonia, ARDS, or extensive pulmonary emboli represent
extra-cardiac causes of arrhythmia. Electrolyte imbalances, intravascular fluid
imbalance, and side effects from pharmacologic regimens can also result in
arrhythmias in COVID-19 patients. Patients admitted to ICUs have been shown to
have a higher increase in cardiac arrhythmias, 16.5% in one study [120].
Although no correlation between EMFs and arrhythmia in COVID-19 patients has
been described in the literature, many ICUs are equipped with wireless patient
monitoring equipment and communication devices producing a wide range of EMF
pollution [121].
COVID-19 patients commonly show increased levels of cardiac troponin,
indicating damage to the heart muscle [122]. Cardiac damage has been associated
with arrhythmias and increased mortality. Cardiac injury is thought to be more
often secondary to pulmonary emboli and viral sepsis, but direct infection of
the heart, that is, myocarditis, can occur through direct viral binding to ACE2
receptors on cardiac pericytes, affecting local, and regional cardiac blood
flow [60].
Immune system activation along with alterations in the immune system may result
in atherosclerotic plaque instability and vulnerability, that is, presenting an
increased risk for thrombus formation, and contributing to development of acute
coronary events and cardiovascular disease in COVID-19.
Regarding WCR exposure bioeffects, in 1969 Christopher Dodge of the Biosciences
Division, U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington DC, reviewed 54 papers and
reported that radiofrequency radiation can adversely affect all major systems
of the body, including impeding blood circulation; altering blood pressure and
heart rate; affecting electrocardiograph readings; and causing chest pain and
heart palpitations [123]. In the 1970s Glaser reviewed more than 2000
publications on radiofrequency radiation exposure bioeffects and concluded that
microwave radiation can alter the electrocardiogram, cause chest pain,
hypercoagulation, thrombosis, and hypertension in addition to myocardial
infarction [27,28]. Seizures, convulsions, and alteration of the autonomic
nervous system response (increased sympathetic stress response) have also been
observed.
Since then, many other researchers have concluded that WCR exposure can affect
the cardiovascular system. Although the nature of the primary response to
millimeter waves and consequent events are poorly understood, a possible role
for receptor structures and neural pathways in the development of continuous
millimeter wave-induced arrhythmia has been proposed [47]. In 1997, a review
reported that some investigators discovered cardiovascular changes including
arrhythmias in humans from long-term low-level exposure to WCR including
microwaves [124]. However, the literature also shows some unconfirmed findings
as well as some contradictory findings [125]. Havas et al. [126] reported that
human subjects in a controlled, double-blinded study were hyper-reactive when
exposed to 2.45 GHz, digitally pulsed (100 Hz) microwave radiation, developing
either an arrhythmia or tachycardia and upregulation of the sympathetic nervous
system, which is associated with the stress response. Saili et al. [127] found
that exposure to Wi-Fi (2.45 GHz pulsed at 10 Hz) affects heart rhythm, blood
pressure, and the efficacy of catecholamines on the cardiovascular system,
indicating that WCR can act directly and/or indirectly on the cardiovascular
system. Most recently, Bandara and Weller [91] present evidence that people who
live near radar installations (millimeter waves: 5G frequencies) have a greater
risk of developing cancer and experiencing heart attacks. Similarly, those
occupationally exposed have a greater risk of coronary heart disease. Microwave
radiation affects the heart, and some people are more vulnerable if they have
an underlying heart abnormality [128]. More recent research suggests that
millimeter waves may act directly on the pacemaker cells of the sinoatrial node
of the heart to change the beat frequency, which may underlie arrhythmias and
other cardiac issues [47].
In short, both COVID-19 and WCR exposure can affect the heart and
cardiovascular system, directly and/or indirectly.
Go to:
4. Discussion
Epidemiologists, including those at the CDC, consider multiple causal factors
when evaluating the virulence of an agent and understanding its ability to
spread and cause disease. Most importantly, these variables include
environmental cofactors and the health status of the host. Evidence from the
literature summarized here suggests a possible connection between several
adverse health effects of WCR exposure and the clinical course of COVID-19 in
that WCR may have worsened the COVID-19 pandemic by weakening the host and
exacerbating COVID-19 disease. However, none of the observations discussed here
prove this linkage. Specifically, the evidence does not confirm causation.
Clearly COVID-19 occurs in regions with little wireless communication.
Furthermore, the relative morbidity caused by WCR exposure in COVID-19 is
unknown.
We recognize that many factors have influenced the pandemic’s course. Before
restrictions were imposed, travel patterns facilitated the seeding of the
virus, causing early rapid global spread. Population density, higher mean
population age, and socioeconomic factors certainly influenced early viral
spread. Air pollution, especially particulate matter PM2.5 (2.5
micro-particulates), likely increased symptoms in patients with COVID-19 lung
disease [129].
We postulate that WCR possibly contributed to the early spread and severity of
COVID-19. Once an agent becomes established in a community, its virulence
increases [130]. This premise can be applied to the COVID-19 pandemic. We
surmise that “hot spots” of the disease that initially spread around the world
were perhaps seeded by air travel, which in some areas were associated with 5G
implementation. However, once the disease became established in those
communities, it was able to spread more easily to neighboring regions where
populations were less exposed to WCR. Second and third waves of the pandemic
disseminated widely throughout communities with and without WCR, as might be
expected.
The COVID-19 pandemic has offered us an opportunity to delve further into the
potential adverse effects of WCR exposure on human health. Human exposure to
ambient WCR significantly increased in 2020 as a “side effect” to the pandemic.
Stay-at-home measures designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 inadvertently
resulted in greater public exposure to WCR, as people conducted more business
and school related activities through wireless communications. Telemedicine
created another source of WCR exposure. Even hospital inpatients, particular
ICU patients, experienced increased WCR exposure as new monitoring devices
utilized wireless communication systems that may exacerbate health disorders.
It would potentially provide valuable information to measure ambient WCR power
densities in home and work environments when comparing disease severity in
patient populations with similar risk factors.
The question of causation could be investigated in future studies. For example,
a clinical study could be conducted in COVID-19 patient populations with
similar risk factors, to measure the WCR daily dose in COVID-19 patients and
look for a correlation with disease severity and progression over time. As
wireless device carrier frequencies and modulations may differ, and the power
densities of WCR fluctuate constantly at a given location, this study would
require patients to wear personal microwave dosimeters (monitoring badges). In
addition, controlled laboratory studies could be conducted on animals, for
example, humanized mice infected with SARS-CoV-2, in which groups of animals
exposed to minimal WCR (control group) as well as medium and high power
densities of WCR could be compared for disease severity and progression.
A major strength of this paper is that the evidence rests on a large body of
scientific literature reported by many scientists worldwide and over several
decades--experimental evidence of adverse bioeffects of WCR exposure at
nonthermal levels on humans, animals, and cells. The Bioinitiative Report [42],
updated in 2020, summarizes hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers
documenting evidence of nonthermal effects from exposures ≤1 mW/cm2. Even so,
some laboratory studies on the adverse health effects of WCR have sometimes
utilized power densities exceeding 1mW/cm2. In this paper, almost all of the
studies that we reviewed included experimental data at power densities ≤1
mW/cm2.
A potential criticism of this paper is that adverse bioeffects from nonthermal
exposures are not yet universally accepted in science. Moreover, they are not
yet considered in establishing public health policy in many nations. Decades
ago, Russians and Eastern Europeans compiled considerable data on nonthermal
bioeffects, and subsequently set guidelines at lower radiofrequency radiation
exposure limits than the US and Canada, that is, below levels where nonthermal
effects are observed. However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, a US
government entity) and ICNIRP guidelines operate on thermal limits based on
outdated data from decades ago, allowing the public to be exposed to
considerably higher radiofrequency radiation power densities. Regarding 5G, the
telecommunication industry claims that it is safe because it complies with
current radiofrequency radiation exposure guidelines of the FCC and ICNIRP.
These guidelines were established in 1996 [131], are antiquated, and are not
safety standards. Thus, there are no universally accepted safety standards for
wireless communication radiation exposure. Recently international bodies, such
as the EMF Working Group of the European Academy of Environmental Medicine,
have proposed much lower guidelines, taking into account nonthermal bioeffects
from WCR exposure in multiple sources [132].
Another weakness of this paper is that some of the bioeffects from WCR exposure
are inconsistently reported in the literature. Replicated studies are often not
true replications. Small differences in method, including unreported details,
such as prior history of exposure of the organisms, non-uniform body exposure,
and other variables can lead to inadvertent inconsistency. Moreover, not
surprisingly, industry-sponsored studies tend to show less adverse bioeffects
than studies conducted by independent researchers, suggesting industry bias
[133]. Some experimental studies that are not industry-sponsored have also
shown no evidence of harmful effects of WCR exposure. It is noteworthy,
however, that studies employing real-life WCR exposures from commercially
available devices have shown high consistency in revealing adverse effects
[134].
WCR bioeffects depend on specific values of wave parameters including
frequency, power density, polarization, exposure duration, modulation
characteristics, as well as the cumulative history of exposure and background
levels of electromagnetic, electric and magnetic fields. In laboratory studies,
bioeffects observed also depend on genetic parameters and physiological
parameters such as oxygen concentration [135]. The reproducibility of
bioeffects of WCR exposure has sometimes been difficult due to failure to
report and/or control all of these parameters. Similar to ionizing radiation,
the bioeffects of WCR exposure can be subdivided into deterministic, that is,
dose-dependent effects and stochastic effects that are seemingly random.
Importantly, WCR bioeffects can also involve “response windows” of specific
parameters whereby extremely low-level fields can have disproportionally
detrimental effects [136]. This nonlinearity of WCR bioeffects can result in
biphasic responses such as immune suppression from one range of parameters, and
immune hyperactivation from another range of parameters, leading to variations
that may appear inconsistent.
In gathering reports and examining existing data for this paper, we looked for
outcomes providing evidence to support a proposed connection between the
bioeffects of WCR exposure and COVID-19. We did not make an attempt to weigh
the evidence. The radiofrequency radiation exposure literature is extensive and
currently contains over 30,000 research reports dating back several decades.
Inconsistencies in nomenclature, reporting of details, and cataloging of
keywords make it difficult to navigate this enormous literature.
Another shortcoming of this paper is that we do not have access to experimental
data on 5G exposures. In fact, little is known about population exposure from
real-world WCR, which includes exposure to WCR infrastructure and the plethora
of WCR emitting devices. In relation to this, it is difficult to accurately
quantify the average power density at a given location, which varies greatly,
depending on the time, specific location, time-averaging interval, frequency,
and modulation scheme. For a specific municipality it depends on the antenna
density, which network protocols are used, as, for example, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G,
Wi-Fi, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), DECT (Digitally
Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications), and RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging).
There is also WCR from ubiquitous radio wave transmitters, including antennas,
base stations, smart meters, mobile phones, routers, satellites, and other
wireless devices currently in use. All of these signals superimpose to yield
the total average power density at a given location that typically fluctuates
greatly over time. No experimental studies on adverse health effects or safety
issues of 5G have been reported, and none are currently planned by the
industry, although this is sorely needed.
Finally, there is an inherent complexity to WCR that makes it very difficult to
fully characterize wireless signals in the real world that may be associated
with adverse bioeffects. Real world digital communication signals, even from
single wireless devices, have highly variable signals: variable power density,
frequency, modulation, phase, and other parameters changing constantly and
unpredictably each moment, as associated with the short, rapid pulsations used
in digital wireless communication [137]. For example, in using a mobile phone
during a typical phone conversation, the intensity of emitted radiation varies
significantly each moment depending on signal reception, number of subscribers
sharing the frequency band, location within the wireless infrastructure,
presence of objects and metallic surfaces, and “speaking” versus “non-speaking”
mode, among others. Such variations may reach 100% of the average signal
intensity. The carrier radiofrequency constantly changes between different
values within the available frequency band. The greater the amount of
information (text, speech, internet, video, etc.), the more complex the
communication signals become. Therefore, we cannot estimate accurately the
values of these signal parameters including ELF components or predict their
variability over time. Thus, studies on the bioeffects of WCR in the laboratory
can only be representative of real-world exposures [137].
This paper points to the need for further research on nonthermal WCR exposure
and its potential role in COVID-19. Moreover, some of the WCR exposure
bioeffects that we discuss here — oxidative stress, inflammation, and immune
system disruption — are common to many chronic diseases, including autoimmune
disease and diabetes. Thus, we hypothesize that WCR exposure may also be a
potential contributing factor in many chronic diseases.
When a course of action raises threats of harm to human health, precautionary
measures should be taken, even if clear causal relationships are not yet fully
established. Therefore, we must apply the Precautionary Principle [138]
regarding wireless 5G. The authors urge policymakers to execute an immediate
worldwide moratorium on wireless 5G infrastructure until its safety can be
assured.
Several unresolved safety issues should be addressed before wireless 5G is
further implemented. Questions have been raised about 60 GHz, a key 5G
frequency planned for extensive use, which is a resonant frequency of the
oxygen molecule [139]. It is possible that adverse bioeffects might ensue from
oxygen absorption of 60 GHz. In addition, water shows broad absorption in the
GHz spectral region along with resonance peaks, for example, strong absorption
at 2.45 GHz that is used in 4G Wi-Fi routers. This raises safety issues about
GHz exposure of the biosphere, since organisms are comprised of mostly water,
and changes in the structure of water due to GHz absorption have been reported
that affect organisms [140]. Bioeffects from prolonged WCR exposure of the
whole body need to be investigated in animal and human studies, and long-term
exposure guidelines need to be considered. Independent scientists in particular
should conduct concerted research to determine the biological effects of
real-world exposure to WCR frequencies with digital modulation from the
multiplicity of wireless communication devices. Testing could also include
real-life exposures to multiple toxins (chemical and biological) [141], because
multiple toxins may lead to synergistic effects. Environmental impact
assessments are also needed. Once the long-term biological effects of wireless
5G are understood, we can set clear safety standards of public exposure limits
and design an appropriate strategy for safe deployment.
Go to:
5. Conclusion
There is a substantial overlap in pathobiology between COVID-19 and WCR
exposure. The evidence presented here indicates that mechanisms involved in the
clinical progression of COVID-19 could also be generated, according to
experimental data, by WCR exposure. Therefore, we propose a link between
adverse bioeffects of WCR exposure from wireless devices and COVID-19.
Specifically, evidence presented here supports a premise that WCR and, in
particular, 5G, which involves densification of 4G, may have exacerbated the
COVID-19 pandemic by weakening host immunity and increasing SARS-CoV-2
virulence by (1) causing morphologic changes in erythrocytes including
echinocyte and rouleaux formation that may be contributing to hypercoagulation;
(2) impairing microcirculation and reducing erythrocyte and hemoglobin levels
exacerbating hypoxia; (3) amplifying immune dysfunction, including
immunosuppression, autoimmunity, and hyperinflammation; (4) increasing cellular
oxidative stress and the production of free radicals exacerbating vascular
injury and organ damage; (5) increasing intracellular Ca2+ essential for viral
entry, replication, and release, in addition to promoting pro-inflammatory
pathways; and (6) worsening heart arrhythmias and cardiac disorders.
WCR exposure is a widespread, yet often neglected, environmental stressor that
can produce a wide range of adverse bioeffects. For decades, independent
research scientists worldwide have emphasized the health risks and cumulative
damage caused by WCR [42,45]. The evidence presented here is consistent with a
large body of established research. Healthcare workers and policymakers should
consider WCR a potentially toxic environmental stressor. Methods for reducing
WCR exposure should be provided to all patients and the general population.
Go to:
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge small contributions to early versions of this paper by
Magda Havas and Lyn Patrick. We are grateful to Susan Clarke for helpful
discussions and suggested edits of early drafts of the manuscript.
Go to:
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in preparing and
publishing this manuscript. No competing financial interests exist.
Go to:
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»
- Evidence for a connection between COVID-19 and exposure to radiofrequency
radiation from wireless communications including 5G
2021 Oct 26; 7(5): 666–681.Published online 2021 Sep 29.
Evidence for a connection between COVID-19 and exposure to radiofrequency
radiation from wireless communications including 5G
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Beverly Rubik, Robert R. Brown
Corresponding author: Beverly Rubik College of Integrative Medicine & Health
Sciences, Saybrook University, Pasadena CA; Institute for Frontier Science,
Oakland, CA, USA
Handeling editor:
Michal Heger
Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht University, the Netherlands Department of
Pharmaceutics, Jiaxing University Medical College, Zhejiang, China
Review timeline:
Received: 10 March, 2021
Editorial decision: 12 May, 2021
Revision received: 11 June, 2021
Editorial decision: 28 June, 2021
Revision received: 28 July, 2021
Editorial decision: 03 August, 2021
Revision received: 25 August, 2021
Editorial decision: 25 August, 2021
Published online: 29 September, 2021
1st Editorial decision:
11-June-2021
Ref.: Ms. No. JCTRes-D-21-00034
Evidence for a Connection between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiofrequency
Radiation from Wireless Telecommunications Including Microwaves and Millimeter
WavesOriginal Research Paper Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
Dear Dr. Rubik,
Reviewers have now commented on your paper. You will see that they are advising
that you revise your manuscript. If you are prepared to undertake the work
required, I would be pleased to reconsider my decision.
For your guidance, reviewers’ comments are appended below.
If you decide to revise the work, please submit a list of changes or a rebuttal
against each point which is being raised when you submit the revised
manuscript. Also, please ensure that the track changes function is switched on
when implementing the revisions. This enables the reviewers to rapidly verify
all changes made.
Your revision is due by Jun 11, 2021.
To submit a revision, go to https://www.editorialmanager.com/jctres/ and log in ;
as an Author. You will see a menu item call Submission Needing Revision. You
will find your submission record there.
Yours sincerely
Michal Heger
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
Reviewers’ comments:
Reviewer #1: General comments
The author has considered very important and actual issue putting forward the
question whether 5G mobile communication may contribute to the Covid-19
pandemia. To answer this question the author considers several effects in
common between Covid patients and RF effects. These effects are summarized in
the Table and described in the text referring to over 250 papers retrieved by
the author from MEDLINE. However, this consideration has some limitations,
which make the conclusions of the author rather immature.
First, the author compares the data on Covid patiens with the data on RF
effects, which were obtained in vitro, animal, and human studies. As far as
author has considered only about 250 papers from more than 30000 published
papers on RF effects, it seems to be reasonable to retrieve for comparison
mostly human RF studies.
Second, there is significant number of RF studies where no effects mentioned in
the Table were observed. The author considers the RF effects in general,
regardless dependences on frequencies, intensities and other key parameters,
which were shown to be critical for the RF effects and have been most
comprehensively reviewed in the IARC monograph (IARC 2013). Indeed, the author
acknowledges these complicated dependences in the Discussion. Nevertheless,
statement is made “that RFR and, in particular, 5G, which involves
densification of 4G, has exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic by weakening host
immunity and increasing SARS-CoV-2 virulence”. However, this statement would
demand consideration of RF effects at signals (i.e. frequency, modulation,…)
and intensities as users of 5G are exposed to. As far as 5G is in focus,
technical description of 5G signals is needed and studies of effects of RF
signals with the same or similar characteristics should be retrieved and
reviewed.
In conclusion, while the effects of RF and changes observed in Covid patients
seem to overlap at some specific conditions of exposure, and given that the RF
effects depend on number of physical and biological variables, more stringent
retrieval of RF studies is needed to discuss possible connection of 5G exposure
and Covid pandemia. Otherwise, this connection should be significantly down
played and the text should be revised accordingly.
Specific comment
The author referred to the ICNIRP 2009 guidelines, which are outdated as far as
ICNIRP has recently updated them. It should also be stated that in contrary to
the ICNIRP thermally based guidelines, other international bodies such as EMF
Working Group of the European Academy of Environmental Medicine has suggested
much lower guidelines taking into account no-thermal RF effects reported in
multiple studies (Belyaev, Dean et al. 2016).
Belyaev, I., A. Dean, H. Eger, G. Hubmann, R. Jandrisovits, M. Kern, M. Kundi,
H. Moshammer, P. Lercher, K. Muller, G. Oberfeld, P. Ohnsorge, P. Pelzmann, C.
Scheingraber and R. Thill (2016). “EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016 for the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and
illnesses.” Rev Environ Health 31(3): 363-397.
IARC (2013). IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans.
Non-ionizing Radiation, Part 2: Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields Lyon,
France, IARC Press.
Reviewer #3: This is a well-researched paper, with valuable insights into
adverse effects from non-ionizing athermal radiation. However, the authors need
to sharpen their language to clarify what has been demonstrated, and have the
conclusions be fully reflective of what the data have shown. For example, on
p.9 they state: “This evidence presented here does not claim causation.” Yet,
on p.10 they state: “We conclude that RFR and, in particular, 5G, which
involves densification of 4G, has exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic by…..”.
Later in the same paragraph, they state: “In short, wireless communication
radiation is a ubiquitous environmental stressor, and evidence presented here
suggests that it is a contributing factor in the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It appears to me they have shown the following type of relationships, as stated
on p.7: “In summary, oxidative stress is a major component in the
pathophysiology of COVID-19 as well as in cellular damage caused by RFR
exposure. Similar effects are observed in both that are caused by increased
free radical formation and glutathione deficiency.” Also, as stated on p.8: “In
short, COVID-19 can lead to immune dysregulation as well as cytokine storm. By
comparison, exposure to low-level RFR as observed in animal studies can also
compromise the immune system, with chronic daily exposure producing
immunosuppression or immune dysregulation including hyperactivation.”
They have shown quite convincingly that RFR produces a number of damaging
bioeffects, and many of these damaging bioeffects are seen in COVID-19
patients. That constitutes a potential indirect linkage between RFR and
COVID-19, and laboratory tests will be required to show whether a direct
linkage exists. It seems to me that’s how their results need to be presented.
The concepts behind the discipline of Literature-Related Discovery would
strengthen the arguments for these types of linkages. Minor wording changes are
all that are required in order to eliminate any confusion on what has been
demonstrated.
Additionally, the authors need to sharpen their usage of the term COVID-19. It
is a disease, and is not causing anything, as the authors imply. It is
associated with a number of abnormal biomarkers, and this distinction needs to
be delineated.
Reviewer #4: This manuscript is totally lacking in scientific value. The
statement “This is the first scientific paper documenting a link between RFR
emitted by wireless communication devices and COVID-19” is simply false. There
is simply no evidence presented in this manuscript to support this conclusion.
The report that there are common factors involved in COVID infection and RFR
radiation does not in any way indicate a connection between the two diseases.
Oxidative stress and immune system disfunction are characteristic of many
diseases. The morphologic changes in red blood cells with RFR is not well
documented, reported only in a meeting proceeding and a non-peer reviewed
publication. Calcium is involved in every aspect of normal physiology and
disease. Commonality of factors does not prove anything. You correctly state
“This evidence presented here does not claim causation.” In that case why waste
the effort to write the manuscript?
Reviewer #5: General Comment
The paper has a realistic basis but needs major revision
Specific Comments
-
Page 2, left column, last paragraph: Provide references for the technical
information regarding 5G
-
Right column, 2nd line, explain “gone live”.
-
The term “wireless radiation” is not correct. Radiation is always wireless…
Change to Wireless Communications radiation, or RF radiation or microwave
radiation.
-
The document by Payeras 2020 is not official. I understand the difficulty of
formally publishing this, but should be referred to with reservation. Moreover,
it is one author not two I think. The link in the reference does not work or it
is inactivated. Provide another link to this document. Similar reservation for
the Tsiang and Havas manuscript which is also not published yet. Any other
references connecting Covid with 5G?
-
Right column last paragraph, explain “areas of consolidation”, and CT scans
(explain the initials).
-
Page 3, left, lines 33-34: “cell phone antennas, base stations, Wi-Fi, and cell
phones” correct to “mobile telephony base antennas, Wi-Fi, and mobile phones”,
explain Wi-Fi.
-
Right column, line 6, Should it be “100 times below” or “more than 1000 times
below” 1 mW/cm2 ? Even western EMF-bioeffects literature shows adverse effects
below 1 μW/cm2. For example cite: Magras and Xenos 1997 [RF Radiation-Induced
Changes in the Prenatal Development of Mice. Bioelectromagnetics 18:455-461].
Provide references in this paragraph, and for the first two sentences of next
paragraph (Russian research)
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Lines 46-48: “at non-thermal power densities (< 5 mW/cm2) and with particular
emphasis on low power densities (<1mW/cm2)”. Above 1 mW/cm2 there can be
thermal effects for frequencies 1-2 GHz. This is a very high power density.
Change to: “at non-thermal power densities (< 1 mW/cm2)”.
-
Use identical category tittles in the text (pages 5-9) and in Table 1.
-
Explain ALL names with initials throughout the manuscript first time met (SARS,
COVID, Wi-Fi, LTE, ROS, ACE-2, ARDS, ICU, etc.)
-
Page 5, left, first paragraph. Rubik 2014 does not look like a peer reviewed
paper. Please refer only to peer review publications, specifically for
scientific findings.
-
Page 7, right, lines 3-5. Delete the last sentence “Similar effects are
observed in both that are caused by increased free radical formation and
glutathione deficiency”.
-
Line 11. Explain “spike protein”.
-
In the effects on immune system cite and discuss the reviews by Szmigielski
(2013) [Reaction of the immune system to low-level RF/MW exposures. Science of
the Total Environment 454-455 (2013) 393-400], and Johansson 2009 [Disturbance
of the immune system by electromagnetic fields-A potentially underlying cause
for cellular damage and tissue repair reduction which could lead to disease and
impairment. Pathophysioloy. 16(2-3):157-77].
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Page 8, left, lines 45-49. Pall (2013) made an observation that calcium
channels play a major role in EMF bioeffects. A very similar observation was
made long before by Walleczek (1992) [Electromagnetic field effects on cells of
the immune system: The role of calcium Signaling. FASEB J, 6, 3177-85]. These
were both review studies, not mechanisms. The mechanism for ion channel gating
by EMFs is published by Panagopoulos et al (2002) [Mechanism of action of
electromagnetic fields on cells. Biochemical and Biophysical Research
Communications, 298(1), 95-102], and refers not only to calcium but to all
cation channels. Please cite and discuss these studies as well.
-
Same paragraph “viruses hijack calcium channels and increase intracellular Ca2+
(Chen et al., 2019)”. Ion channels are ion-specific by means of ion radius.
Thus calcium channels would not allow larger molecules to pass through them
such as viruses. Therefore the claim by Chen et al 2019 is likely impossible.
This should be thoroughly searched and discussed.
-
Right column, line 9. Explain “second messenger”
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Page 9, left, first paragraph. Explain “plaque instability”.
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Lines 26-27, “Potekhina et al. (1992) found that certain frequencies (55 GHz;
73 GHz) caused pronounced arrhythmia”. There are no physiological GHz
frequencies in any living organism. All living functions are connected with ELF
frequencies. It is thus unlikely that the GHz frequencies caused these effects.
Instead the effects were most likely induced by the ELF pulsations. Similarly
in Havas et al (2010). RF studies should report whether the field is
pulsed/modulated or continuous wave. Most RF exposures contain ELF pulsing
and/or modulation. This includes 2G-3G-4G and 5G as well. Please search the
issue and revise accordingly.
-
Right column, lines 29-31, “The bioeffects of RFR exposure are typically
nonlinear rather than exhibiting the familiar linear dose-response effects from
biochemical.” This is not true generally. The sporadic existence of “windows”
does not render all effects non-linear. Effects depending on intensity or
exposure time most usually are dose-dependent, and even close to linear. This
should be revised.
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Page 10, left, lines 16-17, “However, these guidelines were established in
1996”. Provide reference.
Reviewer #6: Xu et al reported that in Feb. 2020, the cases fatality rate was
much lower in Zhejiang province and other provinces were much lower than it was
in Wuhan. (Xiao-Wei Xu, physician1, Xiao-Xin Wu, physician1, Xian-Gao Jiang,
physician2, Kai-Jin Xu, physician1, Ling-Jun Ying, physician3, Chun-Lian Ma,
physician4, Shi-Bo Li, physician5, Hua-Ying Wang, physician6, Sheng Zhang,
physician7, Hai-Nv Gao, professor8, Ji-Fang Sheng, professor1, Hong-Liu Cai,
physician1, Yun-Qing Qiu, professor1, Lan-Juan Li, professor1. Clinical
findings in a group of patients infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus
(SARS-Cov-2) outside of Wuhan, China: retrospective case series. BMJ 2020; 368
doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m606).
The following citation should be used along with the Pakhomov et al citation
with regard to millimeter wave effects: Betskii OV, Lebedeva NN. 2004
Low-intensity millimeter waves in biology and medicine. In:, Clinical
Application of Bioelectromagnetic Medicine, Marcel Decker, New York, 2004, pp.
30-61.
https://gabrielecripezzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/d75d92b7fb8f4d13ae5461e26afa62e87e60.pdf
On p.5, there is place which states (5G RFR) - this is confusing since 5G is
not radiofrequency.
The author should state in several places in the paper, that the findings are
suggestive of a link between EMF exposure and the severity of COVID-19
infections but none of these findings are considered to be proof of such a
linkage.
The Sen et al, citation has an error in it. It should read NF-kB. and that is a
Greek letter kappa. There may also be an error in the text.
The other thing I would suggest is that the author should make a suggestion or
two about how the remaining uncertainty here might be resolved. I would make
two suggestions that might help:
There could be one or more studies to determine whether some COVID-19 patients
admitted to the hospital could be shielded in either Faraday cage or a shielded
canopy could be put over the bed. These could lower exposures and hospitals are
high EMF environments such with high powered Wi-Fi systems, many wireless
communication devices and thousands of electronic devices, producing large
amounts of dirty electricity. I know that hospitals have high levels of dirty
electricity, having measured levels myself. The question being, whether such
shielding would lower mortality rates and/or shorten times to patient release.
Another approach would be to measure home and working environments for EMF
levels comparing patients with similar risk factor exposure but different
severity of illness.
Reviewer #8: This paper delves into a facet of CoVid-19 and the evolving use of
the widespread release of 5G into the environment, and the relationship between
the two. This relationship has rarely been studied in the literature. That
alone seems to make this paper relatively significant. It also provides
evidence that the Precautionary Principle would call for more study before
continuing the widespread deployment of 5G towers across the world, as well as
the release of satellites that are envisioned to surround the planet. While
bringing Internet access to the world’s population seems to be a good thing (in
providing information to the societies that lack it now), we need to consider
the Law of Unintended Consequences. The plans are for 5G to blanket the world,
leaving no place without this new exposure to this Microwave and Milliwave
radiation, and potentially effecting all life on earth, with the exception of
beings that live in lead-lined shelters, or Faraday cages. Based on this paper
alone, it indicates the need for further studies, before this is widely
deployed. Especially when we are still learning about the effects of the
CoVid-19 pandemic itself. The emerging understanding of how CoVid-19 has been
linked to coagulation disorders, and to the hypoxic effect on the lung function
of oxygenation absorption and release, via the red cells, adds additional
urgency to the situation. As does the information on free radical creation
causing havoc to Biological systems, the problems that either CoVid Or 5 G-type
RFR can have on the heart, and especially how either can effect the immune
system, and the paper points out that that could make a lot of illnesses
deadlier. And all of these have never been fully tested together, but usually
apart, by impartial researchers.
As this paper has reviewed the literature on the effects of RFR RadioFrequency
Radiation, and considering how most studies in the past, looked at the heating
effects of such radiation, and then said that if the RFR did not effect heating
of biological tissue, it was labeled as safe. But as this paper shows, there is
multiple evidence that there are adverse effects on tissue systems and their
physiology, that have nothing to do with the heating effects of RFR. These low
power high frequency effects have been collated, reviewed, and well documented
in this paper, in a clearly collected and tabular form, making it easy to
compare the RFR research, and the emerging data from the effects of the
CoVid-19 virus. And by documenting the similarity of the recognized RFR effects
on biological systems, then when these are clearly shown to be similar effects
that are being discovered with the ever-changing documented effects of the
CoVid-19 pandemic, the paper makes a strong case for a halt that is needed at
this point in the pandemic, to step back and really investigate the nature and
gravity of these effects, when combined, before further RFR 5 G potentially
blankets the world.
As the paper points out in the discussion, while the connections and the
evidence that both RFR and CoVid-19 attack similar biological systems and
physiologies, the paper has not proven causation, but they clearly have proven
the point that further, independent research is needed, and soon. Given that
CoVid-19 has shown the ability to mutate, and future pandemics are predicted,
this might be one “bright side” to this pandemic, in that it forces us to do
this research, before it is too late. If indeed, all of the systems effected by
CoVid-19 are also potentially weakened or effected by RFR like the upcoming
wave of 5G (or 6 G, etc.) that is planned for the future, we have a chance to
do the research that is needed to make our future safer, but to not do this
research, and hide our heads in the sand, and ignore this paper, and its
implications, then future generations may not look back kindly on our “rush to
get faster internet to everyone.” Instead, we may do much more damage than when
people thought that Radium watches that glow in the dark were “cool,” or that
it was “cool” to use the Xray machines in shoe stores to see if your shoes fit
the feet, by a live Xray that showed your foot skeleton in the shoe, while the
Xray device was near the gonads. One wonders how many people died of those
“cool” technologies, from cancer or other illnesses, before their dangers were
finally recognized and removed from the market. How does the saying go: “Those
who refuse to learn from the mistakes of the past, are condemned to repeat
them,” only this time it may be on a world-wide scale? So I highly recommend
that this paper be accepted for publication, so that it can stimulate much more
research that must be done in this area. Reviewer #9: Dear Editor,
I completed review process of the manuscript numbered as
“JCTRes-D-21-00034_reviewer”. Although the ideas put forward by the authors are
not negligible, they are open issues to criticism. Because there is no
scientific study that clearly reveals the relationship between RFRs, especially
5G and SARS-CoV-2. The authors have tried to make a good review, but the ideas
they put forward show that only RFRs and SARS-CoV-2 have similar effects.
Unfortunately, there is no scientific data about whether these similarities
create a synergistic effect or not. So I suggest the authors change the title
such as “Similarities in the effects of RFRs and SARS-CoV-2: Could there be a
synergistic effect?” The decision is yours, dear editor. In summary, the
article can be printed, but the title is very ambitious! On the other hand, I
suggest to the authors to read the articles given below to find some hints for
the topic of the manuscript.
Sincerely
Recommendation for Table 1 in page 4; Table 1 is not sufficient as the authors
stated. Fort this reason, the authors have to present charasteristics of RFRs
and name of the references. Therefore the table should be more informative for
the readers for evaluation of the situation.
-
Barlas SB, Adalier N, Dasdag O, Dasdag S, Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 with a
biophysical perspective. Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment. 35:1,
392-406, 2021. DOI: 10.1080/13102818.2021.1885997
-
Dasdag S, Akdag MZ, Celik MS (2008), Bioelectrical parameters of people exposed
to radiofrequency in workplace and houses provided to workers. Biotechnology &
Biotechnological Equipment. 22: 3: 859-863.
-
Alkis ME, Akdag MZ, Dasdag S, E¡ects of Low-Intensity Microwave Radiation on
Oxidant-Antioxidant Parameters and DNA Damage in the Liver of Rats. 2020
Bioelectromagnetics. 42:76—85, 2021. DOI:10.1002/bem.22315
-
Dasdag S, Balci K, Celik MS, Batun S, Kaplan A, Bolaman Z, Tekes S, Akdag Z
(1992), Neurologic and biochemical findings and CD4 / CD8 ratio in people
occupationally exposed to RF and microwave. Biotechnol. & Biotechnol. Eq. 6 /
4, 37 -39.
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Yilmaz F, Dasdag S, Akdag MZ, Kilinc N (2008).Whole body exposure of radiation
emitted from 900 MHz mobile phones does not seem to affect the levels of
anti-apoptotic BCL-2 protein. Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine. 27: 1;
65-72.
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Dasdag S, Akdag MZ, Ulukaya E (2009), Effects of Mobile Phone Exposure on
Apoptotic Glial Cells and Status of Oxidative Stress in Rat Brain.
Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine. 28: 4; 342-354.
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Dasdag S, Bilgin HM, Akdag MZ, et al. (2008), Effect of Long Term Mobile Phone
Exposure on Oxidative and Antioxidative Process and Nitric Oxide in Rats.
Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment. 22: 4; 992-997
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Alkis ME, Bilgin HM, Akpolat V, Dasdag S, Yegin K, Yavas MC, Akdag MZ, Effect
of 900-, 1800-, and 2100-MHz radiofrequency radiation on DNA and oxidative
stress in brain. Electromagn Biol Med. 38(1): 32-47, 2019.
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Akdag M, Dasdag S, Canturk F, Akdag MZ, Exposure to non-ionizing
electromagnetic fields emitted from mobile phones induced DNA damage in human
ear canal hair follicle cells. Electromagn Biol Med. 2018, 37 (2): 66-75.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15368378.2018.1463246
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Bektas H, Dasdag S, Effect of Radiofrequencies Emitted from Mobile Phones and
Wi-Fİ on Pregnancy. Journal of International Dental and Medical Research.
10(3): 1084-1095, 2017
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Bektas H, Dasdag S, Bektas S, Comparison of effects of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and mobile
exposure on human placenta and cord Blood. Biotechnology & Biotechnological
Equipment. 2020, VOL. 34 (1): 154-162, 2020,
https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2020.1725639
Reviewer #10: - Background section. Page 1, lines 49-52. “…that will
dramatically increase the population’s wireless radiation exposure both inside
structures and outdoors”.
Please cite evidence (referenced studies) supporting this hypothesis by
specific models and/or real-time measurements.
-
- Background section. Page 1. “During the first wave in the United States,
COVID-19 attributed cases and deaths were higher in states with 5G
infrastructure compared with states that did not yet have this technology
(Tsiang and Havas, manuscript submitted)”. Unpublished/not available data
should not be considered as citation.
-
- Overview on covid-19 (page 2). In consideration of the main aim of the
review, this paragraph can be significantly shortened.
-
- Authors should better describe the main technical characteristics of the 5G
infrastructures (i.e, small cells, MIMO, multiple frequencies etc.), briefly
listing the main technical differences with the previous radiofrequency
networks.
-
- Table 1. Authors should indicate in the table the most relevant and specific
reference(s) for each listed point.
-
- Table 1. it is not clear if the cited effects (“RFR exposure bioeffects”)
have been generically linked with high frequency electromagnetic fields or,
specifically, with 5G frequencies.
-
Authors should include in the “RFR exposure bioeffects” listed in this table
the frequency, the level (i.e., power density) and the period of exposure
linked with each of the cited effects. Authors should also specify the type of
study (i.e., in vitro, animal or human study).
-
- Authors should report the average level of RFR exposure measured in at least
some geographical areas implementing 5G infrastructure. A comparison of the
“real-life” level of exposure with the RFR exposure levels generating the
majority of bioeffects described in the paper is needed.
-
- Several bioeffects described by authors are generated by levels of exposure
significantly higher than those generally recorded in urban areas. Authors
should include in the paper a new table listing the bioeffects potentially
linked with covid-19 and observed in the presence of levels of environmental
exposure comparable with those recorded in the most exposed urban areas.
-
- Authors should report and comment previous studies, if available, linking RFR
exposure with viral diseases different from Covid-19.
-
- Authors discuss evidence deriving from exposure to cell phones to support
possible effects of environmental exposure to 5G. However, exposure to cell
phones or to 5G infrastructure (i.e., base stations, MIMO antennas, devices
etc.) may significantly differ in terms of SAR and are not fully comparable.
-
- The majority of the bio-effects described by Authors could also be, at least
theoretically, attributed to pre-existing radiofrequency exposure, in
particular in highly exposed geographical areas. Furthermore, in the
short-medium term, in exposed areas the level of RFR exposure can be assumed to
be constant. On the other hand, covid-19 incidence, morbidity and mortality
significantly varied during the last year. The lack of a parallel trend should
limit the hypothesis of a direct link between 5G exposure and covid-19 clinical
and epidemiological aspects.
-
- The majority of the bio-effects described by Authors could also be attributed
to other sources of environmental pollution and, in particular, to air
pollution. The effect of this and other relevant confounders in urban areas
characterized by high population density is not discussed by Authors.
-
- According to some evidence, children can be particularly vulnerable to RFR
effects. However, the pediatric age seems to be the less involved, at least in
terms of clinical manifestation, by the covid-19 pandemic. How Authors could
explain this different outcome in different age classes equally exposed to RFR?
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- Page 9, discussion section. “The evidence indicates that RFR may weaken the
host, exacerbate COVID-19 disease, and thereby worsen the pandemic”. In the
opinion of this reviewer, the reported evidence only indicate that mechanisms
possibly involved in the clinical progression of SARS-CoV-2 could be also
generated, according to experimental data, by RFR exposure. It is still under
debate, however, if these biological effects can be present in the case of
frequencies and levels of RFR exposure commonly found in the urban areas where
5G networks have been implemented.
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- Point of strength and limitations of the review performed by authors should
be clearly stated.
Reviewer #11: In this work authors summarize current state of knowledge about
the harmful effects of Radiofrequency radiation (RFR), with special focus on
those that could possibly enhance the possibility of being infected by COVID-19.
This review is a nice mix of very recent publications (last 5 years) and some
classic papers mainly from Soviet Union and United States, showing, that
knowledge about harmful effects of RFR have been extensively studied already
few decades ago, what is very important mainly because of the number of
conspiracy theories available of the Internet about 5G RFR. Call for the
scientific evaluation of this exposure type is more than proper. Otherwise we
will be wittnesses of very big population study, that will reveal the truth in
the future times.
I do not have any big questions rather some comments:
-
1) In the Introduction part authors cite quite few review articles. I would
suggest citation of the few of the best experimental articles considering this
type of deleterious effect (e.g. oxidative stress, reproductive damage), since
the number of the reviews considering RFR is relatively high, but actual
experimental studies that strongly supports the conclusion of reviews are
sometimes hard to find or other times not so conclusive.
-
2) Authors stated that oxidative stress induced by RFR may exacerbate the
seriousness of COVID -19 disease. I agree that induction of oxidative stress is
the most common harmful effect observed after exposure to RFR, targeting mostly
the cells with the high level of metabolism, like sperm cells. But in a lot of
studies induction of ROS after exposure is not higher than 50% of control
values and some studies have even seen adaptation to the radiation with
increased exposure time on the cellular level.
-
3) Authors suggest that 5G introduction in the cities that have been hit with
the COVID-19 very hard in the first wave could lead to the increased mortality
and number of cases. Since there are some connections, this could be also
explaine by the fact that Northern Italy is the region with the highest
percentage of elderly people that often have other comorbidities like diabetes
and hypertension that significntly increase the probability of serious
condition, next the precautions in the Italy have not been sufficient what is
more likely the cause of such strong hit by COVID than 5G. To the New York,
that is one of the crowdest cities in the world and social distancing have not
been established soon enough.
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4) Other argument is that in the second wave midlle europe (Czech, Hungary,
Poland, Slovakia) have been hit very hard with COVID and 5G is still not
introduced in this countries (maybe only capital cities, but certainly not
smaller cities and villages, that had been hit even harder). So I think
overally, mobility of people, meeting of families during holidays and inproper
precautions have much larger effect on the pandemia than RFR exposure. But on
the other hand I agree that RFR could add some stress to individuals already
weakened by the COVID.
-
5) Authors should also focus on the fact that lot of experimental studies did
not provide any evidence of harmful effect of RFR (and not all of them are
industry financed and ordered). Other problem with experimental evidence of
harmful effects is the reproducibility of the observed effects and
replicability of the studies, that are often performed with questionable
devices, under not precisely characterized exposure conditions.
Despite this comments bit of article provide nice review of the RFR effects on
the human beings supported by the number of peer-reviewed studies and also
overview of COVID- 19 disease, that is very valuable and worth publishing after
applying some of the comments to the manuscript.
Reviewer #12 (editor-in-chief): SO THESE SUGGESTIONS ARE MANDATORY TO ADDRESS
-
1) Please contextualize the narrative to centers/regions of outbreak where 5G
is not prevalent, such as rural India, beyond the premise that correlation is
not causation. Cite regions that had a 5G rollout but were not hit by the
pandemic, and please provide explanations for such exemptions.
-
2) What is the average power density (mW/cm2) of 5G RFR in Wuhan, and how does
this compare to the cities that have harbored 5G but with low manifestation of
COVID-19?
-
3) Your paper is hypothetical, so please remain in this hypothetical framework
throughout the manuscript. Phrases such as “This is the first scientific paper
documenting a link between RFR emitted by wireless communication devices and
COVID-19” are unwarranted. Although your paper provides argumentation in favor
of this hypothesis, it does not establish a link (cause-effect) between 5G and
the incidence of COVID-19. Please nuance this statement and other similar
statements in the text.
-
4) Please unify all units of power density throughout the manuscript to conform
to the standard unit used in the US (mW/cm2). The text is inconsistent with the
nomenclature, where sometimes the unit is abbreviated while in other instances
the unit is written out. It is advisable to consistently abbreviate to mW/cm2.
That makes it easier for the readers to contextualize research results with the
upheld norm for RFR exposure.
-
5) Please include a paragraph where you attempt to introduce gaps/flaws in your
hypotheses. One of the main ingredients of such a paragraph would be to point
out to readers that in many studies the power densities used to study
biological effects exceeded the maximum level of 1 mW/cm2. Note all other
aspects of the setup and execution of cited experimental studies that deviate
from the manner in which 5G RFR is reduced to practice in Wuhan and elsewhere.
Such a paragraph helps put the narrative into complete perspective.
Author’s response
Reviewers’ comments:
Reviewer #1: General comments
The author has considered very important and actual issue putting forward the
question whether 5G mobile communication may contribute to the Covid-19
pandemia. To answer this question the author considers several effects in
common between Covid patients and RF effects. These effects are summarized in
the Table and described in the text referring to over 250 papers retrieved by
the author from MEDLINE. However, this consideration has some limitations,
which make the conclusions of the author rather immature.
First, the author compares the data on Covid patiens with the data on RF
effects, which were obtained in vitro, animal, and human studies. As far as
author has considered only about 250 papers from more than 30000 published
papers on RF effects, it seems to be reasonable to retrieve for comparison
mostly human RF studies.
Second, there is significant number of RF studies where no effects mentioned in
the Table were observed. The author considers the RF effects in general,
regardless dependences on frequencies, intensities and other key parameters,
which were shown to be critical for the RF effects and have been most
comprehensively reviewed in the IARC monograph (IARC 2013). Indeed, the author
acknowledges these complicated dependences in the Discussion. Nevertheless,
statement is made “that RFR and, in particular, 5G, which involves
densification of 4G, has exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic by weakening host
immunity and increasing SARS-CoV-2 virulence”. However, this statement would
demand consideration of RF effects at signals (i.e. frequency, modulation,…)
and intensities as users of 5G are exposed to. As far as 5G is in focus,
technical description of 5G signals is needed and studies of effects of RF
signals with the same or similar characteristics should be retrieved and
reviewed.
In conclusion, while the effects of RF and changes observed in Covid patients
seem to overlap at some specific conditions of exposure, and given that the RF
effects depend on number of physical and biological variables, more stringent
retrieval of RF studies is needed to discuss possible connection of 5G exposure
and Covid pandemia. Otherwise, this connection should be significantly down
played and the text should be revised accordingly.
Thank you for your observations. Regarding your first point, it is true that
there are perhaps 30,000 or even more scientific papers documenting the
bioeffects of RFR on living systems. In choosing studies to review and
reference for our paper, we discovered that controlled RFR exposure studies on
human subjects alone were insufficient for this review, as most of them, in
English, were conducted as short-term studies. In this paper, we are concerned
mainly on long-term health effects from chronic RFR exposure. Because there are
very few long-term studies on humans, aside from occupational studies, which we
did include in our literature review, it was essential that we expand our
literature search to include controlled, mostly long-term animal and cell
studies.
Regarding your second point, there are indeed a significant number of RFR
exposure studies where no observed effects listed in our Table were found. We
pointed out in the paper that the published literature not only contains some
reports with contradictory results, but a bias is clearly evident in that
studies conducted or sponsored by the industry generally tend to conclude
negative results, while studies conducted by independent scientists, in
general, tend to uncover adverse bioeffects. This bias was reported in a
systematic review [Huss, A., M. Egger, K. Hug, K. Huwiler-Muntener, M. Roosli.
2007. Source of funding and results of studies of health effects of mobile
phone use: systematic review of experimental studies. Environmental Health
Perspectives, 115 (1): 14. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.9149]. We had already cited and
discussed this paper and its ramifications in our Discussion Section. It is
because of this documented bias that we did not make a systematic effort to
include negative studies in our paper. Instead, we sought research papers that
supported our hypothesis.
Next, reviewer #1 wrote, “The author considers the RF effects in general,
regardless of dependences on frequencies, intensities and other key parameters,
which were shown to be critical for the RF effects and have been most
comprehensively reviewed in the IARC monograph (IARC 2013).”
In the draft of our paper that you reviewed, we stated the following in our
Methods Section regarding our selection of papers for review: “This included
the world literature in English and Russian reports translated to English, on
RFR from 600 MHz – 90 GHz, the spectrum of wireless communication radiation (2G
– 5G inclusive), with particular emphasis on non-thermal, low power densities
(< 1 mW/cm2) and long term exposures.”
Reviewer #1 wrote, “As far as 5G is in focus, technical description of 5G
signals is needed and studies of effects of RF signals with the same or similar
characteristics should be retrieved and reviewed.”
As we mentioned above, we selected papers testing exposure to frequencies from
600 MHz – 90 GHz, which comprise the spectrum of wireless communication
radiation from 2G to 5G, inclusive. We provided a more technical description of
5G on page 2, as follows, and cited the official technical document on 5G.
“5G is a protocol that will use high frequency bands of the electromagnetic
spectrum in the vast radiofrequency range from 600 MHz to nearly 100 GHz, which
includes millimeter waves (>20 GHz), in addition to the currently used 3G
(third generation) and 4G (fourth generation) long term evolution (LTE)
microwave bands. 5G frequency spectrum allocations differ from country to
country. Focused pulsed beams of radiation will emit from new base stations and
phased array antennas placed close to buildings whenever persons access the 5G
network. Because these high frequencies are strongly absorbed by the atmosphere
and especially during rain, a transmitter’s range is limited to 300 meters.
Therefore 5G involves base stations and antennas much more closely spaced than
previous generations, plus satellites in orbit that will emit 5G bands globally
to create a wireless worldwide web. The system requires significant
densification of 4G as well as new 5G antennas that may dramatically increase
the population’s wireless communications radiation exposure both inside
structures and outdoors. In addition, up to 100,000 emitting satellites are
planned to be launched into orbit. This infrastructure will significantly alter
the world’s electromagnetic environment to unprecedented levels and may cause
unknown consequences to the entire biosphere, including humans. The new
infrastructure will service the new 5G devices, including 5G mobile phones,
routers, computers, tablets, self-driving vehicles, machine-to-machine
communications, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The global industry standard for 5G is set by the 3rd Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP), which is an umbrella term for several organizations developing
standard protocols for mobile telecommunications. The 5G standard specifies all
key aspects of the technology, including frequency spectrum allocation,
beam-forming, beam steering, multiplexing MIMO (multiple in, multiple out)
schemes to nearly simultaneously serve a large number of devices within a cell
as well as modulation schemes among many others. The latest finalized 5G
standard, Release 16, is codified in the 3GPP published Technical Report TR
21.916 and may be downloaded from the 3GPP server at
https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/21_series/21.916/ (3GGP, 2020).”
We had already pointed out in the Discussion Section that no health or safety
studies have been published specifically on 5G signals in the manner in which
people will experience them in the real world: 5 to 10 frequency bands of 5G,
along with 5 to 10 frequency bands of 4G, which are necessary for 5G to work.
We included a statement about the lack of controlled studies on health effects
from real-world wireless communication exposures in our Discussion Section, and
we also strongly recommended that such studies need to be done.
We “downplayed” our statements on the connection between RFR exposure
bioeffects and COVID-19, as you request, throughout the manuscript. We re-wrote
our conclusion to state, “There is a substantial overlap in pathobiology
between COVID-19 and RFR exposure. The evidence presented here indicates that
mechanisms involved in the clinical progression of COVID-19 could also be
generated, according to experimental data, by RFR exposure. We propose a link
between adverse bioeffects of RFR exposure from wireless communication devices
and COVID-19.”
Specific comment
The author referred to the ICNIRP 2009 guidelines, which are outdated as far as
ICNIRP has recently updated them. It should also be stated that in contrary to
the ICNIRP thermally based guidelines, other international bodies such as EMF
Working Group of the European Academy of Environmental Medicine has suggested
much lower guidelines taking into account no-thermal RF effects reported in
multiple studies (Belyaev, Dean et al. 2016).
Belyaev, I., A. Dean, H. Eger, G. Hubmann, R. Jandrisovits, M. Kern, M. Kundi,
H. Moshammer, P. Lercher, K. Muller, G. Oberfeld, P. Ohnsorge, P. Pelzmann, C.
Scheingraber and R. Thill (2016). “EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016 for the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and
illnesses.” Rev Environ Health 31(3): 363-397.
IARC (2013). IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans.
Non-ionizing Radiation, Part 2: Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields Lyon,
France, IARC Press.
Thank you for this helpful comment. We appreciate learning from you that ICNIRP
updated the RFR exposure guidelines in 2020. We removed our old citation and
reference and updated our citation and reference as follows:
International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), 2020.
Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (100 kHz to 300
GHz), Health Physics: May 2020 – 118(5): 483-524.
doi: 10.1097/HP.0000000000001210
We are also grateful to learn from you that there are other international
bodies working to reduce the exposure guidelines. We have added the following
sentence to the Discussion Section of our paper and utilized the reference
(Belyaev, 2016) that you provided; thank you.
“Recently other international bodies such as the EMF Working Group of the
European Academy of Environmental Medicine, have proposed much lower
guidelines, taking into account non-thermal bioeffects from RFR exposure
reported in multiple sources (Belyaev et al., 2016).”
Reviewer #3: This is a well-researched paper, with valuable insights into
adverse effects from non-ionizing athermal radiation. However, the authors need
to sharpen their language to clarify what has been demonstrated, and have the
conclusions be fully reflective of what the data have shown. For example, on
p.9 they state: “This evidence presented here does not claim causation.” Yet,
on p.10 they state: “We conclude that RFR and, in particular, 5G, which
involves densification of 4G, has exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic by…..”.
Later in the same paragraph, they state: “In short, wireless communication
radiation is a ubiquitous environmental stressor, and evidence presented here
suggests that it is a contributing factor in the COVID-19 pandemic.”
We have modified the text on page 9 as follows:
“This evidence presented here suggests a link between EMF exposure and the
severity of COVID-19 infection, but none of these observations are considered
to be proof of such a linkage. Specifically, the evidence does not confirm
causation.”
Additionally, our Conclusion Section has been changed as follows:
“There is a substantial overlap in pathobiology between COVID-19 and RFR
exposure. The evidence presented here indicates that mechanisms involved in the
clinical progression of COVID-19 could also be generated, according to
experimental data, by RFR exposure. We propose a link between adverse
bioeffects of RFR exposure from wireless communication devices and COVID-19.”
It appears to me they have shown the following type of relationships, as stated
on p.7: “In summary, oxidative stress is a major component in the
pathophysiology of COVID-19 as well as in cellular damage caused by RFR
exposure. Similar effects are observed in both that are caused by increased
free radical formation and glutathione deficiency.” Also, as stated on p.8: “In
short, COVID-19 can lead to immune dysregulation as well as cytokine storm. By
comparison, exposure to low-level RFR as observed in animal studies can also
compromise the immune system, with chronic daily exposure producing
immunosuppression or immune dysregulation including hyperactivation.”
They have shown quite convincingly that RFR produces a number of damaging
bioeffects, and many of these damaging bioeffects are seen in COVID-19
patients. That constitutes a potential indirect linkage between RFR and
COVID-19, and laboratory tests will be required to show whether a direct
linkage exists. It seems to me that’s how their results need to be presented.
The concepts behind the discipline of Literature-Related Discovery would
strengthen the arguments for these types of linkages. Minor wording changes are
all that are required in order to eliminate any confusion on what has been
demonstrated.
Thank you for pointing out that the discipline of Literature-Related Discovery
is relevant to our approach. We added the following to the Methods Section:
“Our approach is akin to Literature-Related Discovery, in which two concepts
that have heretofore not been linked are explored in literature searches to
look for linkage(s) in order to produce novel, interesting, plausible, and
intelligible knowledge, i.e., potential discovery (Kostoff et al., 2007).”
Reference: Kostoff RN, Block JA, Solka JL, Briggs MB, Rushenberg RL, Stump JA,
Johnson D, Lyons TJ, Wyatt JR. 2007. Literature-Related Discovery: A Review.
Report to the Office of Naval Research, 2007, pp. 1-58.
https://ia801006.us.archive.org/4/items/DTIC_ADA473643/DTIC_ADA473643.pdf
Additionally, the authors need to sharpen their usage of the term COVID-19. It
is a disease, and is not causing anything, as the authors imply. It is
associated with a number of abnormal biomarkers, and this distinction needs to
be delineated.
Reviewer #4: This manuscript is totally lacking in scientific value. The
statement “This is the first scientific paper documenting a link between RFR
emitted by wireless communication devices and COVID-19” is simply false. There
is simply no evidence presented in this manuscript to support this conclusion.
The report that there are common factors involved in COVID infection and RFR
radiation does not in any way indicate a connection between the two diseases.
Oxidative stress and immune system disfunction are characteristic of many
diseases. The morphologic changes in red blood cells with RFR is not well
documented, reported only in a meeting proceeding and a non-peer reviewed
publication. Calcium is involved in every aspect of normal physiology and
disease. Commonality of factors does not prove anything. You correctly state
“This evidence presented here does not claim causation.” In that case why waste
the effort to write the manuscript?
The claim that this paper is “totally lacking in scientific value” is contrary
to nine other reviews of this paper, that indicate that the paper is dealing
with a “very important” issue; “has a realistic basis;” and is “studying a
relationship that has rarely been studied in the literature…which makes the
paper significant.” These are a sample of the positive remarks made by the
other reviewers, who also provided constructive criticism that we implemented
to improve the paper.
We removed the sentence from the paper, “This is the first scientific paper
documenting a link between RFR emitted by wireless communication devices and
COVID-19.”
While we appreciate that you would prefer all references to be peer-reviewed,
we would like to cite certain important papers that have not been
peer-reviewed. At this critical time during the pandemic, many manuscripts that
are not peer-reviewed are being cited in professional journal papers on
COVID-19 to help experts bring forth knowledge as quickly as possible to
facilitate an end to human suffering and death. In this particular case, we
maintain that it is appropriate to cite the work of morphological changes in
red blood cells that relate to blood clotting, especially since SARS-CoV-2 and
its spike protein have been shown to be thrombogenic and can directly bind to
ACE2 receptors on platelets (Zhang et al., 2020). Even when isolated, the spike
protein has been shown to cause endothelial injury (Lei et al., 2021).
We modified the paragraph on the blood changes associated with SARS-CoV-2
infection to read as follows:
“Endothelial damage may occur from spike protein engagement with ACE2 receptors
lining the blood vessels, even when isolated and removed from its vital RNA
(Lei et al., 2021). Rouleaux formation, particularly in the setting of
underlying endothelial damage, can clog the microcirculation, impeding oxygen
transport, contributing to hypoxia, and increasing the risk of thrombosis
(Wagner et al., 2013).
Thrombogenesis associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection may also be caused by
direct binding of the virus to ACE2 receptors on platelets (Zhang et al.,
2020).”
Furthermore, this particular research on morphological changes in red blood
cells due to cell phone radiation exposure was conducted by one of us (Rubik)
who has 25+ years of experience in live blood microscopy. So, although the
morphological changes in red blood cells are not as well supported in this
paper as we would like, we hope to plant seeds for future research to explore
this phenomenon.
Therefore, we modified the paragraph as follows:
“Although not peer reviewed, one of us (Rubik) investigated the effect of 4G
LTE (fourth generation long-term evolution) mobile phone radiation on the
peripheral blood of ten human subjects each of whom had been exposed to cell
phone radiation for two consecutive 45 minute intervals (Rubik, 2014). Two
types of effects were observed: initially increased stickiness of peripheral
red blood cells with rouleaux formation and subsequently formation of
echinocytes (spiky red blood cells.) Red blood cell clumping and aggregation
are known to be actively involved in blood clotting (Wager et al., 2013). The
prevalence of such blood changes upon exposure to RFR in the human population
has not yet been determined. Larger controlled studies should be performed to
further investigate this phenomenon.”
As we wrote in the manuscript, according to the CDC, the epidemiological triad
– the agent (virus in this case), the health of the host, and the environment,
is a useful model to explain how an environmental cofactor may contribute to
any disease. We point out that environmental toxins in general, and RFR in
particular, may have exacerbated the pandemic and have not been sufficiently
explored or addressed. From our extensive knowledge of the literature on the
adverse health effects of wireless communication radiation, we saw similarities
and possible connections between the adverse health effects from RFR and
COVID-19 manifestations that we discuss in this manuscript. We certainly agree
with you that “immune system dysfunction and oxidative stress are nonspecific
conditions and characteristic of many diseases.” However, we do not believe
this diminishes our argument, that because these disease states are both
encountered with COVID-19 as well as with chronic wireless communication
radiation exposure, it is possible that the bioeffects related to chronic
exposure to wireless communication radiation may have exacerbated the disease
COVID-19. We hope that our manuscript will facilitate further research, and
that it might also encourage consideration of environmental factors and public
health measures to help mitigate the pandemic and protect human health.
Reviewer #5: General Comment
The paper has a realistic basis but needs major revision
Specific Comments
Page 2, left column, last paragraph: Provide references for the technical
information regarding 5G
We provided more technical detail on 5G, including the official technical
document specifying 5G as our reference (3GPP, 2020). We re-wrote and expanded
upon 5G on page 2 as follows:
“5G is a protocol that will use high frequency bands of the electromagnetic
spectrum in the vast radiofrequency range from 600 MHz to nearly 100 GHz, which
includes millimeter waves (>20 GHz), in addition to the currently used 3G
(third generation) and 4G (fourth generation) long term evolution (LTE)
microwave bands. 5G frequency spectrum allocations differ from country to
country. Focused pulsed beams of radiation will emit from new base stations and
phased array antennas placed close to buildings whenever persons access the 5G
network. Because these high frequencies are strongly absorbed by the atmosphere
and especially during rain, a transmitter’s range is limited to 300 meters.
Therefore 5G involves base stations and antennas much more closely spaced than
previous generations, plus satellites in orbit that will emit 5G bands globally
to create a wireless worldwide web. The system requires significant
densification of 4G as well as new 5G antennas that may dramatically increase
the population’s wireless communications radiation exposure both inside
structures and outdoors. In addition, up to 100,000 emitting satellites are
planned to be launched into orbit. This infrastructure will significantly alter
the world’s electromagnetic environment to unprecedented levels and may cause
unknown consequences to the entire biosphere, including humans. The new
infrastructure will service the new 5G devices, including 5G mobile phones,
routers, computers, tablets, self-driving vehicles, machine-to-machine
communications, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The global industry standard for 5G is set by the 3rd Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP), which is an umbrella term for several organizations developing
standard protocols for mobile telecommunications. The 5G standard specifies all
key aspects of the technology, including frequency spectrum allocation,
beam-forming, beam steering, multiplexing MIMO (multiple in, multiple out)
schemes to nearly simultaneously serve a large number of devices within a cell
as well as modulation schemes among many others. The latest finalized 5G
standard, Release 16, is codified in the 3GPP published Technical Report TR
21.916 and may be downloaded from the 3GPP server at
https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/21_series/21.916/ (3GGP, 2020).”
Reference: 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project, 2020. Technical Report
TR 21.916, V1.0.0. (2020-12), pages 1-149.
https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/21_series/21.916/
2. Right column, 2nd line, explain “gone live”.
The term “gone live” has been clarified as follows, thank you.
“COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China in December 2019, shortly after city-wide 5G
had “gone live”, i.e. become a fully operational system, on October 31, 2019.”
3. The term “wireless radiation” is not correct. Radiation is always wireless…
Change to Wireless Communications radiation, or RF radiation or microwave
radiation.
We changed it throughout the document and title of the manuscript to “wireless
communication radiation,” thank you.
4. The document by Payeras 2020 is not official. I understand the difficulty of
formally publishing this, but should be referred to with reservation. Moreover,
it is one author not two I think. The link in the reference does not work or it
is inactivated. Provide another link to this document. Similar reservation for
the Tsiang and Havas manuscript which is also not published yet. Any other
references connecting Covid with 5G?
We removed the old text and reference from Payeras (2020) whose link no longer
works. We found a new link to his updated and expanded paper posted online
here: Bartomeu Payeras i Cifre is indeed a single author as you indicate. We
now refer to his updated and greatly expanded paper, which also has a revised
title.
http://www.untumbes.edu.pe/vcs/biblioteca/document/varioslibros/0567.%20Estudio%20sobre%20la%20asim%C3%A9trica%20distribuci%C3%B3n%20de%20casos%20de%20COVID-19%20y%20su%20relaci%C3%B3n%20con%20la%20tecnolog%C3%ADa%205G.pdf
This is a more extensive paper with 81 pages compared to the previous version
that was 21 pages. Although it is not “official” or peer-reviewed, we prefer to
include it, too, because it is relevant to our thesis. Moreover, we are dealing
with a pandemic, and many COVID-19 researchers are citing non-peer-reviewed
papers to present evidence as soon as it is available that might help us
understand more and/or mitigate the pandemic. We have also stated in our
revised manuscript that this paper is not peer-reviewed. In addition, we added
a peer-reviewed publication from Mordachev (2020). The reference of Tsiang and
Havas has now been published in a peer-reviewed journal. This paper analyzes
and compares the incidence of COVID-19 as well as the mortality rates in the
United States as well as in US cities with and without 5G. The updated citation
and reference is included.
The text was modified as follows: “During the first pandemic wave in the United
States, COVID-19 attributed cases and deaths were statistically higher in
states and major cities with 5G infrastructure as compared with states and
cities that did not yet have this technology (Tsiang and Havas, 2021).”
5. Right column last paragraph, explain “areas of consolidation”, and CT scans
(explain the initials).
The word “consolidation” was removed and replaced with “airspace opacification”
and the initials “CT” (computed tomography) have been explained accordingly,
thank you.
“Massive oxidative damage to the lungs has been observed in areas of airspace
opacification documented on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT)
scans in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (Cecchini and Cecchini, 2020).”
6. Page 3, left, lines 33-34: “cell phone antennas, base stations, Wi-Fi, and
cell phones” correct to “mobile telephony base antennas, Wi-Fi, and mobile
phones”, explain Wi-Fi.
The terms cell phone antennas, base stations, Wi-Fi, and cell phones have been
changed accordingly and the term Wi-Fi explained accordingly, thank you. Wi-Fi
is a trademarked name, and contrary to popular thought, it does not mean
“Wireless Fidelity.” Instead, it refers to “IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence,”
(IEEE is Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) type of local area
network (LAN). Here is a website that explains it in detail:
https://www.tanaza.com/tanazaclassic/blog/wi-fi-not-mean-wireless-fidelity/
Here is how we modified the text:
“Organisms are electrochemical beings, and low-level RFR from wireless
communication devices, including mobile telephony base antennas, wireless
network protocols utilized for the local networking of devices and internet
access, trademarked as Wi-Fi (officially IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence, where
IEEE is Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) by the Wi-Fi
alliance, and mobile phones, among others, may disrupt regulation of numerous
physiological functions.”
7. Right column, line 6, Should it be “100 times below” or “more than 1000
times below” 1 mW/cm2 ?
We changed it to 1000 times below 1 mW/cm2.
“The Soviet and Eastern European literature from 1960-70s demonstrates
significant biological effects, even at exposure levels more than 1000 times
below 1 mW/cm2, the current guideline for maximum public exposure in the US.”
Even western EMF-bioeffects literature shows adverse effects below 1 μW/cm2.
For example cite: Magras and Xenos 1997 [RF Radiation-Induced Changes in the
Prenatal Development of Mice. Bioelectromagnetics 18:455-461]. Provide
references in this paragraph, and for the first two sentences of next paragraph
(Russian research)
We added the following to the manuscript in the section on the overview of
health effects of RFR, which included the reference you provided (Magras and
Xenos, 1997) as well as citations and references to reports by Adendano et al.,
2012; Bucher and Eger, 2012; Navarro et al., 2003; and Hutter et al., 2006.
“Adverse bioeffects from EMF exposure levels below 0.001mW/cm2 have also been
documented in the Western literature. Damage to human sperm viability including
DNA fragmentation by internet-connected laptop computers at power densities
from 0.0005 – 0.001 mW/cm2 has been reported (Avendano et al., 2012). Chronic
human exposure to 0.000006 to 0.00001 mW/cm2 produced significant changes in
human stress hormones following a mobile phone base station installation
(Bucher and Eger, 2012). Human exposures to cell phone radiation at 0.00001 –
0.00005 mW/cm2 resulted in complaints of headache, neurological problems, sleep
problems, and concentration problems, corresponding to “microwave sickness”
(Navarro et al., 2003; Hutter et al., 2006). The effects of RFR on prenatal
development in mice placed near a mobile phone “antenna park” exposed to power
densities from 0.000168-0.001053 mW/cm2 showed a progressive decrease in the
number of newborns and ended in irreversible infertility (Magras and Xenos
1997). However, most US research has been performed over short durations of
weeks or less. There have been few long-term studies on animals or humans.”
We also added the following to the manuscript on the paragraph on Russian
research:
“A wide variety of bioeffects from exposure to nonthermal levels of RWR were
reported by Soviet research groups since the 1960s….
Several notable Russian studies are as follows. Studies on E. coli bacteria
cultures show power density windows for microwave resonance effects for 51.755
GHz stimulation of bacterial growth, observed at extremely low power densities
of 10E-13mW/cm2 (Belyaev et al., 1996). Recent Russian studies confirm earlier
results of Soviet research groups on the effects of 2.45 GHz at 0.5mW/cm2 on
rats (30 days exposure for 7 hrs/day), with the formation of antibodies to the
brain (autoimmune response) and stress reactions (Grigoriev et al., 2010). In a
long-term (1 to 4 year) study on children who use mobile phones compared to a
control group, functional changes, including greater fatigue, decreased
voluntary attention, and weakening of semantic memory, among other adverse
psychophysiological changes, were reported (Grigoriev, 2012). The key Russian
research reports that underlie the scientific basis for Soviet and Russian RFR
exposure guidelines to protect the public, which are much lower than in the US,
have been summarized (Repacholi et al., 2012).”
These references on the Russian/Soviet papers have been added to the manuscript:
Y. Belyaev, V. S. Shcheglov, Y. D. Alipov, and V. A. Polunin, “Resonance effect
of millimeter waves in the power range from 10(-19) to 3 x 10(-3) W/cm2 on
Escherichia coli cells at different concentrations,” Bioelectromagnetics, vol.
17, pp. 312-321, 1996.
Grigoriev, Y.G., Grigoriev, O.A., Ivanov, A.A., Lyaginskaya, A.M., Merkulov,
A.V., Shagina, N.B., Maltsev, V.N., Lévêque, P., Ulanova, A.M., Osipov, V.A.
and Shafirkin, A.V., 2010. Confirmation studies of Soviet research on
immunological effects of microwaves: Russian immunology results.
Bioelectromagnetics, 31(8), pp.589-602.
Grigoriev, Y., 2012. Mobile communications and health of population: the risk
assessment, social and ethical problems. The Environmentalist, 32(2),
pp.193-200.
Repacholi, M., Grigoriev, Y., Buschmann, J. and Pioli, C., 2012. Scientific
basis for the Soviet and Russian radiofrequency standards for the general
public. Bioelectromagnetics, 33(8), pp.623-633.
8. Lines 46-48: “at non-thermal power densities (< 5 mW/cm2) and with
particular emphasis on low power densities (<1mW/cm2)”. Above 1 mW/cm2 there
can be thermal effects for frequencies 1-2 GHz. This is a very high power
density. Change to: “at non-thermal power densities (< 1 mW/cm2)”.
We changed it to the following sentence:
“This included the world literature in English and Russian reports translated
to English, on RFR from 600 MHz – 90 GHz, the spectrum of wireless
communication radiation (2G – 5G inclusive), with particular emphasis on
non-thermal, low power densities (< 1 mW/cm2) and long term exposures.”
9. Use identical category tittles in the text (pages 5-9) and in Table 1.
As per your request, we revised the text titles as follows:
“Effects on the Blood” to “Blood Changes”
“The Immune Response” to “Immune System Disruption and Activation”
“Intracellular Calcium Levels” to “Increased Intracellular Calcium”
“Heart Disease and Arrhythmias” to “Cardiac Effects”
10. Explain ALL names with initials throughout the manuscript first time met
(SARS, COVID, Wi-Fi, LTE, ROS, ACE-2, ARDS, ICU, etc.)
Full names have been provided for all acronyms (abbreviations) when they first
appear I the manuscript, as requested, thank you.
11. Page 5, left, first paragraph. Rubik 2014 does not look like a peer
reviewed paper. Please refer only to peer review publications, specifically for
scientific findings.
While we appreciate that you would prefer all references to be peer-reviewed,
we would like to cite certain important papers that have not been
peer-reviewed. At this critical time of the pandemic, many manuscripts that are
not peer-reviewed are being cited in professional journal papers on COVID-19 to
help experts bring forth knowledge as quickly as possible to facilitate an end
to human suffering and death. In this particular case, we maintain that it is
important to cite this paper on morphological changes in red blood cells from
wireless communication radiation that relate to blood clotting, especially
since SARS-CoV-2 and its spike protein have been shown to be thrombogenic
[Grobbelaar, L.M., Venter, C., Vlok, M., Ngoepe, M., Laubscher, G.J., Lourens,
P.J., Steenkamp, J., Kell, D.B. and Pretorius, E., 2021. SARS-CoV-2 spike
protein S1 induces fibrin (ogen) resistant to fibrinolysis: Implications for
microclot formation in COVID-19. medRxiv.]. Furthermore, this particular
research on morphological changes in red blood cells from cell phone radiation
exposure was conducted by one of us (Rubik) who has 25+ years of experience in
live blood microscopy. So, although the morphological changes in red blood
cells are not as well supported in this paper as we would like, we hope to
plant seeds for future research to explore this phenomenon.
Therefore, we modified the paragraph as follows:
“RFR exposure can cause morphologic changes in blood readily seen via
microscopic examination of live peripheral blood samples. In 2013, Havas
observed erythrocyte aggregation including rouleaux (rolls of stacked red blood
cells) in live peripheral blood samples following 10 minute human exposure to a
2.4 GHz cordless phone. Although not peer reviewed, one of us (Rubik)
investigated the effect of 4G LTE (fourth generation, long-term evolution)
mobile phone radiation on the peripheral blood of ten human subjects, each of
whom had been exposed to cell phone radiation for two consecutive 45-minute
intervals (Rubik, 2014). Two types of effects were observed: increased
stickiness and clumping of red blood cells with rouleaux formation, and
subsequent formation of echinocytes (spiky red blood cells). Red blood cell
clumping and aggregation are known to be actively involved in blood clotting
(Wagner et al., 2013). The prevalence of such blood changes upon exposure to
RFR in the human population has not yet been determined. Larger controlled
studies should be performed to further investigate this phenomenon.”
12. Page 7, right, lines 3-5. Delete the last sentence “Similar effects are
observed in both that are caused by increased free radical formation and
glutathione deficiency”.
Sentence deleted as requested, thank you.
13. Line 11. Explain “spike protein”.
Explanation for the term spike protein provided accordingly as requested as
shown here:
“Once the virus gains access to a host cell via one of its spike proteins,
which are the multiple protuberances projecting from the viral envelope that
bind to ACE-2 receptors, it converts the cell into a virus self replicating
machine.”
14. In the effects on immune system cite and discuss the reviews by Szmigielski
(2013) [Reaction of the immune system to low-level RF/MW exposures. Science of
the Total Environment 454-455 (2013) 393-400], and Johansson 2009 [Disturbance
of the immune system by electromagnetic fields-A potentially underlying cause
for cellular damage and tissue repair reduction which could lead to disease and
impairment. Pathophysioloy. 16(2-3):157-77].
We appreciate these references. We added the following paragraph to the section
on Immune System Disruption and Activation, and we added both references to the
Reference Section.
“In 2009, Johansson conducted a literature review, which included the 2007
Bioinitiative Report. He concluded that EMF exposure, including RFR, can
disturb the immune system and cause allergic and inflammatory responses at
exposure levels significantly less than current national and international
safety limits and raise the risk for systemic disease. A review conducted by
Szmigielski in 2013 concluded that weak RF/microwave fields, such as those
emitted by mobile phones, can affect various immune functions both in vitro and
in vivo. Although the bioeffects have been somewhat inconsistent, most research
studies document alterations in the number and activity of immune cells from RF
exposure. In general, short term exposures to weak microwave radiation may
temporarily stimulate an innate or adaptive immune response, but prolonged
irradiation inhibits those same functions.”
15. Page 8, left, lines 45-49. Pall (2013) made an observation that calcium
channels play a major role in EMF bioeffects. A very similar observation was
made long before by Walleczek (1992) [Electromagnetic field effects on cells of
the immune system: The role of calcium Signaling. FASEB J, 6, 3177-85]. These
were both review studies, not mechanisms. The mechanism for ion channel gating
by EMFs is published by Panagopoulos et al (2002) [Mechanism of action of
electromagnetic fields on cells. Biochemical and Biophysical Research
Communications, 298(1), 95-102], and refers not only to calcium but to all
cation channels. Please cite and discuss these studies as well.
Thank you for providing these references. The following text was added:
“In 1992, Walleczek first suggested that ELF (extremely low frequency)
electromagnetic fields (<300 Hz) may be affecting membrane-mediated Ca2+
signaling and lead to increased intracellular Ca2+. The irregular gating of
electrosensitive cell membrane ion channels by coherent, pulsed, oscillating
electromagnetic fields was first presented by Panagopoulos, et al., in 2002.
Pall combined these two observations to propose that low frequency RFR may be
causing increased intracellular Ca2+ via the activation of voltage-gated
calcium channels (Pall, 2013).
16. Same paragraph “viruses hijack calcium channels and increase intracellular
Ca2+ (Chen et al., 2019)”. Ion channels are ion-specific by means of ion
radius. Thus calcium channels would not allow larger molecules to pass through
them such as viruses. Therefore the claim by Chen et al 2019 is likely
impossible. This should be thoroughly searched and discussed.
Thank you for pointing this out so that we can clarify the concept. As you
surmised, viruses do not pass through calcium channels. In the case of most
viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the process of a virus entering a host cell is
called “viral endocytosis,” which involves the initial binding of the
SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the ACE2 receptor of host cells. The next steps
involve a complex process leading to the viral penetration through the host
cell plasma membrane into the cytosol [Mercer, J., Schelhaas, M. and Helenius,
A. 2010. Virus entry by endocytosis. Annual review of biochemistry 79:803-833.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-biochem-060208-104626].
However, contrary to what you wrote, Chen’s claim is upheld, because following
endocytosis and viral takeover of the host cell, certain viral proteins, which
are then manufactured in the host cell, manipulate calcium channels and
increase intracellular Ca2+.
The text has been modified as follows:
“It has been reported that some viruses can manipulate voltage-gated calcium
channels to increase intracellular Ca2+ thereby facilitating viral entry and
replication (Chen et al. 2019). Research has shown that the interaction between
a virus and voltage-gated calcium channels promote virus entry at the
virus-host cell fusion step. Then, after the virus binds to its receptor on a
host cell and enters the cell via endocytosis, the virus takes over the host
cell to manufacture its components. Certain viral proteins then manipulate
calcium channels, thereby increasing intracellular Ca2+, which facilitates
further viral replication.”
17. Right column, line 9. Explain “second messenger”
The term, “second messenger,” was explained as requested:
“Intracellular Ca2+ is a ubiquitous second messenger relaying signals received
by cell surface receptors to effector proteins involved in numerous biochemical
processes.”
18. Page 9, left, first paragraph. Explain “plaque instability”.
The term plaque instability was explained as requested.
“Immune system activation along with alterations in the immune system may
result in atherosclerotic plaque instability and vulnerability, i.e.,
presenting an increased risk for thrombus formation, and contributing to the
development of acute coronary events and cardiovascular disease in COVID-19.”
19. Lines 26-27, “Potekhina et al. (1992) found that certain frequencies (55
GHz; 73 GHz) caused pronounced arrhythmia”. There are no physiological GHz
frequencies in any living organism. All living functions are connected with ELF
frequencies. It is thus unlikely that the GHz frequencies caused these effects.
Instead the effects were most likely induced by the ELF pulsations. Similarly
in Havas et al (2010). RF studies should report whether the field is
pulsed/modulated or continuous wave. Most RF exposures contain ELF pulsing
and/or modulation. This includes 2G-3G-4G and 5G as well. Please search the
issue and revise accordingly.
Water absorbs broadly in the GHz spectral region and also displays GHz resonant
frequencies. Since living organisms consist of mostly water, organisms absorb
GHz, too. Consider the fact that water absorbs 2.45 GHz, which is widely used
in wireless communication routers and also in microwave ovens. Irradiation at
water resonant frequencies, of which there are several in the GHz spectral
region, may elicit bioeffects due to structural changes in the aqueous matrix
of living cells. A paper reported that low-intensity electromagnetic radiation
of 70.6 and 73 GHz affects E. coli bacterial growth and changes the properties
of water. [Torgomyan H, Kalantaryan V, Trchounian A. Low intensity
electromagnetic irradiation with 70.6 and 73 GHz frequencies affects
Escherichia coli growth and changes water properties. 2011. Cell biochemistry
and biophysics. 60(3):275-81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-010-9150-8 ] It is ;
hypothesized that water affected by absorption of GHz radiation affects the
hydration of protein molecules in organisms that may alter rates of biochemical
reactions (Betskii and Lebedeva, 2004). Thus, continuous wave GHz radiation, by
altering intracellular water structure and protein hydration, could
subsequently change the biochemistry and physiology.
In addition, we have been careful to report pulse modulation and other wave
parameters as reported in the literature. In the section where we describe the
Havas (2010) study, we admit that we initially missed the 100 Hz pulse
modulation, but we have now added it.
Please also see these two review papers, which we have cited and referenced in
our manuscript, which summarize a substantial number of bioeffects of
continuous wave as well as various types of modulated GHz radiation:
Pakhomov, A.G., Y. Akyel, O.N. Pakhomova, B.E. Stuck and M.R. Murphy. 1998.
Review article: current state and implications of research on the biological
effects of millimeter waves. Bioelectromagnetics, 19: 393-413.
DOI:10.1002/(SICI)1521-186X(1998)19:7<393::AID-BEM1>3.0.CO;2-X
Betskii O.V. and Lebedeva, N.N. 2004. Low-intensity millimeter waves in biology
and medicine. In: Clinical Application of Bioelectromagnetic Medicine, Marcel
Decker, New York, pp. 30-61.
https://gabrielecripezzicom/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/d75d92b7fb8f4d13ae5461e26afa62e87e60.pdf
Thank you for drawing our attention to these references: (Potekhina et al.,
1992; Havas et al., 2010). The text has been modified as follows:
“Potekhina et al. (1992) found that certain frequencies (55 GHz; 73 GHz) caused
pronounced arrhythmia. Although the nature of the primary response to
millimeter waves and consequent events are poorly understood, a possible role
for receptor structures and neural pathways in the development of continuous
millimeter wave-induced arrhythmia has been proposed (Pakhomov et al., 1998).”
“Havas et al. (2010) reported that human subjects in a controlled,
double-blinded study were hyper-reactive when exposed to 2.45 GHz, digitally
pulsed (100 Hz) microwave radiation, developing either an arrhythmia or
tachycardia and up-regulation of the sympathetic nervous system, which is
associated with the stress response.”
20. Right column, lines 29-31, “The bioeffects of RFR exposure are typically
nonlinear rather than exhibiting the familiar linear dose-response effects from
biochemical.” This is not true generally. The sporadic existence of “windows”
does not render all effects non-linear. Effects depending on intensity or
exposure time most usually are dose-dependent, and even close to linear. This
should be revised.
Thank you for drawing our attention to this matter. We have revised the text as
follows:
“RFR bioeffects depend upon specific values of wave parameters including
frequency, power density, exposure time and modulation characteristics, as well
as the cumulative history of exposure. Similar to ionizing radiation, the
bioeffects of RFR exposure should be subdivided into deterministic, i.e. dose
dependent effects, and stochastic effects that are seemingly random.
Importantly, RFR bioeffects can also involve “response windows” of specific
parameters whereby extremely low level fields can have disproportionally
detrimental effects (Blackman, et al., 1989).”
21. Page 10, left, lines 16-17, “However, these guidelines were established in
1996”. Provide reference.
We provided a citation and reference to the original FCC document as follows:
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 1996. Guidelines for evaluating the
environmental effects of radiofrequency radiation. FCC96-326; ET Docket No.
93-62.
https://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/1996/fcc96326.pdf
Reviewer #6: Xu et al reported that in Feb. 2020, the cases fatality rate was
much lower in Zhejiang province and other provinces were much lower than it was
in Wuhan. (Xiao-Wei Xu, physician1, Xiao-Xin Wu, physician1, Xian-Gao Jiang,
physician2, Kai-Jin Xu, physician1, Ling-Jun Ying, physician3, Chun-Lian Ma,
physician4, Shi-Bo Li, physician5, Hua-Ying Wang, physician6, Sheng Zhang,
physician7, Hai-Nv Gao, professor8, Ji-Fang Sheng, professor1, Hong-Liu Cai,
physician1, Yun-Qing Qiu, professor1, Lan-Juan Li, professor1. Clinical
findings in a group of patients infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus
(SARS-Cov-2) outside of Wuhan, China: retrospective case series. BMJ 2020; 368
doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m606).
We read this paper (Xu, 2020), and then we searched online to determine whether
5G was implemented in Zhejiang province by late 2019. We found that Zhejiang
province had partial installation of 5G in 2019, at least in major cities such
as Hangzhou, Wenzhou, and Ningbo. Moreover, only a small number of cases were
used in this retrospective study whose reference you provided, which may not
accurately reflect the actual number of cases and fatality rates in these
provinces. Due to this, we maintain that it would be inappropriate for us to
utilize these findings or this reference in our manuscript. Thus, we did not
make any modifications to our paper based on this information.
The following citation should be used along with the Pakhomov et al citation
with regard to millimeter wave effects: Betskii OV, Lebedeva NN. 2004
Low-intensity millimeter waves in biology and medicine. In: Clinical
Application of Bioelectromagnetic Medicine, Marcel Decker, New York, 2004, pp.
30-61.
https://gabrielecripezzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/d75d92b7fb8f4d13ae5461e26afa62e87e60.pdf
Thank you for providing this additional citation and reference. It has been
added accordingly as shown here in the manuscript text, in the last sentence of
the section, Overview on Bioeffects of Radiofrequency Radiation (RFR) Exposure:
“Two comprehensive reviews on the bioeffects of millimeter waves report that
even short-term exposures produce marked bioeffects (Pakhomov et al., 1998;
Betskii & Lebedeva, 2004).”
On p.5, there is place which states (5G RFR) - this is confusing since 5G is
not radiofrequency.
Thank you for making this observation. (5G RFR) has been removed from the
sentence on page 5.
The author should state in several places in the paper, that the findings are
suggestive of a link between EMF exposure and the severity of COVID-19
infections but none of these findings are considered to be proof of such a
linkage.
Thank you for this recommendation. We included this text in the Discussion
Section:
“This evidence suggests that RFR may have worsened the COVID-19 pandemic by
weakening the host and exacerbating COVID-19 disease. However, none of the
observations discussed here have proven this linkage. Specifically, the
evidence does not confirm causation.”
The Sen et al, citation has an error in it. It should read NF-kB. and that is a
Greek letter kappa. There may also be an error in the text.
These corrections have been made accordingly in the manuscript text, table, and
reference.
The other thing I would suggest is that the author should make a suggestion or
two about how the remaining uncertainty here might be resolved. I would make
two suggestions that might help:
There could be one or more studies to determine whether some COVID-19 patients
admitted to the hospital could be shielded in either Faraday cage or a shielded
canopy could be put over the bed. These could lower exposures and hospitals are
high EMF environments such with high powered Wi-Fi systems, many wireless
communication devices and thousands of electronic devices, producing large
amounts of dirty electricity. I know that hospitals have high levels of dirty
electricity, having measured levels myself. The question being, whether such
shielding would lower mortality rates and/or shorten times to patient release.
In consideration of your proposed study utilizing RFR shielding of COVID-19
patients, we think it is impractical and potentially dangerous to patients, and
therefore, unlikely to be carried out in hospitals. Please know that wireless
monitoring of patients in hospitals is now routine, such that shielding
patients would not permit this critical real-time online patient monitoring. It
is therefore unlikely that an Institutional Review Board would approve of
placing shielding around a patient or placing a patient in a Faraday cage where
they could not be easily monitored for any potentially dangerous physiological
changes. Thus, we did not add this proposed study to our Discussion Section of
the manuscript.
Another approach would be to measure home and working environments for EMF
levels comparing patients with similar risk factor exposure but different
severity of illness.
We have now proposed two future studies in the Discussion Section:
“The question of causation could be investigated in future studies. For
example, a clinical study could be conducted in COVID-19 patient populations
with similar risk factors, to measure the RFR daily dose in COVID-19 patients
and look for a correlation with disease severity and progression over time. As
wireless device frequencies may differ, and the power densities of RFR
fluctuate constantly at a given location, this study would require patients to
wear personal microwave dosimeters (monitoring badges). In addition, controlled
laboratory studies could be conducted on animals, e.g., humanized mice infected
with SARS-CoV-2, in which groups of animals exposed to minimal RFR (control
group) as well as medium and high power densities of RFR could be compared for
COVID-19 disease severity and progression.”
Reviewer #8: This paper delves into a facet of CoVid-19 and the evolving use of
the widespread release of 5G into the environment, and the relationship between
the two. This relationship has rarely been
studied in the literature. That alone seems to make this paper relatively
significant. It also provides evidence that the Precautionary Principle would
call for more study before continuing the
widespread deployment of 5G towers across the world, as well as the release of
satellites that are envisioned to surround the planet. While bringing Internet
access to the world’s population seems
to be a good thing (in providing information to the societies that lack it
now), we need to consider the Law of Unintended Consequences. The plans are for
5G to blanket the world, leaving no place
without this new exposure to this Microwave and Milliwave radiation, and
potentially effecting all life on earth, with the exception of beings that live
in lead-lined shelters, or Faraday cages. Based
on this paper alone, it indicates the need for further studies, before this is
widely deployed. Especially when we are still learning about the effects of the
CoVid-19 pandemic itself. The emerging
understanding of how CoVid-19 has been linked to coagulation disorders, and to
the hypoxic effect on the lung function of oxygenation absorption and release,
via the red cells, adds additional
urgency to the situation. As does the information on free radical creation
causing havoc to Biological systems, the problems that either CoVid Or 5 G-type
RFR can have on the heart, and especially
how either can effect the immune system, and the paper points out that that
could make a lot of illnesses deadlier. And all of these have never been fully
tested together, but usually apart, by
impartial researchers.
As this paper has reviewed the literature on the effects of RFR RadioFrequency
Radiation, and considering how most studies in the past, looked at the heating
effects of such radiation, and
then said that if the RFR did not effect heating of biological tissue, it was
labeled as safe. But as this paper shows, there is multiple evidence that there
are adverse effects on tissue systems and
their physiology, that have nothing to do with the heating effects of RFR.
These low power high frequency effects have been collated, reviewed, and well
documented in this paper, in a clearly
collected and tabular form, making it easy to compare the RFR research, and the
emerging data from the effects of the CoVid-19 virus. And by documenting the
similarity of the recognized RFR
effects on biological systems, then when these are clearly shown to be similar
effects that are being discovered with the ever-changing documented effects of
the CoVid-19 pandemic, the paper
makes a strong case for a halt that is needed at this point in the pandemic, to
step back and really investigate the nature and gravity of these effects, when
combined, before further RFR 5 G
potentially blankets the world.
As the paper points out in the discussion, while the connections and the
evidence that both RFR and CoVid-19 attack similar biological systems and
physiologies, the paper has not proven
causation, but they clearly have proven the point that further, independent
research is needed, and soon. Given that CoVid-19 has shown the ability to
mutate, and future pandemics are predicted,
this might be one “bright side” to this pandemic, in that it forces us to do
this research, before it is too late. If indeed, all of the systems effected by
CoVid-19 are also potentially weakened or
effected by RFR like the upcoming wave of 5G (or 6 G, etc.) that is planned for
the future, we have a chance to do the research that is needed to make our
future safer, but to not do this research,
and hide our heads in the sand, and ignore this paper, and its implications,
then future generations may not look back kindly on our “rush to get faster
internet to everyone.” Instead, we may do
much more damage than when people thought that Radium watches that glow in the
dark were “cool,” or that it was “cool” to use the Xray machines in shoe stores
to see if your shoes fit the feet,
by a live Xray that showed your foot skeleton in the shoe, while the Xray
device was near the gonads. One wonders how many people died of those “cool”
technologies, from cancer or other
illnesses, before their dangers were finally recognized and removed from the
market.
How does the saying go: “Those who refuse to learn from the mistakes of the
past, are condemned to repeat them,” only this time it may be on a world-wide
scale? So I highly recommend that
this paper be accepted for publication, so that it can stimulate much more
research that must be done in this area.
We thank you for your review, support, and encouragement.
Reviewer #9: Dear Editor,
I completed review process of the manuscript numbered as
“JCTRes-D-21-00034_reviewer”. Although the ideas put forward by the authors are
not negligible, they are open issues to criticism. Because there is no
scientific study that clearly reveals the relationship between RFRs, especially
5G and SARS-CoV-2. The authors have tried to make a good review, but the ideas
they put forward show that only RFRs and SARS-CoV-2 have similar effects.
Unfortunately, there is no scientific data about whether these similarities
create a synergistic effect or not. So I suggest the authors change the title
such as “Similarities in the effects of RFRs and SARS-CoV-2: Could there be a
synergistic effect?”
We prefer not to change the title to your suggested title, because your use of
the word, “synergistic” implies a specific type of relationship that goes
beyond a possible connection. “Synergy” is defined as the interaction of two or
more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of
their individual effects. We are not addressing the question of possible
synergy in this paper. Instead, we are merely investigating the intersection of
bioeffects of radiofrequency radiation exposure and COVID-19 manifestations.
However, we have changed our paper title, eliminating the word
“telecommunications” and substituting the word, “communications,” which is more
general and inclusive. Our new title is, “Evidence for a Connection between
COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless Communications
Including Microwaves and Millimeter Waves.” We also have an alternative title,
if the Editor prefers, “A Proposed Connection between COVID-19 and Exposure to
Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless Communications Including Microwaves and
Millimeter Waves.”
The decision is yours, dear editor. In summary, the article can be printed, but
the title is very ambitious! On the other hand, I suggest to the authors to
read the articles given below to find some hints for the topic of the
manuscript.
Sincerely
Recommendation for Table 1 in page 4; Table 1 is not sufficient as the authors
stated. Fort this reason, the authors have to present characteristics of RFRs
and name of the references. Therefore, the table should be more informative for
the readers for evaluation of the situation.
Thank you for this impressive reference list, which we have investigated.
Our table was meant to be only a visual summary for the reader, not a
comprehensive list with details and references. However, we changed the
subheadings on the bioeffects in the text to reiterate the table subheadings.
In this way, the reader is referred to particular sections of the text to
obtain details regarding RFR exposure parameters and literature citations. We
have also added a sentence to the table legend indicating how the reader can
find this supportive information as follows:
“Supportive evidence including study details and citations are provided in the
paper under each subject heading, i.e., Blood Changes, Oxidative Stress, etc.”
-
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Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment. 22: 4; 992-997
-
Alkis ME, Bilgin HM, Akpolat V, Dasdag S, Yegin K, Yavas MC, Akdag MZ, Effect
of 900-, 1800-, and 2100-MHz radiofrequency radiation on DNA and oxidative
stress in brain. Electromagn Biol Med. 38(1): 32-47, 2019.
-
Akdag M, Dasdag S, Canturk F, Akdag MZ, Exposure to non-ionizing
electromagnetic fields emitted from mobile phones induced DNA damage in human
ear canal hair follicle cells. Electromagn Biol Med. 2018, 37 (2): 66-75.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15368378.2018.1463246
-
Bektas H, Dasdag S, Effect of Radiofrequencies Emitted from Mobile Phones and
Wi-Fİ on Pregnancy. Journal of International Dental and Medical Research.
10(3): 1084-1095, 2017
-
Bektas H, Dasdag S, Bektas S, Comparison of effects of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and mobile
exposure on human placenta and cord Blood. Biotechnology & Biotechnological
Equipment. 2020, VOL. 34 (1): 154-162, 2020,
https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2020.1725639
We have modified our manuscript to include summaries of the following papers
from your list which are relevant for our paper:
-
(1) Alkis, M.E., Akdag, M.Z. and Dasdag, S., 2021. Effects of low-intensity
microwave radiation on oxidant-antioxidant parameters and DNA damage in the
liver of rats. Bioelectromagnetics, 42(1), pp.76-85. DOI:10.1002/bem.22315;
-
(2) Dasdag, S., Bilgin, H.M., Akdag, M.Z., Celik, H. and Aksen, F., 2008.
Effect of long term mobile phone exposure on oxidative-antioxidative processes
and nitric oxide in rats. Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment, 22(4),
pp.992-997. https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2008.10817595
We added short summaries of these two papers to the section on Oxidative Stress:
“In a long-term controlled study on rats exposed to 900 MHz (mobile phone
frequency) at 0.0782 mW/cm2 for 2 hrs/day for 10 months, there was a
significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and total oxidant status (TOS)
over controls (Dasdag et al., 2008). In another long-term controlled study on
rats exposed to two mobile phone frequencies, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz, at power
densities 0.04 -0.127 mW/cm2 for 2 hours/day over 7 months, significant
alterations in oxidant-antioxidant parameters, DNA strand breaks, and oxidative
DNA damage were found (Alkis et al., 2021).”
Reviewer #10: - Background section. Page 1, lines 49-52. “…that will
dramatically increase the population’s wireless radiation exposure both inside
structures and outdoors”.
Please cite evidence (referenced studies) supporting this hypothesis by
specific models and/or real-time measurements.
We could not find specific models, nor are real-time measurements available, so
we decided instead to modify this sentence such that it remains hypothetical.
However, with densification of 4G infrastructure along with the placement of
new 5G antennas approximately every 300 meters, and 42,000 5G emitting
satellites, it is logical to hypothesize that the population will experience
increased wireless communication radiation exposure. Here is our modified
sentence:
“The system requires significant densification of 4G as well as new 5G antennas
that may dramatically increase the population’s wireless communications
radiation exposure both inside structures and outdoors.”
-
- Background section. Page 1. “During the first wave in the United States,
COVID-19 attributed cases and deaths were higher in states with 5G
infrastructure compared with states that did not yet have this technology
(Tsiang and Havas, manuscript submitted)”. Unpublished/not available data
should not be considered as citation.
We agree, and we included this paper because we expected it to be published
during the review process and it has, in fact, been published in a peer
reviewed journal since our submission. The full reference, now added to our
reference list in the manuscript, is:
“Tsiang, A. and Havas, M. 2021. COVID-19 Attributed Cases and Deaths are
Statistically Higher in States and Counties with 5th Generation Millimeter Wave
Wireless Telecommunications in the United States. Medical Research Archives
9(4): 1-32. DOI: 10.18103/mra.v9i4.2371”
-
- Overview on covid-19 (page 2). In consideration of the main aim of the
review, this paragraph can be significantly shortened.
Our overview on COVID-19 is quite short at approximately ½ page. We think it
provides a good background for readers in need, so we prefer not to shorten it.
-
- Authors should better describe the main technical characteristics of the 5G
infrastructures (i.e, small cells, MIMO, multiple frequencies etc.), briefly
listing the main technical differences with the previous radiofrequency
networks.
We provided a reference to the official document specifying 5G (3GPP, 2020). In
addition, we re-wrote and expanded upon 5G on page 2 as follows:
“5G is a protocol that will use high frequency bands of the electromagnetic
spectrum in the vast radiofrequency range from 600 MHz to nearly 100 GHz, which
includes millimeter waves (>20 GHz), in addition to the currently used 3G
(third generation) and 4G (fourth generation) long term evolution (LTE)
microwave bands. 5G frequency spectrum allocations differ from country to
country. Focused pulsed beams of radiation will emit from new base stations and
phased array antennas placed close to buildings whenever persons access the 5G
network. Because these high frequencies are strongly absorbed by the atmosphere
and especially during rain, a transmitter’s range is limited to 300 meters.
Therefore 5G involves base stations and antennas much more closely spaced than
previous generations, plus satellites in orbit that will emit 5G bands globally
to create a wireless worldwide web. The system requires significant
densification of 4G as well as new 5G antennas that may dramatically increase
the population’s wireless communications radiation exposure both inside
structures and outdoors. Approximately 100,000 emitting satellites are planned
to be launched into orbit. This infrastructure will significantly alter the
world’s electromagnetic environment to unprecedented levels and may cause
unknown consequences to the entire biosphere, including humans. The new
infrastructure will service the new 5G devices, including 5G mobile phones,
routers, computers, tablets, self-driving vehicles, machine-to-machine
communications, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The global industry standard for 5G is set by the 3rd Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP), which is an umbrella term for several organizations developing
standard protocols for mobile telecommunications. The 5G standard specifies all
key aspects of the technology, including frequency spectrum allocation,
beam-forming, beam steering, multiplexing MIMO (multiple in, multiple out)
schemes to nearly simultaneously serve a large number of devices within a cell
as well as modulation schemes among many others. The latest finalized 5G
standard, Release 16, is codified in the 3GPP published Technical Report TR
21.916 and may be downloaded from the 3GPP server at
https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/21_series/21.916/ (3GGP, 2020).”
Reference: 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project, 2020. Technical Report
TR 21.916, V1.0.0. (2020-12), pages 1-149.
https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/21_series/21.916/
-
- Table 1. Authors should indicate in the table the most relevant and specific
reference(s) for each listed point.
Rather than modify the Table, which is meant to be only a summary to assist the
reader, we changed the text subheadings on bioeffects to be identical to the
Table subheadings. We added this sentence in the Table legend to direct the
reader to those text sections for the evidence and citations: “Supportive
evidence including study details and citations are provided in the paper under
each subject heading, i.e., Blood Changes, Oxidative Stress, etc.”
-
- Table 1. it is not clear if the cited effects (“RFR exposure bioeffects”)
have been generically linked with high frequency electromagnetic fields or,
specifically, with 5G frequencies.
Authors should include in the “RFR exposure bioeffects” listed in this table
the frequency, the level (i.e., power density) and the period of exposure
linked with each of the cited effects. Authors should also specify the type of
study (i.e., in vitro, animal or human study).
As previously stated in our Methods Section, all studies reviewed in this paper
involve exposures to RFR in the range from 600 MHz – 90 GHz, the spectrum of
wireless communication radiation, from 2G – 5G inclusive. The detailed
information on exposure parameters and types of studies is given in each
section of the text with the same headings as in the Table, i.e., Blood
Changes, Oxidative Stress, etc.
-
- Authors should report the average level of RFR exposure measured in at least
some geographical areas implementing 5G infrastructure. A comparison of the
“real-life” level of exposure with the RFR exposure levels generating the
majority of bioeffects described in the paper is needed.
We inserted the following text in the manuscript in the section on the Overview
on Bioeffects of RFR Exposure:
“By comparison to the exposure levels employed in these studies, we measured
the ambient level of RFR from 100 MHz – 8 GHz in downtown San Francisco,
California in December, 2020, and found an average power density of 0.0002
mW/cm2. This is approximately 2x10E10 times above the natural background.”
-
- Several bioeffects described by authors are generated by levels of exposure
significantly higher than those generally recorded in urban areas. Authors
should include in the paper a new table listing the bioeffects potentially
linked with covid-19 and observed in the presence of levels of environmental
exposure comparable with those recorded in the most exposed urban areas.
Such data on the average power density of 5G (or 4G) in various geographical
locations are unavailable, neither shown in the scientific literature, nor
published by cities or other governments. Little is known about population
exposure from real-world radiofrequency radiation sources as we previously
wrote in our Discussion Section. It is also very difficult to accurately
quantify the average power density at a given location. Moreover, the average
power density varies greatly, depending upon the specific location, time,
averaging interval, frequency, and modulation scheme. For a specific
municipality it depends on the antenna density, what network protocols are
used, as, for example, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence),
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), DECT (Digital European
Cordless Telecommunications), RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging), and what the
legal limits are for public exposure in the particular jurisdiction. RFR
(radiofrequency radiation) from ubiquitous radiowave transmitters, including
antennas, base stations, smart meters, mobile phones, routers, satellites, and
other wireless devices currently in use superimposes and yields an additive
average power density at a given location that typically fluctuates greatly
over time. Using a consumer grade radiofrequency power meter to measure ambient
levels from 100 MHz – 8 GHz in downtown San Francisco, California, recently we
found an average power density of 0.0002 mW/cm2, which is approximately 1
billion times greater than the natural background. However, our RF meter was
insensitive to 5G frequencies above 8 GHz.
We added the following paragraph to the Discussion Section:
“Another shortcoming of this study is that we do not have access to
experimental data on 5G exposures. In fact, little is known about population
exposure from real-world RFR, which includes exposure to RFR infrastructure and
the plethora of RFR emitting devices. In relation to this, it is difficult to
accurately quantify the average power density at a given location, which varies
greatly, depending upon the time, specific location, averaging interval,
frequency, and modulation scheme. For a specific municipality it depends on the
antenna density, what network protocols are used, as, for example, 2G, 3G, 4G,
5G, Wi-Fi, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), DECT
(Digital European Cordless Telecommunications), and RADAR (Radio Detection and
Ranging). RFR from ubiquitous radiowave transmitters, including antennas, base
stations, smart meters, mobile phones, routers, satellites, and other wireless
devices currently in use, superimposes and yields an additive average power
density at a given location that typically fluctuates greatly over time. No
experimental studies on adverse health effects or safety issues of 5G have been
reported, and none are currently planned by the industry, although this is
sorely needed.”
-
- Authors should report and comment previous studies, if available, linking RFR
exposure with viral diseases different from Covid-19.
We searched the scientific and medical literature, but we did not find any
studies on RFR exposure linked to other viral diseases.
-
- Authors discuss evidence deriving from exposure to cell phones to support
possible effects of environmental exposure to 5G. However, exposure to cell
phones or to 5G infrastructure (i.e., base stations, MIMO antennas, devices
etc.) may significantly differ in terms of SAR and are not fully comparable.
We discussed evidence not only from exposure to cell phone radiation, but also
from exposure to Wi-Fi in this paper. We agree that exposure to 5G
infrastructure (i.e., base stations, MIMO antennas, etc.) may significantly
differ in terms of SAR and are not fully comparable. We had previously pointed
out in our Discussion Section that data on bioeffects from real world 5G
emissions was seriously lacking.
We added additional material discussing evidence from exposure to cell or
mobile phones, which appears on page 4:
“Chronic human exposure to 0.000006 to 0.00001 mW/cm2 produced significant
changes in human stress hormones following a mobile phone base station
installation (Bucher and Eger, 2012). Human exposures to cell phone radiation
at 0.00001 – 0.00005 mW/cm2 resulted in complaints of headache, neurological
problems, sleep problems, and concentration problems, corresponding to
‘microwave sickness’ (Navarro et al., 2003; Hutter et al., 2006).”
And in another paragraph on page 4 we added this:
“In a long-term (1 - 4 year) study on children who use mobile phones compared
to a control group, functional changes, including greater fatigue, decreased
voluntary attention, and weakening of semantic memory, among other adverse
psychophysiological changes, were reported (Grigoriev, 2012).”
On page 9, we added this:
“A review conducted by Szmigielski in 2013 concluded that weak RF/microwave
fields, including those emitted by mobile phones, can affect various immune
functions both in vitro and in vivo.”
-
- The majority of the bio-effects described by Authors could also be, at least
theoretically, attributed to pre-existing radiofrequency exposure, in
particular in highly exposed geographical areas. Furthermore, in the
short-medium term, in exposed areas the level of RFR exposure can be assumed to
be constant. On the other hand, covid-19 incidence, morbidity and mortality
significantly varied during the last year. The lack of a parallel trend should
limit the hypothesis of a direct link between 5G exposure and covid-19 clinical
and epidemiological aspects.
The total radiofrequency radiation exposure is due to radiation from a
combination of wireless infrastructure (4G and 5G antennas, base stations,
smart meters) as well as wireless communication products in the homes, schools,
and workplaces. We disagree with your assumption that in exposed regions the
level of RFR exposure can be assumed to be constant last year, especially since
the installation of 5G was being implemented in many locations throughout the
world in 2020. Thus, in 2020, we expected the level of RFR exposure to increase
in these locations.
-
- The majority of the bio-effects described by Authors could also be attributed
to other sources of environmental pollution and, in particular, to air
pollution. The effect of this and other relevant confounders in urban areas
characterized by high population density is not discussed by Authors.
It is possible that air pollution is another potential contributing
environmental factor in the pandemic, although it is not a subject relevant to
our thesis, such that we do not address it in depth in our paper. Nonetheless,
we added the following sentence to the Discussion Section:
“Air pollution, particularly PM 2.5 microparticulates, likely increased
symptoms in patients with COVID-19 lung disease (Fiasca et al., 2020).”
Reference: Fiasca F., Minelli M., Maio D., Minelli M., Vergallo I., Necozione
S., Mattei A. 2020. Associations between COVID-19 Incidence Rates and the
Exposure to PM2.5 and NO2: A Nationwide Observational Study in Italy. Int J
Environ Res Public Health. 17(24):9318. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17249318
-
- According to some evidence, children can be particularly vulnerable to RFR
effects. However, the pediatric age seems to be the less involved, at least in
terms of clinical manifestation, by the covid-19 pandemic. How Authors could
explain this different outcome in different age classes equally exposed to RFR?
Children are less vulnerable than adults to the SARS-CoV-2 virus because they
have fewer ACE2 receptors. Elderly adults have the most ACE2 receptors, i.e.,
more “targets” for the virus to enter their cells, and are thus more vulnerable
to the virus. Both the very young and the very old populations are the most
vulnerable to adverse effects from RFR exposure. Even so, the question of
age-related exposure to wireless communication radiation in relation to the
pandemic goes beyond the scope of our paper.
-
- Page 9, discussion section. “The evidence indicates that RFR may weaken the
host, exacerbate COVID-19 disease, and thereby worsen the pandemic”. In the
opinion of this reviewer, the reported evidence only indicate that mechanisms
possibly involved in the clinical progression of SARS-CoV-2 could be also
generated, according to experimental data, by RFR exposure. It is still under
debate, however, if these biological effects can be present in the case of
frequencies and levels of RFR exposure commonly found in the urban areas where
5G networks have been implemented.
-
- Point of strength and limitations of the review performed by authors should
be clearly stated.
We added this sentence to the Conclusion Section:
“The evidence presented here indicates that mechanisms involved in the clinical
progression of COVID-19 could also be generated, according to experimental
data, by RFR exposure.”
We have rewritten our Discussion Section and point out more clearly the
strengths and limitations of our review, as follows:
“A major strength of this study is that the evidence rests on a large body of
scientific literature reported by many scientists worldwide and over several
decades--experimental evidence of adverse bioeffects of RFR exposure at
nonthermal levels on humans, animals, and cells. The Bioinitiative Report (Sage
and Carpenter, 2012) and updated in 2020, summarizes hundreds of peer-reviewed
scientific papers documenting evidence of nonthermal effects from exposures
less than or equal to 1mW/cm2. Even so, some laboratory studies on the adverse
health effects of RFR have sometimes utilized power densities exceeding
1mW/cm2. In this paper, almost all of the studies that we reviewed included
experimental data at power densities less than or equal to 1mW/cm2.
A potential criticism of this study is that adverse bioeffects from nonthermal
exposures are not yet universally accepted in science and are not considered
when establishing public health policy in many nations. Decades ago, Russians
and Eastern Europeans compiled considerable data on nonthermal bioeffects, and
subsequently set guidelines at lower RFR exposure limits than the US and
Canada, i.e., below levels where nonthermal effects are observed. However, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC, a US government entity) and ICNIRP
(International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) guidelines
operate on thermal limits based on outdated data from decades ago, allowing the
public to be exposed to considerably higher RFR power densities. Regarding 5G,
the telecommunication industry claims that it is safe because it complies with
current RFR exposure guidelines of the FCC and ICNIRP. These guidelines were
established in 1996 (Federal Communications Commission, 1996), are antiquated,
and are not safety standards. Thus, there are no universally accepted safety
standards for wireless communication radiation exposure. Recently international
bodies such as the EMF Working Group of the European Academy of Environmental
Medicine, have proposed much lower guidelines, taking into account nonthermal
bioeffects from RFR exposure in multiple sources (Belyaev et al., 2016).
Another weakness of this study is that some of the bioeffects from RFR exposure
are inconsistently reported in the literature. Replicated studies are often not
true replications. Small differences in method, including unreported details
such as prior history of exposure by the organisms, non-uniform body exposure,
and other variables can lead to inadvertent inconsistency. Moreover, not
surprisingly, industry-sponsored studies tend to show less adverse bioeffects
than studies conducted by independent researchers, suggesting industry bias
(Huss et al., 2007). Some experimental studies that are not industry-sponsored
have also shown no evidence of harmful effects of RFR exposure. It is
noteworthy, however, that studies employing real-life RFR exposures from
commercially available devices have shown high consistency in revealing adverse
effects (Panagopoulos, 2019).
RFR bioeffects depend upon specific values of wave parameters including
frequency, power density, exposure time, and modulation characteristics, as
well as the cumulative history of exposure. Similar to ionizing radiation, the
bioeffects of RFR exposure can be subdivided into deterministic, i.e., dose
dependent effects and stochastic effects that are seemingly random.
Importantly, RFR bioeffects can also involve “response windows” of specific
parameters whereby extremely low level fields can have disproportionally
detrimental effects (Blackman et al., 1989). This nonlinearity of RFR
bioeffects can result in biphasic responses such as immune suppression from one
range of parameters, and immune hyperactivation from another range of
parameters, leading to variations that may appear inconsistent.
In gathering papers and examining existing data for this study, we looked for
outcomes providing evidence to support a proposed connection between the
bioeffects of RFR exposure and COVID-19. We did not make an attempt to weigh
the evidence. The RFR exposure literature is extensive and currently contains
over 30,000 research reports dating back several decades. Inconsistencies in
nomenclature, reporting of details, and cataloging of keywords make it
difficult to navigate the literature.
Another shortcoming of this study is that we do not have access to experimental
data on 5G exposures. In fact, little is known about population exposure from
real-world RFR, which includes exposure to RFR infrastructure and the plethora
of RFR emitting devices. In relation to this, it is difficult to accurately
quantify the average power density at a given location, which varies greatly,
depending upon the time, specific location, averaging interval, frequency, and
modulation scheme. For a specific municipality it depends on the antenna
density, what network protocols are used, as, for example, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G,
Wi-Fi, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), DECT (Digital
European Cordless Telecommunications), and RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging).
RFR from ubiquitous radiowave transmitters, including antennas, base stations,
smart meters, mobile phones, routers, satellites, and other wireless devices
currently in use, superimposes and yields an additive average power density at
a given location that typically fluctuates greatly over time. No experimental
studies on adverse health effects or safety issues of 5G have been reported,
and none are currently planned by the industry, although this is sorely needed.”
Reviewer #11: In this work authors summarize current state of knowledge about
the harmful effects of Radiofrequency radiation (RFR), with special focus on
those that could possibly enhance the possibility of being infected by COVID-19.
This review is a nice mix of very recent publications (last 5 years) and some
classic papers mainly from Soviet Union and United States, showing, that
knowledge about harmful effects of RFR have been extensively studied already
few decades ago, what is very important mainly because of the number of
conspiracy theories available of the Internet about 5G RFR. Call for the
scientific evaluation of this exposure type is more than proper. Otherwise we
will be wittnesses of very big population study, that will reveal the truth in
the future times.
I do not have any big questions rather some comments:
1) In the Introduction part authors cite quite few review articles. I would
suggest citation of the few of the best experimental articles considering this
type of deleterious effect (e.g. oxidative stress, reproductive damage), since
the number of the reviews considering RFR is relatively high, but actual
experimental studies that strongly supports the conclusion of reviews are
sometimes hard to find or other times not so conclusive.
We already selected the best experimental articles, including review articles,
to support our purported thesis that adverse effects to RFR exposure intersect
with COVID-19 manifestations.
2) Authors stated that oxidative stress induced by RFR may exacerbate the
seriousness of COVID -19 disease. I agree that induction of oxidative stress is
the most common harmful effect observed after exposure to RFR, targeting mostly
the cells with the high level of metabolism, like sperm cells. But in a lot of
studies induction of ROS after exposure is not higher than 50% of control
values and some studies have even seen adaptation to the radiation with
increased exposure time on the cellular level.
It is certainly true that not all studies designed to test for oxidative stress
following exposure to RFR show positive results. However, a very large number
of studies do show positive results. As we already stated in our earlier paper
draft in the section, Oxidative Stress, “Among 100 currently available
peer-reviewed studies investigating oxidative effects of low-intensity RFR, 93
studies confirmed that RFR induces oxidative effects in biological systems
(Yakymenko et al., 2015).” Moreover, we have added summaries of two more
studies on long-term exposure (7 – 10 months) of rats to mobile phone radiation
frequencies that show statistically significantly greater oxidative stress
levels over controls:
“In a controlled study on rats exposed to 900 MHz (mobile cell phone frequency)
at 0.0782 mW/cm2 for 2 hrs/day for 10 months, there was a significant increase
in malondialdehyde (MDA) and total oxidant status (TOS) over controls (Dasdag
et al., 2008). In another controlled study on rats exposed to two mobile phone
frequencies, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz, at power densities 0.04 -0.127 mW/cm2 for 2
hours/day over 7 months, significant alterations in oxidant-antioxidant
parameters, DNA strand breaks, and oxidative DNA damage were found (Alkis et
al., 2021).”
3) Authors suggest that 5G introduction in the cities that have been hit with
the COVID-19 very hard in the first wave could lead to the increased mortality
and number of cases. Since there are some connections, this could be also
explaine by the fact that Northern Italy is the region with the highest
percentage of elderly people that often have other comorbidities like diabetes
and hypertension that significntly increase the probability of serious
condition, next the precautions in the Italy have not been sufficient what is
more likely the cause of such strong hit by COVID than 5G. To the New York,
that is one of the crowdest cities in the world and social distancing have not
been established soon enough.
We agree with you and have added the following text to in our Discussion
Section to address these points; thank you:
“We recognize that many factors have influenced the pandemic’s course. Before
restrictions were imposed, travel patterns facilitated the seeding of the
virus, causing early rapid global spread. Population density, higher mean
population age, and socioeconomic factors certainly influenced early viral
spread. Air pollution, particularly PM 2.5 microparticulates, likely increased
symptoms in patients with COVID-19 lung disease (Fiasca, et al. 2020). In this
paper, we postulate that RFR, by potentially weakening the host immune systems
of large populations, among other bioeffects that we discussed, has possibly
contributed to the early spread and severity of COVID-19.”
In addition, we would also like to respond to you with this paragraph, although
we did not include it in our paper. Community public health response to the
pandemic dramatically influenced the spread and intensity of COVID-19 once it
became established within a community. Individual risk factors such as old age,
hypertension, diabetes, and obesity put patient populations at greater risk for
severe disease. Detailing the complex pathophysiology of each condition with
COVID-19 is beyond the scope of this paper. Obesity, for example, a significant
recognized risk factor, may be so in part perhaps because adipose cells contain
a high level of ACE-2 receptors (Al-Benna, 2020). In addition, patients with
morbid obesity may have restricted lung tidal volumes, exacerbating the
clinical effect of lung disease caused by Sars-CoV-2.
4) Other argument is that in the second wave midlle europe (Czech, Hungary,
Poland, Slovakia) have been hit very hard with COVID and 5G is still not
introduced in this countries (maybe only capital cities, but certainly not
smaller cities and villages, that had been hit even harder). So I think
overally, mobility of people, meeting of families during holidays and inproper
precautions have much larger effect on the pandemia than RFR exposure. But on
the other hand I agree that RFR
could add some stress to individuals already weakened by the COVID.
We agree with you and have added the following text to the Discussion Section:
“Once an agent becomes established in a community, its virulence increases
(Hoyt et al., 2020). This premise can be applied to the COVID-19 pandemic. We
surmise that “hot spots” of the disease that initially spread around the world
were perhaps seeded by air travel, which in some areas was associated with 5G
implementation. However, once the disease became established in those
communities, it was able to spread more easily to neighboring regions where
populations were less exposed to RFR. Second and third waves of the pandemic
disseminated widely throughout communities with and without RFR, as would be
expected.”
5) Authors should also focus on the fact that lot of experimental studies did
not provide any evidence of harmful effect of RFR (and not all of them are
industry financed and ordered). Other problem with experimental evidence of
harmful effects is the reproducibility of the observed effects and
replicability of the studies, that are often performed with questionable
devices, under not precisely characterized exposure conditions.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
We have now included this paragraph in the Discussion Section:
“Another weakness of this study is that some of the bioeffects from RFR
exposure are inconsistently reported in the literature. Replicated studies are
often not true replications. Small differences in method, including unreported
details such as prior history of exposure by the organisms, non-uniform body
exposure, and other variables can lead to inadvertent inconsistency. Moreover,
not surprisingly, industry-sponsored studies tend to show less adverse
bioeffects than studies conducted by independent researchers, suggesting
industry bias (Huss et al., 2007). Some experimental studies that are not
industry-sponsored have also shown no evidence of harmful effects of RFR
exposure.”
Despite this comments bit of article provide nice review of the RFR effects on
the human beings supported by the number of peer-reviewed studies and also
overview of COVID- 19 disease, that is very valuable and worth publishing after
applying some of the comments to the manuscript.
Reviewer #12 (editor-in-chief): SO THESE SUGGESTIONS ARE MANDATORY TO ADDRESS
1) Please contextualize the narrative to centers/regions of outbreak where 5G
is not prevalent, such as rural India, beyond the premise that correlation is
not causation. Cite regions that had a 5G rollout but were not hit by the
pandemic, and please provide explanations for such exemptions.
Worldwide maps illustrating the similarity of COVID-19 and RFR distribution
during the early phase of the pandemic are stunning, suggesting a relationship
as shown in these two maps from WIGLE.net and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus
Research Center from December 2019 and April 7, 2020, respectively.
However, when considering only 5G networks, the correlation is less striking
(Tsiang & Havas, 2021). This would be expected as 5G represents a relatively
small subset of the global RFR emission in late 2019 and early 2020. Early on
in the pandemic, there were active 5G networks in Thailand and Indonesia, where
the reported number of COVID-19 cases in the early phase of the pandemic was
minimal. In addition, the proliferation of 5G networks in Finland, which began
in June 2019, was not associated with an increased incidence of COVID-19
infections. Assuming accurate data reporting by these countries, other factors,
such as overall better general health of the population compared to other
regions, and environmental cofactors may have provided protection to these
populations. For example, less international air travel in these regions
compared to other regions with greater incidence of the disease could be a
factor that provided greater protection to such regions with 5G.
However, once an agent becomes established in a communal reservoir, its
virulence increases (Hoyt, et al., 2020). This premise can be applied to the
COVID-19 pandemic. We surmise that “hot spots” of the disease that initially
spread around the world were perhaps seeded by air travel, but were then more
easily spread in regions of increased RFR exposure, which in some areas was
associated with 5G implementation. However, once the disease became well
established in those communities, it was able to more easily spread to
neighboring regions where populations were less exposed to RFR environmental
toxicity. This may explain why the disease incidence in India was initially
localized to Delhi, but then dispersed throughout the country over time. In
addition, further waves of the pandemic disseminated more virulent variants
widely throughout communities around the world with and without RF radiation,
as would be expected.
2)What is the average power density (mW/cm2) of 5G RFR in Wuhan, and how does
this compare to the cities that have harbored 5G but with low manifestation of
COVID-19?
Such data on 5G (or 4G) are unavailable to us, neither shown in the scientific
literature, nor published by cities or other governments. Little is known about
population exposure from real world radiofrequency radiation sources. It is
also very difficult to accurately quantify the average power density at a given
location. Moreover, the average power density varies greatly, depending upon
the specific location, time, averaging interval, frequency, and modulation
scheme. For a specific municipality it depends on the antenna density, what
network protocols are used, as, for example, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi (IEEE
802.11b Direct Sequence), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access), DECT (Digital European Cordless Telecommunications), RADAR (Radio
Detection and Ranging), and what the legal limits are for public exposure in
the particular jurisdiction. RFR (radiofrequency radiation) from ubiquitous
radiowave transmitters, including antennas, base stations, smart meters, mobile
phones, routers, satellites, and other wireless devices currently in use
superimposes and yields an additive average power density at a given location
that typically fluctuates greatly over time. Using a radiofrequency power meter
to measure ambient levels from 100 MHz – 8 GHz in downtown San Francisco,
California, recently we found an average power density of 0.0002 mW/cm2, which
is approximately 2x10E10 times greater than the natural background.
The increasing radiofrequency power density has spawned a new application:
harvesting this ambient wireless communication energy for practical use
(Hassani et al., 2019). [Hassani, S.E. et al., 2019. Overview on 5G radio
frequency energy harvesting. Advances in Science, Technology, and Engineering
Systems 4(4): 328-346.] The burgeoning industry of radio frequency energy
harvesting from such ambient levels to power the Internet of Things (IoT) and
body-worn devices attests to today’s high level of electromagnetic pollution.
5G is the most complex network protocol to date as it spans a vast spectral
range from 600MHz to over 90GHz in half a dozen bands. The specific band
frequencies and bandwidth allocations vary from country to country, as does the
active usage of the various bands. Moreover, different network providers
operate on different bands and on different frequencies within a band,
depending on their spectrum purchase from the domestic regulatory body. So, the
parameters of wavelength and bandwidth from location to location are different.
Wuhan is unique in that it was among the first cities in the world to offer
citywide 5G service starting on October 31, 2019, with purportedly 10,000
antennas reaching approximately 8 million citizens. The average distance
between antennas was approximately 1,000 feet, meaning that every citizen was
no farther than 500 feet from the nearest 5G antenna in the Wuhan metropolitan
region. In other urban centers around the world where 5G had been partially
installed by late 2019, the area of 5G coverage was typically limited to only
certain neighborhoods. However, the aggressive 5G rollout during 2020 has most
certainly increased 5G coverage dramatically.
Regarding studies that would provide some data underlying your question, both
of us (Rubik and Brown) are independently engaged in an international research
project to measure the average and maximum power densities of wireless
communication radiation from 100 MHz to 8 GHz, thus covering all
above-mentioned networks, including the 5G low- and mid-bands, but not the high
5G bands of 24 GHz and above. Measurement of 24 GHz and above requires highly
specialized research-grade equipment that costs several tens of thousands of
USD, and has consequently been unaffordable for surveyance to most researchers
and cities.
Finally, in relation to the RFR power density and COVID mortality, the
Mordachev study that we discuss in the manuscript does show a relationship, but
it is not specific to 5G.
3) Your paper is hypothetical, so please remain in this hypothetical framework
throughout the manuscript. Phrases such as “This is the first scientific paper
documenting a link between RFR emitted by wireless communication devices and
COVID-19” are unwarranted. Although your paper provides argumentation in favor
of this hypothesis, it does not establish a link (cause-effect) between 5G and
the incidence of COVID-19. Please nuance this statement and other similar
statements in the text.
We deleted this sentence, “This is the first scientific paper documenting a
link between RFR emitted by wireless communication devices and COVID-19,” from
the manuscript.
We have also rephrased other statements less definitively throughout the
document as you request, in the Abstract, Discussion Section, and Conclusion
Section. Moreover, our Discussion and Conclusion Sections have been vastly
rewritten to reflect a hypothetical framework for the paper.
4) Please unify all units of power density throughout the manuscript to conform
to the standard unit used in the US (mW/cm2). The text is inconsistent with the
nomenclature, where sometimes the unit is abbreviated while in other instances
the unit is written out. It is advisable to consistently abbreviate to mW/cm2.
That makes it easier for the readers to contextualize research results with the
upheld norm for RFR exposure.
Thank you for pointing out these inconsistencies. All standard units referring
to power density have been converted to mW/cm2, as requested.
5) Please include a paragraph where you attempt to introduce gaps/flaws in your
hypotheses. One of the main ingredients of such a paragraph would be to point
out to readers that in many studies the power densities used to study
biological effects exceeded the maximum level of 1 mW/cm2. Note all other
aspects of the setup and execution of cited experimental studies that deviate
from the manner in which 5G RFR is reduced to practice in Wuhan and elsewhere.
Such a paragraph helps put the narrative into complete perspective.
Proving causation of a pandemic’s severity or spread to a fluctuating
environmental agent such as RFR is unrealistic, perhaps impossible. However, we
knew this from the onset, and we only attempted to look for correlations in
bioeffects that suggest RFR exposure may be a contributing factor in the
pandemic.
Laboratory studies on animals and cell cultures, designed to prove RFR
bioeffects, have sometimes utilized power densities exceeding real world
exposure, above 1 mW/cm2; for example, up to 15 mW/cm2 (Huang AT, Mold NG.
1980. Immunologic and hematopoietic alterations by 2,450-MHz electromagnetic
radiation. Bioelectromagnetics 1:77–87. However, it must be said that the
literature on non-thermal radiofrequency radiation effects from exposures at or
less than 1 mW/cm2 is extensive. The Bioinitiative Report
(https://bioinitiative.org/research-summaries) written in 2012 by 14
scientists, public health, and policy experts, and updated in 2020, summarizes
hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers documenting evidence of non-thermal
effects from exposures less than or equal to 1mW/cm2.
In order to limit the number of variables, controlled scientific studies
typically look for bioeffects from a constant source of RFR and thus do not
account for the superposition of fields from multiple emitters with different
modulations and variable power densities that constitute the ever-changing
fields in the 5G real world, from numerous RFR emitting devices: antennas, base
stations, smart meters, wireless routers, 5G satellites, mobile phones,
cordless phones and their bases, computers, tablets, Bluetooth devices, and
other wireless devices. Controlled scientific studies are typically short-term
and often involve animals or cell cultures as targets rather than humans. It is
unclear whether such results can be extrapolated to humans in the 5G real world
and over the long term.
We acknowledge in reviewing the literature since the initial phase of the
pandemic, the declaration that a country, state or city has 5G doesn’t
translate into 5G exposure to the entire population of that locality. The Wuhan
city-wide 5G service that began October 31, 2019 may be a notable exception.
During 2019-2020 in most instances, only small sections of each city equipped
with some 5G actually had 5G antennas or base stations installed, and an
unknown number of people had 5G wireless devices. Therefore, only those
inhabitants that travelled into 5G regions and those who worked with 5G devices
were exposed to the more intense 5G network. Even within a single household,
exposure to RFR can vary dramatically depending upon a person’s relative
distance to wireless routers, tablets, smart meters, mobile phones, Bluetooth
devices, and other wireless products. In most communities, there are no
concrete measurements available that would predict harmful effects from ambient
RFR. Exposure to different frequency bands, power densities, and modulations of
RFR varies from one person to another and from day to day. This variability in
RFR parameters and the variability of the host’s health status on a daily basis
may affect the host’s susceptibility to disease. The inability to control all
of the variables in scientific studies to demonstrate a bioeffect (or its
reproducibility) doesn’t translate into, ‘there is no effect here’.
We have now included several paragraphs in the Discussion Section indicating
the strengths and weaknesses (potential criticisms) of the paper, as follows:
“A major strength of this paper is that the evidence rests on a large body of
scientific literature reported by many scientists worldwide and over several
decades--experimental evidence of adverse bioeffects of RFR exposure at
nonthermal levels on humans, animals, and cells. The Bioinitiative Report (Sage
and Carpenter, 2012) and updated in 2020, summarizes hundreds of peer-reviewed
scientific papers documenting evidence of nonthermal effects from exposures
less than or equal to 1mW/cm2. Even so, some laboratory studies on the adverse
health effects of RFR have sometimes utilized power densities exceeding
1mW/cm2. In this paper, almost all of the studies that we reviewed included
experimental data at power densities less than or equal to 1mW/cm2.
A potential criticism of this paper is that adverse bioeffects from nonthermal
exposures are not yet universally accepted in science and are not considered
when establishing public health policy in many nations. Decades ago, Russians
and Eastern Europeans compiled considerable data on nonthermal bioeffects, and
subsequently set guidelines at lower RFR exposure limits than the US and
Canada, i.e., below levels where nonthermal effects are observed. However, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC, a US government entity) and ICNIRP
(International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) guidelines
operate on thermal limits based on outdated data from decades ago, allowing the
public to be exposed to considerably higher RFR power densities. Regarding 5G,
the telecommunication industry claims that it is safe because it complies with
current RFR exposure guidelines of the FCC and ICNIRP. These guidelines were
established in 1996 (Federal Communications Commission, 1996), are antiquated,
and are not safety standards. Thus, there are no universally accepted safety
standards for wireless communication radiation exposure. Recently international
bodies such as the EMF Working Group of the European Academy of Environmental
Medicine, have proposed much lower guidelines, taking into account nonthermal
bioeffects from RFR exposure in multiple sources (Belyaev et al., 2016).
Another weakness of this paper is that some of the bioeffects from RFR exposure
are inconsistently reported in the literature. Replicated studies are often not
true replications. Small differences in method, including unreported details
such as prior history of exposure by the organisms, non-uniform body exposure,
and other variables can lead to inadvertent inconsistency. Moreover, not
surprisingly, industry-sponsored studies tend to show less adverse bioeffects
than studies conducted by independent researchers, suggesting industry bias
(Huss et al., 2007). Some experimental studies that are not industry-sponsored
have also shown no evidence of harmful effects of RFR exposure. It is
noteworthy, however, that studies employing real-life RFR exposures from
commercially available devices have shown high consistency in revealing adverse
effects (Panagopoulos, 2019).
RFR bioeffects depend upon specific values of wave parameters including
frequency, power density, exposure time, and modulation characteristics, as
well as the cumulative history of exposure. Similar to ionizing radiation, the
bioeffects of RFR exposure can be subdivided into deterministic, i.e., dose
dependent effects and stochastic effects that are seemingly random.
Importantly, RFR bioeffects can also involve “response windows” of specific
parameters whereby extremely low level fields can have disproportionally
detrimental effects (Blackman et al., 1989). This nonlinearity of RFR
bioeffects can result in biphasic responses such as immune suppression from one
range of parameters, and immune hyperactivation from another range of
parameters, leading to variations that may appear inconsistent.
In gathering reports and examining existing data for this paper, we looked for
outcomes providing evidence to support a proposed connection between the
bioeffects of RFR exposure and COVID-19. We did not make an attempt to weigh
the evidence. The RFR exposure literature is extensive and currently contains
over 30,000 research reports dating back several decades. Inconsistencies in
nomenclature, reporting of details, and cataloging of keywords make it
difficult to navigate the literature.
Another shortcoming of this paper is that we do not have access to experimental
data on 5G exposures. In fact, little is known about population exposure from
real-world RFR, which includes exposure to RFR infrastructure and the plethora
of RFR emitting devices. In relation to this, it is difficult to accurately
quantify the average power density at a given location, which varies greatly,
depending upon the time, specific location, time-averaging interval, frequency,
and modulation scheme. For a specific municipality it depends on the antenna
density, which network protocols are used, as, for example, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G,
Wi-Fi, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), DECT (Digital
European Cordless Telecommunications), and RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging).
There is also RFR from ubiquitous radiowave transmitters, including antennas,
base stations, smart meters, mobile phones, routers, satellites, and other
wireless devices currently in use. All of these signals superimpose to yield
the total average power density at a given location that typically fluctuates
greatly over time. No experimental studies on adverse health effects or safety
issues of 5G have been reported, and none are currently planned by the
industry, although this is sorely needed.”
2nd editorial decision
28-Jul-2021
Ref.: Ms. No. JCTRes-D-21-00034R1
Evidence for a Connection between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiofrequency
Radiation from Wireless Communications Including Microwaves and Millimeter Waves
Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
Dear Dr. Rubik,
Reviewers have now commented on your paper. You will see that they are advising
that you revise your manuscript. If you are prepared to undertake the work
required, I would be pleased to reconsider my decision.
For your guidance, reviewers’ comments are appended below.
If you decide to revise the work, please submit a list of changes or a rebuttal
against each point which is being raised when you submit the revised
manuscript. Also, please ensure that the track changes function is switched on
when implementing the revisions. This enables the reviewers to rapidly verify
all changes made.
Your revision is due by Jul 28, 2021.
To submit a revision, go to https://www.editorialmanager.com/jctres/ and log in ;
as an Author. You will see a menu item call Submission Needing Revision. You
will find your submission record there.
Yours sincerely
Michal Heger
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
Reviewers’ comments:
Reviewer #1: The authors have sufficiently addressed my comments in their
response and revised manuscript. I would recommend paper for publishing after
minor corrections.
It came to my attention that the authors have included references to the
publications, which were not peer - reviewed. These references should be
omitted to comply with generally accepted standards of scientific publications.
Otherwise this paper will not be considered as meeting the accepted standards
for scientific publication.
I have also noticed the evident incorrectness in the title. As far as
millimeter waves is a part of microwaves, which are in turn a part of
radiofrequency band, the title should be changed to “Evidence for a Connection
between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless
Communications Including Millimeter Waves”
Finally this is one more comprehensive review of non-thermal effects of
millimeter waves, which show their dependence on variety of physical and
biological variables, to be cited in this paper [1]. These dependencies are of
critical issue as they account for why some studies on millimeter waves
biological effects were not replicated.
[1] I.Y. Belyaev, V.S. Shcheglov, E.D. Alipov, V.D. Ushalov, Nonthermal effects
of extremely high-frequency microwaves on chromatin conformation in cells in
vitro - Dependence on physical, physiological, and genetic factors, IEEE
Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 48 (2000) 2172-2179.
Reviewer #3: The authors have responded adequately to my comments, and I
recommend publication without reservations. Making changes as suggested by the
Editor-in-Chief would also improve the cpontent and structure of the document.
Reviewer #8: I stand by my prior review, which is on file with you. I have read
the author’s response to all the reviewers, and I think that the author has
understood the suggestions of these reviewers, and has incorporated their
suggested changes, where possible, to make the paper even clearer and better.
The author clearly states when a suggested edit was beyond the scope of the
paper in a few instances, but she included enough references for people to
check out themselves, regarding additional data or studies, or made it clear
that such studies have not been done, as far as she knows, but should be done
by researchers in the future.
So again, I feel that this paper has made its point, that further research on
5G and the non-thermic effects on the body’s physiology, need to be studied
further and more comprehensively, before 5G is implemented worldwide to blanket
the earth, and then makes any future research difficult to do, since soon it
will already be in widespread use, and will serve to inhibit most controlled
studies, that would then require large faraday shielding cages. And since she
clearly shows that this micro and milli-radiation and frequencies, may have
additive effects with illnesses such as CoVid and other diseases that effect
the tissues (such as lung and blood vessels) and their physiology (such as
membrane changes that effect oxygen exchange and CO2 release, or effect the
coagulation system, among others), that seems to demand that further scientific
controlled studies be done before corporations launch a massive change in the
environment that effects micro and macrobiotic organisms, plants, animals, and
humans, and changes the Biosphere forever. So I highly support that this paper
be published as soon as possible, so that its thesis can be studied and be
debated by a much wider scientific audience, and further testing and research
can be done, to further investigate these findings and projections for our
survival in our collective future
Reviewer #10: - Page 2, introduction section, last paragraph. “Here we present
the evidence suggesting that RFR has been a contributing factor exacerbating
COVID-19.”
This is still an unconfirmed hypothesis. The sentence should be reformulated.
-
- Page 3. Lines 31-33. “Therefore 5G requires base stations and antennas to be
much more closely spaced than previous generations”.
It is also true that 5G base stations usually have a lower power than previous
generations. This point should be commented by authors.
-
- introduction section: “The new system therefore requires significant
densification of 4G infrastructure as well as new 5G antennas that may
dramatically increase the population’s
wireless communications radiation exposure both inside structures and outdoors.”
Some evidence from Switzerland ( doi.org/10.3390/app11083592 ), Sweden
(doi:10.3390/app10155280 ), South Korea (doi.org/10.1002/bem.22345), UK
(https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/214644/emf-test-summary-010321.pdf
) show that the real impact of 5G base stations in urban areas is very
limited. How can authors support the hypothesis of a “dramatic increase” in the
radiation exposure?
-
- Table 1. Authors should include in the “RFR exposure bioeffects” listed in
this table the frequency and the level (i.e., power density) of exposure linked
with each of the cited effects. Authors should also specify if these exposures
are below or above the international limits. This information is only partially
reported in the text (results section), and is of critical importance.
-
- As authors confirmed, “both the very young and the very old populations are
the most vulnerable to adverse effects from RFR exposure”. However, since RFR
exposure in children is the same than in elderly, this evidence is not in line
with epidemiologic data showing divergent COVID-19-related risk in children and
in aged people, nor with the hypothesis formulated by authors about the role of
RFR in COVID-19 pandemic. Authors should discuss this contradiction.
Reviewer #11: Authors have responded to all of my questions and notes. Now I
support the manuscript for the publication.
There is additional documentation related to this decision letter. To access
the file(s), please click the link below. You may also login to the system and
click the ’View Attachments’ link in the Action column.
Author’s response
Reviewers’ comments:
Reviewer #1: The authors have sufficiently addressed my comments in their
response and revised manuscript. I would recommend paper for publishing after
minor corrections.
It came to my attention that the authors have included references to the
publications, which were not peer - reviewed. These references should be
omitted to comply with generally accepted standards of scientific publications.
Otherwise this paper will not be considered as meeting the accepted standards
for scientific publication.
While we appreciate that you would prefer all references to be peer-reviewed,
we would like to cite two important papers that have not been peer-reviewed.
Many non-peer-reviewed manuscripts have been cited in professional journal
papers during the COVID-19 pandemic to help experts bring forth knowledge as
quickly as possible. We believe it is fully appropriate to cite research on
morphological changes in red blood cells that relate to blood clotting, since
SARS-CoV-2 and its spike protein have been shown to be thrombogenic (cause
blood clotting in the body) and can directly bind to ACE2 receptors on
platelets (Zhang et al., 2020). Even when isolated, the spike protein has been
shown to cause endothelial injury (Lei et al., 2021) that can lead to clotting.
In addition, we find it fully appropriate to cite a paper investigating the
implementation of 5G infrastructure in relation to the initial spread of
COVID-19 worldwide. These are the only 2 instances of non-peer-reviewed papers
among over 130 citations and references in our review paper. We maintain that
they are essential to our thesis. Moreover, we have pointed out in our
manuscript that these two papers have not yet been published in peer-reviewed
journals, so readers can exercise critical discernment.
I have also noticed the evident incorrectness in the title. As far as
millimeter waves is a part of microwaves, which are in turn a part of
radiofrequency band, the title should be changed to “Evidence for a Connection
between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless
Communications Including Millimeter Waves”
We have had several requests to change our paper title for various reasons from
reviewers. Our last title was, “Evidence for a Connection between COVID-19 and
Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless Communications Including
Microwaves and Millimeter Waves” We specified “microwaves and millimeter waves”
because we believe the medical professionals that read this journal are likely
to be unfamiliar with conventional physics or engineering nomenclature of the
radiofrequency spectrum. We wanted to be certain that readers understood that
both microwaves and millimeter waves would be discussed. Based on a different
reviewer’s recommendation, we propose the following title for the paper,
“Evidence for a Connection between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiation from
Wireless Communications Including 5G”
Finally this is one more comprehensive review of non-thermal effects of
millimeter waves, which show their dependence on variety of physical and
biological variables, to be cited in this paper [1]. These dependencies are of
critical issue as they account for why some studies on millimeter waves
biological effects were not replicated. [1] I.Y. Belyaev, V.S. Shcheglov, E.D.
Alipov, V.D. Ushalov, Nonthermal effects of extremely high-frequency microwaves
on chromatin conformation in cells in vitro - Dependence on physical,
physiological, and genetic factors, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and
Techniques, 48 (2000) 2172-2179. Thank you for this reference. We have
augmented the discussion section of the manuscript as follows, cited this
paper, and included the reference:
“RFR bioeffects depend upon specific values of wave parameters including
frequency; power density; polarization; exposure duration; modulation
characteristics; as well as cumulative history of exposure and background
levels of electromagnetic, electric and magnetic fields. In laboratory studies,
bioeffects observed also depend upon genetic parameters and physiological
parameters such as oxygen concentration (Belyaev et al., 2000). The
reproducibility of bioeffects of RFR exposure has sometimes been difficult due
to failure to report and/or control all of these parameters.” Reviewer #3: The
authors have responded adequately to my comments, and I recommend publication
without reservations. Making changes as suggested by the Editor-in-Chief would
also improve the cpontent and structure of the document.
Thank you. We also made all changes as recommended by the Editor-in-Chief in
our revision following the first peer-review. Reviewer #8: I stand by my prior
review, which is on file with you. I have read the author’s response to all the
reviewers, and I think that the author has understood the suggestions of these
reviewers, and has incorporated their suggested changes, where possible, to
make the paper even clearer and better. The author clearly states when a
suggested edit was beyond the scope of the paper in a few instances, but she
included enough references for people to check out themselves, regarding
additional data or studies, or made it clear that such studies have not been
done, as far as she knows, but should be done by researchers in the future. So
again, I feel that this paper has made its point, that further research on 5G
and the non-thermic effects on the body’s physiology, need to be studied
further and more comprehensively, before 5G is implemented worldwide to blanket
the earth, and then makes any future research difficult to do, since soon it
will already be in widespread use, and will serve to inhibit most controlled
studies, that would then require large faraday shielding cages. And since she
clearly shows that this micro and milli-radiation and frequencies, may have
additive effects with illnesses such as CoVid and other diseases that effect
the tissues (such as lung and blood vessels) and their physiology (such as
membrane changes that effect oxygen exchange and CO2 release, or effect the
coagulation system, among others), that seems to demand that further scientific
controlled studies be done before corporations launch a massive change in the
environment that effects micro and macrobiotic organisms, plants, animals, and
humans, and changes the Biosphere forever. So I highly support that this paper
be published as soon as possible, so that its thesis can be studied and be
debated by a much wider scientific audience, and further testing and research
can be done, to further investigate these findings and projections for our
survival in our collective future
Thank you.
Reviewer #10: - Page 2, introduction section, last paragraph. “Here we present
the evidence suggesting that RFR has been a contributing factor exacerbating
COVID-19.” This is still an unconfirmed hypothesis. The sentence should be
reformulated.
This sentence has been removed. The new sentence inserted is, “We explore the
scientific evidence suggesting a possible relationship between COVID-19 and
radiofrequency radiation including 5G (fifth generation) of wireless
communication technology, henceforth referred to as RFR.” - Page 3. Lines
31-33. “Therefore 5G requires base stations and antennas to be much more
closely spaced than previous generations”.
It is also true that 5G base stations usually have a lower power than previous
generations. This point should be commented by authors.
The operating power of a base station is only one of several parameters
determining the actual radiation exposure at a certain location. The
directional concentration of RF energy in sector antennas, typically used in 4G
base stations, and the highly collimated pencil beam generated by phased array
antennas used in 5G greatly increase the so-called equivalent isotropically
radiated power (EIRP) and effective radiated power (ERP). ERIP and ERP are much
more relevant for estimates of human exposure and user equipment (UE) receiver
performance alike.
An accurate determination of a base station’s radiated RF power at a certain
location is only possible through well-defined measurement protocols, such as
the FCC Publication No. 4121721, with specialized and calibrated equipment.
Because the power varies from moment to moment, a meaningful measurement must
be made continuously and be capable of detecting fast pulses in the microsecond
range to determine peak power density, integrate all registered power to derive
an average power density and then calculate the peak-to-average power ratio
(PAPR) to determine FCC compliance. Furthermore, because the received power
varies from location to location due to obstacles in the propagation path and
anisotropy in the antenna’s radiation pattern, these measurements must be
performed at all locations of interest. Such measurements are expensive and
impractical and are typically only being performed to settle legal compliance
issues.
For practical purposes estimates are produced that offer a rough guidance.
These estimates must consider a complex array of determining parameters, such
as federally regulated transmitter power limitations, which in turn are
determined by the authorized frequency and the EIRP and ERP reflecting the
actual gain (directionality) of the particular antenna in use. Additional
complicating factors are the allotted bandwidth and the PAPR. As a rule of
thumb, the power density from one transmitter at a given location is
proportional to EIRP, ERP, PAPR, bandwidth, number of polarizations
(horizontal, vertical, circular, etc.), data rate (increases with ever more
complex modulation schemes, which require higher received power to function
reliably), carrier aggregation (a technique to increase data rate, akin to
allocate more bandwidth or operate several channels simultaneously) and
inversely proportional to the distance from the base station. Power densities
from other transmitters, be they neighboring base stations or the myriad of
nearby user equipment (UE) transmitters, superimpose linearly and are additive.
A comparison between 4G and 5G networks must at a minimum take into account the
allocated spectrum, allotted bandwidth, permitted EIRP/ERP/PAPR, base station
densification and service capacity, a measure of the density of UE transmitters
(5G is planned to simultaneously serve up to 1,000-times as many UEs as 4G).
4G and 5G Spectrum and Bandwidth in the US
For spectrum allocation the FCC follows the guidelines of the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project2 (3GPP), an umbrella term for a number of standards
organizations for developing protocols for wireless communication, including 4G
and 5G.
For 4G the 3GPP Technical Specification 36.101 version 17.1.0 released
01-09-20213 lists in Table 5.5-1 the Long Term Evolution (LTE) Operating Bands.
4G bands use microwaves in the range of 617-2,369 MHz with an aggregated base
station bandwidth of 414 MHz.
5G uses millimeter-waves in addition to microwaves. The 3GPP is publishing
separate specifications for each frequency range designated as Frequency Range
1 (FR 1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR 2). For the 410-7,125 MHz FR 1 used for 5G
the 3GPP Technical Specification 38.101-1 version 17.1.0 released 04-13-20214
lists in Table 5.2-1 the New Radio (NR) Operating Bands in FR1 with an
aggregated base station bandwidth of 1,471 MHz. For the 24,250-52,600 MHz FR 2
used for 5G the 3GPP Technical Specification 38.104 version 17.1.0 released
04-08-20215 lists in Table 5.2-2 the NR Operating Bands in FR2 with an
aggregated base station bandwidth of 3,850 MHz. Together, 5G bands are used in
the range of 617-40,000 MHz with an aggregated base station bandwidth of 5,321
MHz.
The above referenced bandwidth allocations are confirmed by a statement on the
FCC website under the heading “America’s 5G Future” that in the 5G high-band
(24 – 47 GHz) “the FCC is releasing almost 5 gigahertz of 5G spectrum into the
market—more than all other flexible use bands combined” and in the 5G mid-band
“…we will make more than 600 megahertz available for 5G deployments”. The
rollout of 5G has resulted in a 10-fold increase in allocated bandwidth for
cellular base stations and user equipment alike.
4G and 5G ERIP, ERP and PAPR Levels in the US.
The FCC legally permitted ERP levels for Cellular Radiotelephone Service are
listed in Article 47 of the United States Code (U.S.C.), Section ¦22.913 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)6.The average maximum ERP is limited to 500W
per channel or 400W/MHz per sector where a sector is typically 120º. With many
channels and dozens of MHz of bandwidth per band the legal limit of the total
radiated power from a base station can reach into tens of kW. However, the FCC
website states on its Consumer Guide page entitled “Human Exposure to Radio
Frequency Fields: Guidelines for Cellular Antenna Sites” that “…the majority of
cellular or PCS cell sites in urban and suburban areas operate at an ERP of 100
watts per channel or less”. Therefore, the telecommunication industry could
increase the ERP approximately 5-fold and still operate within legal limits.
It is important to note that Section ¦22.913 regulates only the radiofrequency
emission characteristics of a transmitter and does not distinguish between 4G
and 5G, which are only different signal transmission protocols.
The 4G and 5G ERIP, ERP and PAPR levels will increase because the touted
increase in data throughput for both, 4G and 5G, is in part achieved through
ever more complex modulations schemes such as quadrature phase-shift keying
(QPSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). To achieve higher data
throughput QAM can be set to a larger constellation size to increase spectral
efficiency. The constellation size is given by the number of constellation
points, each of which represents a specific combination of amplitude and phase
of the carrier wave. Currently 4G uses QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM while 5G will
additionally use 256QAM and beyond. Electronic noise is the limiting factor to
the highest achievable modulation order, which is why the signal strength must
be increased to provide a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, as the
density of UEs increases, so does the man-made noise (to be distinguished from
electronic noise), which degrades the SNR due to interference and the ERIP, ERP
and PAPR must be further increased. The push to deliver ever more data
throughput and serve ever more UEs increases the ERIP, ERP and PAPR levels.
Base station densification and service capacity
A key governing body of the global wireless industry is the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is a specialized agency of the United Nations
that promotes the shared global use of the radio spectrum. In 2017 the ITU
published the report7 “Minimum Requirements Related to Technical Performance
for IMT-2020 Radio Interface(s)” outlining a 1,000-fold capacity increase. The
report stipulates a minimum connection density requirement of 1,000,000 devices
per km2. If all devices were evenly distributed in a plane, this calculates to
an average density of one wireless device per meter2. 5G small cells using
millimeter-waves will have to be placed at most 300m apart as the signal is
heavily absorbed by the atmosphere and humidity. Such a small cell covers
approximately 70,000m2 and must therefore be able to serve 70,000 devices
simultaneously. To achieve such a vast capacity, 5G employs several highly
sophisticated schemes, such as massive multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO),
beam forming and beam steering. To implement these schemes, 5G deploys active
phased array antennas containing tens, hundreds, even up to 1,000 individual
antenna elements, each driven by precisely-controlled transmitter circuitry in
very specific power and phase relations. To serve a user, a highly collimated
pencil beam is created, dynamically steered toward her device and tracked with
it in real time.
We maintain that discussion on this topic that delves into 5G engineering
standards, which specify details of the communication protocol, is quite
technical and beyond the scope of our manuscript. There are organizations that
develop 5G standards containing protocol details including the IEEE (Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and ICNIRP (International Commission
on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection), and we have previously cited and
referred to them in the manuscript.
References
1FCC Draft Laboratory Division Publication, Guidelines for Determining the
Effective Radiated Power (ERP) and Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power
(EIRP) of a RF Transmitting System. FCC Publication Number 412172, publication
date: 08/07/2015.
2The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) unites seven telecommunications
standard development organizations (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC),
known as “Organizational Partners” and provides their members with a stable
environment to produce the Reports and Specifications that define 3GPP
technologies.
33rd Generation Partnership Project, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
(E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception. Technical
Specification 36.101 v17.1.0, released 04-08-2021.
43rd Generation Partnership Project, NR; User Equipment (UE) radio transmission
and reception; Part 1: Range 1 Standalone. Technical Specification 38.101-1
v17.1.0, released 04-13-2021.
53rd Generation Partnership Project, NR; Base Station (BS) radio transmission
and reception. Technical Specification 38.104 v17.1.0, released 04-08-2021.
6Electronic Code of Federal Regulation, Effective Radiated Power Levels. Title
47 U.S.C., Chapter I, Subchapter B, Part 22, Subpart H, ¦22.913. Published at
https://www.ecfr.gov/
7International Telecommunication Union, Minimum Requirements Related to
Technical Performance for IMT-2020 Radio Interface(s). Report ITU-R M.2410-0,
November 2017.
8Mobile & Wireless Forum website: https://www.mwfai.org/about.cfm
- introduction section: “The new system therefore requires significant
densification of 4G infrastructure as well as new 5G antennas that may
dramatically increase the population’s wireless communications radiation
exposure both inside structures and outdoors.” Some evidence from Switzerland (
doi.org/10.3390/app11083592 ), Sweden (doi:10.3390/app10155280 ), South Korea
(doi.org/10.1002/bem.22345), UK
(https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/214644/emf-test-summary-010321.pdf
) show that the real impact of 5G base stations in urban areas is very
limited. How can authors support the hypothesis of a “dramatic increase” in the
radiation exposure?
The hypothesis of “dramatic increase” in radiation exposure is supported by the
rationale and sources provided in the above rebuttal statement. The reviewer
cited four publications all showing that the real impact of 5G base stations in
urban areas is very limited. Here each publication will be addressed
individually.
Aertz, et al., In Situ Assessment of 5G NR Massive MIMO Base Station
Exposure in a Commercial Network in Bern, Switzerland
There are several concerns regarding the validity of this publication and its
conclusions.
1) The research independence appears questionable. While the authors claim no
conflict of interest they acknowledged that “this work was supported by the
Mobile & Wireless Forum (MWF)”. Member companies of the MWF include the largest
corporations in the telecommunication industry, such as Apple, Cisco, Ericsson,
Huawei, Intel, LG, Motorola, Qualcomm, Samsung, SONY and TCT Mobile. According
to its website8, the Mobile & Wireless Forum was established in 1998 and its
“regulatory activities are focused on developing and presenting the views of
the mobile industry to regulatory agencies and authorities in a globally
coordinated manner.” MWF appears to act as a political lobbying firm for the
telecommunications industry.
2) The authors studied only one 5G frequency at 3.6 GHz within the n78 band
(3.3 – 3.8 GHz). Since 5G will use nearly a dozen frequency bands when fully
deployed, the measurements are not representative for the near future.
3) 3.6 GHz is part of the low 5G frequency range FR1 and is in the microwave
range, not the millimeter-wave range. The vast 5G speed increases touted by the
industry can only be realized in the approximately 10-times higher frequencies
of the FR 2 frequency range between 24 – 43 GHz.
4) The authors chose Switzerland for their measurements. However, Switzerland
has one of the most stringent legal limits with regard to public exposure to RF
radiation as these limits are based on the precautionary principle. For
example, while Switzerland limits the power density to 10 µW/cm2, the US and
most other countries around the world permit levels of 450 µW/cm2 or even
higher. Selecting Switzerland as a test country does therefore result in
measurements that are too low to be useful for global representation.
5) Instead of using the industry standard 6 minutes and 30 minutes time
averaging intervals, the authors opted to use only 30 second intervals for
“convenience”. The authors claim they found this much reduced interval
sufficiently representative but do not produce supportive data.
6) In the abstract the authors state that the maximum exposure level
extrapolated to 200 W antenna input power reaches 4.9 V/m, or 0.6% of the
ICNIRP reference level. However, the ICNIRP level is 61 V/m and 4.9 V/m is 8%.
Therefore, the authors understate the 5G contributing factor to the overall
exposure by more than 10-fold.
7) On page 8 the authors correctly quote the ICNIRP power density reference
level to 10W/m2, which is equivalent to 61V/m. However, they then state that
their extrapolated maximum field levels reached 0.6 V/m. They say that this
value amounts to less than 0.01% of the ICNIRP level, when it is 1%. They
miscalculated it by 100-fold as 0.6V/m is approximately 1% of 61V/m. The fact
that this easily discernible error, of orders of magnitude, was missed by the
peer review process is disconcerting.
Colombi, et al., Analysis of the Actual Power and EMF Exposure from
Base Stations in a Commercial 5G Network
There are several concerns regarding the validity of this publication and its
conclusions.
1) The research is not independent. While the authors claim no conflict of
interest they also acknowledge that “this research received no external
funding”, meaning that all funding was provided by Ericsson, one of the largest
telecommunication equipment manufacturers in the world. These statements are
contradictory.
2) The authors studied only one 5G frequency band, the n78 band spanning 3.3 –
3.8 GHz. Since 5G will use nearly a dozen frequency bands when fully deployed,
the measurements provided are not representative for the near future.
3) This study focused on the spatial power distribution from 5G base stations
using beamforming techniques. Instead of measuring exposure levels at a certain
location, which would measure the actual exposure of a 5G user, the authors
employed an Ericsson Network Manager (software) to directly access information
on the 5G base station operation. This setup allowed the analysis of the
spatial distribution of the base station transmitting power in a
three-dimensional space within the scan range of the antenna. It is not clear
why direct exposure levels were not measured at representative user locations,
which would yield real-world data. Beamforming requires an active user in order
to have a signal sent from a 5G base station.
4) Measurements were averaged over the entire range of an antenna panel
covering essentially 180º of azimuth angle. The authors then anchor their main
arguments to a simplistic equation to calculate, not measure, the average
exposure level in equation (1): ERIPact = Gave * Pave
where ERIPact is the calculated “actual” ERIP, Gave is the time-averaged gain
and Pave is the total, cell-wide, time-averaged transmit power. The ERIP
calculated from the product of two time-averaged parameters cannot reflect true
temporal exposure patterns and makes it impossible to determine the important
peak-to-average power ratio.
5) In the discussion section the authors offer a puzzling and speculative logic
to argue against a substantial ERIP increase with the expected increase in 5G
users and their vastly increased data demand. While the authors acknowledge
that “Pave is directly related to the amount of downlink traffic”, they argue
that Gave will drop as “…more users will result in an even larger spread of the
energy over the antenna scan range, which will contribute to a reduction of
Gave…”, largely compensating for the increased Pave in equation (1) and
“therefore, ERIPact is likely not to increase substantially when increasing the
number of users.” This reasoning is stunningly inaccurate, as an increase in
both the number of users and data demand will both contribute to a substantial
increase in ERIP and thus increased levels of public exposure.
Selmaoui, et al., Exposure of South Korean Population to 5G Mobile Phone
Networks (3.4-3.8 GHz)
This publication has several weaknesses that make an accurate estimation of the
true exposure of the South Korean public to the newly rolled out 5G network
difficult or impossible.
1) Measurements published in this paper were taken in November 2019, only 6
months after the 5G network was brought online for the public. The authors
could not determine the degree of network usage and had to qualify their
conclusions by stating that “it is likely that the 5G network was not being
used to its maximum and the number of subscribers was relatively low”. But
since the number of users and their transmitted data rate are key metrics to
determine user exposure levels, the publication does not permit a quantitative
estimation of the ERIP contribution from 5G base stations.
2) The authors studied only one 5G frequency band, the n78 band spanning 3.4 –
3.8 GHz. Since 5G will use nearly a dozen frequency bands when fully deployed,
the measurements are not representative for the near future.
3) The author’s main conclusion is that the 5G network contributes only 15% to
the total telecommunications emission. However, they acknowledge that
measurements taken in the vicinity of a base station yielded 12 V/m and 21 V/m
for the antenna’s baseline and maximum power, respectively. But this amounts to
20% and 34% of the maximum field strength permitted by ICNIRP. And given that
2G, 3G and 4G networks typically operate well below the maximum permitted
ICNIRP levels, these measured levels appear comparable and might even be
significantly higher than the existing telecommunication emissions combined.
Without more accurate measurements the reader may conclude that the 5G network
has the potential to double the public’s exposure levels, contrary to the
seemingly low contribution of 15% quoted by the authors.
Ofcom, Electromagnetic Field (EMF) measurements near 5G mobile phone base
stations, Summary of results. Technical Report – Version 3, March 2021.
1) The impartiality of the Office of Communication (Ofcom) is questionable.
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the
broadcasting and telecommunications industries of the UK. Recently Ofcom has
been marred by the Martin Bashir scandal involving the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC). During the scandal it was revealed that more than half of
its board members had links to the BBC, a corporation Ofcom is supposed to
regulate. While not specifically linked to the telecommunications industry,
Ofcom’s pro-industry bias must be considered.
2) For several of the measurements the authors had to choose areas of less than
typical user density because of COVID-19 restrictions. These measurements
skewed the results toward lower than normal exposure levels.
3) The authors studied only one 5G frequency band, the n78 band spanning 3.41 –
3.68 GHz. Since 5G will use nearly a dozen frequency bands when fully deployed,
the measurements are not representative for the near future.
4) The biggest shortcoming of this study is the failure of the authors to
create realistic scenarios of users actually using the 5G network. 5G base
stations mainly emit their signals on demand when UEs request service. Since
the authors did not create a UE service demand at the measurement location,
their probe largely registered radiation not emitted from the 5G base stations.
The very small signals attributed to 5G emission likely reflects only radiation
scattered from reflecting objects (buildings, trees, etc.) of side lobes of a
formed beam serving a UE at a location separate from the monitored location.
Because of this shortcoming, the quoted test results for 5G base stations are
meaningless.
5) The authors did not indicate the distance of their sensor from a base
station. Since the ERIP changes greatly as a function of distance, the data
cannot properly be judged as being a realistic and representative mix of near
and far distances, the way typical users would be represented.
- Table 1. Authors should include in the “RFR exposure bioeffects” listed in
this table the frequency and the level (i.e., power density) of exposure linked
with each of the cited effects. Authors should also specify if these exposures
are below or above the international limits. This information is only partially
reported in the text (results section), and is of critical importance.
We created Table 1 to be a visual summary for the reader rather than a
comprehensive compilation of data with references. In addition, following our
first peer review, we changed the subheadings on the bioeffects in the text to
match the Table 1 subheadings. The reader is thus guided to particular sections
of the manuscript text to obtain details regarding RFR exposure parameters and
literature citations. Since the manuscript has already been changed to be
hypothetical, we maintain that this is sufficient.
- As authors confirmed, “both the very young and the very old populations are
the most vulnerable to adverse effects from RFR exposure”. However, since RFR
exposure in children is the same than in elderly, this evidence is not in line
with epidemiologic data showing divergent COVID-19-related risk in children and
in aged people, nor with the hypothesis formulated by authors about the role of
RFR in COVID-19 pandemic. Authors should discuss this contradiction.
Children are less vulnerable than adults to the SARS-CoV-2 virus because they
have fewer ACE2 receptors, as we explained in our first rebuttal to another
reviewer. Elderly adults have the most ACE2 receptors, i.e., more “targets” for
the virus to enter their cells, and are thus more vulnerable to the virus. Both
the very young and the very old populations are the most vulnerable to adverse
effects from RFR exposure. Even so, the question of age-related exposure to
wireless communication radiation in relation to the pandemic goes beyond the
scope of our manuscript.
Reviewer #11: Authors have responded to all of my questions and notes. Now I
support the manuscript for the publication.
Thank you.
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Review of the paper titled “Evidence for a Connection between COVID-19 and
Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless Telecommunications Including
Microwaves and Millimeter Waves”
General Comment
The paper is significantly improved. Certain points need to be further refined
Specific Comments
1. The title is not accurate. Mm waves are the highest frequency part of
microwaves, and microwaves are the highest frequency part of the wider RF band.
Thus they are not different to be named separately. Moreover wireless
communications do not emit only RF but ELF as well and the effects are mainly
due to the ELFs. The title must be changed to: “Evidence for a Connection
between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiation from Wireless Communications” (at
the end of the title the authors may add “including 5G”). For the same reasons,
I suggest RFR should be replaced in most places throughout the paper by
wireless communications radiation.
As you suggest, we changed the title to, “Evidence for a Connection between
COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiation from Wireless Communications including 5G.”
We defined RFR (radiofrequency radiation) explicitly in our manuscript to mean
“wireless communications radiation,” and not the entire radiofrequency
spectrum. Furthermore, numerous research reports studying the bioeffects of
exposure to this part of the electromagnetic spectrum—the wireless
communications spectrum--also refer to it as RFR, so this use of nomenclature
and abbreviation “RFR” is consistent with other scientific literature on
exposure bioeffects.
2. The technical description of 5G should include the frequencies of the ELF
pulsations which play by far the most important role in the bioeffects. It
would be important if the authors were able to collect information regarding
this. If they are unable to find such information it must be reported, (that in
spite of their search they found no information regarding the ELF pulsations,
although this is an important part of this type of radiation).
ELF pulsations are not part of the 5G protocols per se; rather they may be
considered a ‘side effect’. Although ELF frequencies are not deliberately
designed into the 5G (or 4G) communication protocol and its modulation scheme,
polling communications devices use ELF pulsations. For example, the ubiquitous
Wi-Fi and DECT (cordless phones) devices each use polling as the basis of their
communication protocol. In electronic communication, ’polling’ is the periodic
checking of a device by other devices to see what state they are in, usually to
see whether they are still connected or want to communicate.
One of us (Rubik) measured the radiation pattern of a Wi-Fi router, shown in
Fig.1, and a DECT base station, shown in Fig.2. The left-hand oscillograms were
recorded during idle states and the right-hand ones during user/caller
activity. Wi-Fi polls devices within its range at a rate of 10Hz, whereas DECT
base stations poll their satellite phones at a rate of 50Hz.
Figure 1
Wi-Fi radiation pulse pattern. No user activity during “Idle”.
Figure 2
DECT radiation pulse pattern. No phone call during “Idle”.
4G and 5G per se do not use polling. Rather, they are asynchronous, which is
more akin to event-driven mode. However, even asynchronous complex signals will
generally have a slew of frequency components. Any ELF manifesting from the
complex 5G signals, if present, will result from the superposition of waves
from numerous phenomena: 5G’s digital modulation, fast-sweeping steered beams,
and the rapid multiplexing of a base station’s radiation to
quasi-simultaneously serve multiple users. Therefore, only careful measurement
of 5G installations and active user devices would reveal any resulting ELF
signals.
In relation to this question, there is scientific data indicating that pulsed
RFR is much more detrimental to biological organisms than continuous-wave (CW)
radiation, which the reviewer clearly understands.
The study of non-thermal effects from pulsed versus CW RFR is difficult because
of a number of confounding effects from engineering variables, such as
frequency, power density, modulation type, pulse rate, pulse rate variation,
exposure time, and background or stray electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic
levels. Research is further complicated due to individual organisms’ genetics,
physiology, prior history of exposure, and resilience to RFR. Below we discuss
several key papers on this topic.
Pakhomov and Murphy Paper: Review of Russian Research
Historically the former Soviet Union has conducted much more in-depth research
in this field than Western industrialized countries. Pakhomov and Murphy, two
researchers with military backgrounds, published a seminal paper
comprehensively reviewing some 1,200 research reports1. While a great number of
specific effects were reported, the brief summary discerns the following trends:
-
the studies emphasized RF-induced changes in the nervous system function.
-
Many studies convincingly demonstrated significant bioeffects of pulsed
microwaves.
-
Modulation was often the determining factor in substantial differences between
pulsed and CW radiation at comparable time-averaged intensities.
-
Many bioeffects from low-intensity pulsed microwaves reported clearly
pathogenic effects.
-
The specific mechanisms of interaction are not well understood.
Belyaev Paper: Researched CW and Pulsed RFR, Summarized Details on Pulsed RFR
An in-depth study of non-thermal CW and pulsed RFR was presented by I.
Belyaev2. This paper provides an overview of the complex effects of such
radiation on various physical and biological parameters. Besides the well-known
dependencies on carrier frequency and modulation, the compiled data suggest
also dependencies on polarization, intermittence and coherence time of
exposure, static magnetic fields, electromagnetic stray fields, genotype,
gender, physiological and individual traits, and cell density during exposure.
Belyaev offered more detailed findings in his summary, as follows:
-
biological effect dependence on frequency within specific frequency windows of
“resonance-type”
-
narrowing of the frequency windows with decreasing intensity
-
dependence on modulation and polarization
-
sigmoid dependence on intensity within specific intensity windows including
super-low power density comparable to intensities from base stations
-
thresholds in intensity and exposure time (coherence time)
-
dependence on duration of exposure and post-exposure time dependence on cell
density that suggests cell-to-cell interaction during exposure
-
dependence on physiological conditions during exposure, such as stage of cell
growth, concentration of oxygen and divalent ions, and activity of radicals
-
dependence on genotype, cell type, and cell line
-
gender, age, and individual differences
-
the presence of electromagnetic stray fields during exposure
Semin et al. Paper: Power Level Window Effects and Resonance Effects
Semin5 studied the effect of weak RFR on the stability of DNA’s secondary
structure in vitro. Samples were exposed to microwave radiation consisting of
25 ms pulses, 1-6 Hz repetition rate and 0.4-0.7 mW/cm2 peak power. The
experiments established that irradiation at 3 or 4 Hz and 0.6 mW/cm2 peak power
clearly increased the accumulated damage to the DNA’s secondary structure
(P<0.00001). However, changing the pulse repetition rate to 1, 5, or 6 Hz, as
well as changing the peak power to 0.4 or 0.7 mW/cm2, eliminated the effect
entirely. Thus, the effect occurred only within narrow “windows” of the peak
intensities and modulation frequencies.
Franzen Air Force Report3: Physics of Pulsed Microwaves Impinging on Organic
Tissue, Brillouin Precursors.
This author investigated the propagation of a 1 GHz wave train of 10 ns
duration by Fourier integral transform after impinging on a dielectric media,
such as bio-tissue. The study confirmed the creation of so-called Brillouin
precursors, which are secondary bursts of energy generated when a microwave
pulse of fast rise time enters tissue. Importantly, the Brillouin precursor
microwave energy experiences much less absorption than the primary microwave
radiation, which is absorbed exponentially. As a result, microwave radiation
with fast pulses, such as in digital cellular radiation, travels much deeper
into the body than predicted by conventional models. This effect becomes more
pronounced with higher frequencies and with faster pulse rise times, both of
which are typically proportional to the transmitted data rate. Therefore, the
argument that 5G millimeter wave radiation is absorbed within two millimeters
of the skin is false.
Albanese, et al.4, showed similar Brillouin precursor generation from
periodically pulsed microwave radiation.
Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Components of Digital Cellular Microwave Radiation
Biological tissue is mostly comprised of water. As such, the tissue presents a
lossy dielectric medium for impinging microwave radiation. The complicated
waveform of a digitally modulated mobile phone signal can mathematically be
viewed as the linear superposition of a myriad of sine waves with varying
frequencies and amplitudes, called Fourier analysis. When a wave comprised of
different frequency components propagates through a lossy dielectric medium, it
experiences dispersion, and the wave decomposes into its Fourier components.
(In optics this is the familiar separation of white light into its constituent
rainbow of colors.) As a result, numerous frequencies are impacting biological
tissue when a modulated microwave is absorbed.
Thus, a complex 5G signal interacting with biological tissue may yield Fourier
frequency components in the ELF region. This is the net result of the carrier’s
digital modulation in combination with fast-sweeping steered beams and the
rapid multiplexing of a base station’s RF energy to quasi-simultaneously serve
multiple users.
Summary and Conclusion
The following was added to the manuscript in the section, Overview on
Bioeffects of Radiofrequency Radiation (RFR) Exposure. References 1-4 shown
here were also cited and added to the Reference Section.
“Pulsed RFR exhibit substantially different bioeffects, both qualitatively and
quantitatively (generally more pronounced) compared to continuous waves at
similar time-averaged power densities. (Pakhomov and Murphy, 2011; Belyaev,
2010; Franzen, 1999; Albanese et al., 1989) The specific interaction mechanisms
are not well understood.”
References
1A. Pakhomov and M. Murphy, A Comprehensive Review of the Research on
Biological Effects of Pulsed Radiofrequency Radiation in Russia and the Former
Soviet Union. DOI: 10.1007/987-1-4615-4203-2_7, July 2011.
2I. Belyaev, Dependence of non-thermal biological effects of microwaves on
physical and biological variables: implications for reproducibility and safety
standards. European Journal of Oncology – Library Non-Thermal Effects and
Mechanisms of Interaction Between Electromangnetic Fieldds and Living Matter,
Vol. 5: 187-218 (2010). An ICEMS Monograph. L. Giuliani and M. Soffritti.
Bologna, Italy, Ramazzini Institute. Available at:
http://www.icems.eu/papers.htm?f=/c/a/2009/12/15/MNHJ1B49KH.DTL
3J. Franzen, Wideband Pulse Propagation in Linear Dispersive Bio-Dielectrics
Using Fourier Transforms. United States Air Force Research Laboratory, Report
No. AFRL-HE-BR-TR-1999-0149, February 1999.
4R. Albanese, J.Penn and R. Medina, “Short-rise-time Microwave Pulse
Propagation Through Dispersive Biological Media,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, vol.6,
no.9, pp 1441-1446 (1989)
5Semin, Iu. A., Shvartsburg, L. K., and Dubovik, B. V., Changes in the
secondary structure of DNA under the influence of an external low-intensity
electromagnetic field, Radiats Biol Radioecol, 35/1: 36-41 (1995).
2. Describe in a few words the “areas of airspace opacification … in patients
with COVID-19 pneumonia”
The airspace opacities in COVID-19 pneumonia have been characterized as being
multi-focal and appearing similar to ground glass, i.e., they are abnormally
aerated areas of lung that are not completely filled with fluid or inflammatory
exudates and so one can partially see through them.
3. For power densities significantly smaller than 1mW/cm2 (as in descriptions
of Magras and Xenos 1997 and others, change the unit to μW/cm2. For example,
change 0.0005 – 0.001 mW/cm2 to 0.5-1 μW/cm2. The antenna park in the Magras
and Xenos study was not for mobile telephony antennas. Such antennas are not
placed in antenna parks but everywhere. Please check and correct. Also check
e-13 mW/cm2 (Belyaev et al., 1996)
The Editor-in-Chief requested that we use mW/cm2 as the unit of power density
throughout the manuscript in the first revision that we already made.
We removed “mobile phone” in connection with the antenna park in our discussion
on the Magras and Xenos study.
We changed the value to 10-13, which we checked, and this is correct (Belyaev
et al., 1996).
5. Page 8, left, lines 45-49. In the description of Walleczek (1992) and
anywhere else, correct ELF from (<300 Hz) to (<3000 Hz). Even though most ELFs
of anthropogenic EMFs are indeed <300 Hz, the correct upper limit of this band
is 3000 Hz.
We changed it to <3000 Hz.
6. “The irregular gating of electrosensitive cell membrane ion channels by
coherent, pulsed, oscillating electromagnetic fields was first presented by
Panagopoulos, et al., in 2002”. Please describe more accurately: “The mechanism
of irregular gating of voltage-gated ion channels in cell membranes by
polarized and coherent, oscillating electric or magnetic fields was first
presented by Panagopoulos, et al., in 2000 and 2002”, and add also the citation
[Panagopoulos DJ, Messini N, Karabarbounis A, Filippetis AL, and Margaritis LH,
(2000): A Mechanism for Action of Oscillating Electric Fields on Cells,
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 272(3), 634-640.]
We changed this sentence accordingly and added the citation and reference that
you provided: “The mechanism of irregular gating of voltage-gated ion channels
in cell membranes by polarized and coherent, oscillating electric or magnetic
fields was first presented in 2000 and 2002 (Panagopoulos et al., 2000; 2002).”
7. It is not accurate to write: “Pall combined these two observations to
propose that low frequency RFR may be causing increased intracellular Ca2+ via
the activation of voltage-gated calcium channels (Pall, 2013)”.
Pall did not “propose” something that was proposed long ago by others. Moreover
you cannot say he “combined the observations” since he did not refer to
Panagopoulos et al in his paper. Therefore it is accurate to write: “Pall
(2013) in his review of EMF-induced bioeffect studies combined with use of
calcium channel blockers, observed/noted that calcium channels play a major
role in EMF bioeffects”.
We revised these sentences as follows: “Pall (2013) in his review of
RFR-induced bioeffects combined with use of calcium channel blockers noted that
voltage-gated calcium channels play a major role in RFR bioeffects. Increased
intracellular Ca+2 results from the activation of voltage-gated calcium
channels, and this may be one of the primary mechanisms of action of RFR on
organisms.”
8. “Research has shown that the interaction between a virus and voltage-gated
calcium channels promote virus entry at the virus-host cell fusion step.
Thus….”. Provide reference.
We added this citation (Chen et al., 2019) to the manuscript where this
sentence appeared. The reference was already in our Reference Section:
Chen, X., R. Cao R and W., Zhong W. 2019. Host Calcium Channels and Pumps in
Viral Infections. Cells, 9 (1): 94. DOI:10.3390/cells9010094
9. The “Potekhina et al. (1992) whole study cannot be found. Without reading
the whole paper one cannot conclude whether the described effects were due to
the GHz frequency or to ELF pulsations. Does the document state clearly that no
modulation or pulsation of the GHz field was present? It is unlikely that any
microwave EMF does not contain such components, even in the form of on/off for
energy saving reasons. Referring to microwave exposure studies without knowing
this information might be very misleading.
The Potekhina et al. (1992) paper is available online only in Russian. Pakhomov
et al., 1998, who wrote a review of bioeffects and reviewed the Russian paper,
indicated no modulations were used, and we had already cited and provided a
reference to this review paper, too. Recently the Potekhina et al. paper was
reviewed by Pall (2021), who also reviewed a number of other studies published
in Russian. It was clear from both Pakhomov’s and Pall’s reviews that the
Potekhina et al. study involved unmodulated millimeter waves. Moreover, we were
able to translate the Russian paper of Potekhina et al. using Google Translate,
and we determined that this statement is accurate. We added Pall’s 2021
citation and reference to the manuscript.
We modified the sentence summarizing the Potekhina et al. study, adding the
word “unmodulated”: “Since then many other researchers have concluded that RFR
exposure can affect the cardiovascular system. Potekhina et al. (1992) found
that certain unmodulated frequencies (55 GHz; 73 GHz) caused pronounced
arrhythmia.”
We also added the following sentence at the end of the section on cardiac
effects:
“Pall’s recent review suggests that millimeter waves may act directly on the
pacemaker cells of the sinoatrial node of the heart to change the beat
frequency, which may underlie arrhythmias and other heart problems (Pall,
2021).”
Pall M.L. 2021. Millimeter wave and microwave frequency radiation produce
deeply penetrating effects: the biology and the physics. Rev Environmental
Health, May 26, 2021: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2020-0165
The absorption of microwaves by water molecules is no different than the
absorption of infrared (heat). The heating effect of microwaves is their only
established effect. If a non-thermal mechanism of microwaves exists, it is to
be discovered. Now some papers report “non-thermal effects of microwaves”
without addressing the issue whether the effects were indeed due to the
“microwaves” or to the inevitably co-existing ELFs. This may be very misleading.
We believe that the statement, “The absorption of microwaves by water molecules
is no different than the absorption of heat,” is too simplistic. It may apply
to pure water, but not to living organisms where the structure and dynamics of
intracellular water is intimately connected with the structure and dynamics of
biomolecules. Although the heating effect of microwaves is considered by some
as their only established bioeffect, numerous researchers have found nonthermal
bioeffects of exposure at lower power densities. This is a main thesis of our
manuscript, and we have cited and discussed numerous research reports on
nonthermal bioeffects. Consider that organisms are approximately 70% water.
Moreover, water absorbs broadly in the GHz spectral region and also displays
GHz resonant frequencies. Irradiation at water resonant frequencies, of which
there are several in the GHz spectral region, including 2.45 GHz, a Wi-Fi
router frequency (pulse-modulated at 10 Hz), may elicit bioeffects due to
changes in hydration of biomolecules. The dynamics of water in the hydration
layer around proteins and other biomolecules play a crucial role in
biomolecular structure and function. In fact, dielectric spectroscopy at GHz
frequencies is used to investigate the dynamics and structure of hydration
water of biomolecules. Consider also that a paper reported that low-intensity
radiation of 70.6 and 73 GHz affects E. coli bacterial growth and changes the
properties of water, which we discussed in our previously revised manuscript
draft [Torgomyan H, Kalantaryan V, Trchounian A. Low intensity electromagnetic
irradiation with 70.6 and 73 GHz frequencies affects Escherichia coli growth
and changes water properties. 2011. Cell biochemistry and biophysics.
60(3):275-81]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-010-9150-8 ] It is hypothesized ;
that intracellular water thus affected by absorption of GHz radiation affects
the hydration of protein molecules in organisms that may alter protein
structure and rates of biochemical reactions (Betskii and Lebedeva, 2004).
Thus, continuous wave GHz radiation at low power densities, by making subtle
changes in intracellular water structure and protein hydration, could
subsequently alter biochemistry and physiology and lead to a variety of
bioeffects.
In addition, let us clarify that we stated the RFR signal modulations for the
data discussed in our manuscript.
A careful look in the Pakhomov et al 1998 review paper shows that at least in
some of the reviewed studies ELFs were present. Yet, this is not reflected in
the title or the abstract of the paper. For example, in page 3 they write: “The
Fourier spectrum of these oscillations included two strong peaks, at 5.25 and
46.8 Hz, and these peaks did not change during at least 2 h of
experimentation”. Yet, the study is described as investigating mm wave effects…
In most of the studies reviewed in this paper, information on possible
existence of ELFs is lacking. Thus, their presence is not excluded. The
reported in abstract “10 mW/cm2 and less” power density for the reviewed
studies is huge, and it is unlikely that thermal effects (which start from ~0.1
mW/cm2) were absent. In the Betskii and Lebedeva 2004 review, such information
is lacking throughout the whole paper. It is reported that many of the studies
were performed by use of a “wideband oscillator with an electric tuning of
oscillation frequency developed and brought into lot production in the
U.S.S.R.”. It is unlikely that this oscillator did not include on/off
pulsations, even only for energy saving reasons. When we refer to such studies,
knowledge on microwave electronics provided by specialized physicists/engineers
is necessary in order to prevent misleading conclusions. Since this information
is lacking we cannot conclude that the reported non-thermal effects were due to
the microwave frequencies. I suggest such issues should be carefully
investigated before statements are made which can possibly be very misleading.
Thus, revise accordingly.
Once again, for the reports that we reviewed in this manuscript, we stated the
signal modulations, if any, which were used and reported. We are aware that
especially in the early studies, decades ago, the signal parameters were not
always fully reported. We also wrote the following revised statement mentioning
the role of modulation, among other parameters, in our Discussion Section:
“RFR bioeffects depend upon specific values of wave parameters including
frequency; power density; polarization; exposure duration;
modulation characteristics; as well as the cumulative history of exposure and
background levels of electromagnetic, electric and magnetic fields. In
laboratory studies, bioeffects observed also depend upon genetic parameters and
physiological parameters such as oxygen concentration (Belyaev et al., 2000).
The reproducibility of bioeffects of RFR exposure has sometimes been difficult
due to failure to report and/or control all of these parameters.”
However, as we wrote in other responses in this Second Rebuttal, there is
evidence for nonthermal bioeffects of continuous microwaves, unmodulated, for
example, on water and the hydration of biomolecules that can subsequently
affect their structure and function, and lead to microwave bioeffects, as well
as evidence for cardiac arrhythmias due to exposure to continuous millimeter
waves.
10. “Saili et al., (2015) found that exposure to Wi-Fi (2.45 GHz)….”. Please
report that Wi-Fi radiation includes 10 Hz pulsations (see Table 3, Belyaev et
al, 2016).
Yes; 10 Hz is the polling frequency of Wi-Fi routers. Earlier in this Second
Rebuttal we defined polling frequency. We changed this sentence accordingly:
“Saili et al., (2015) found that exposure to Wi-Fi (2.45 GHz pulsed at 10 Hz)
affects heart rhythm, blood pressure, and the efficacy of catecholamines on the
cardiovascular system, indicating that RFR can act directly and/or indirectly
on the cardiovascular system.”
11. Page 11, DECT is Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications. Please
check and correct.
Thank you; we changed this sentence accordingly.
3rd editorial decision
03-Aug-2021
Ref.: Ms. No. JCTRes-D-21-00034R2
Evidence for a Connection between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiofrequency
Radiation from Wireless Communications Including 5G
Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
Dear Dr. Rubik,
Reviewers have now commented on your paper. You will see that they are advising
that you revise your manuscript. If you are prepared to undertake the work
required, I would be pleased to reconsider my decision.
For your guidance, reviewers’ comments are appended below.
If you decide to revise the work, please submit a list of changes or a rebuttal
against each point which is being raised when you submit the revised
manuscript. Also, please ensure that the track changes function is switched on
when implementing the revisions. This enables the reviewers to rapidly verify
all changes made.
Your revision is due by Sep 02, 2021.
To submit a revision, go to https://www.editorialmanager.com/jctres/ and log in ;
as an Author. You will see a menu item call Submission Needing Revision. You
will find your submission record there.
Yours sincerely
Michal Heger
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
Reviewers’ comments:
Reviewer #1: The authors have sufficiently addressed my comments and I would
recommend the paper for publishing.
In my opinion, comprehensive reviewing the issue of 5G exposure in response of
authors to the Reviewer 10 deserves to be published in a separate paper.
Reviewer #5: Review of the revised paper titled “Evidence for a Connection
between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless
Communications Including 5G”
Comments on 2nd revision
Although the authors are clearly no experts on the physical parameters of these
radiation types, for reasons unknown and despite my repeating comments, they
insist on calling this complex radiation “RFR”. This is misinformation. The
whole technique of multiplexing (different tasks from different users
accommodated simultaneously by 2G/3G/4G/5G antennas) is based on ELF
pulsations. Moreover there is no microwave generator that is not turned on and
off for energy saving reasons and this represents additional pulsations. Thus,
it is not only the periodic checking of a device by base antennas (’polling’),
but several more types of ELF pulsations, plus ELF/VLF modulation, plus random
variability of the signal mainly in the ULF (0-3 Hz) band. The authors
completely ignored the wi-fi pulsations before my comments. Now they provided
recordings from wi-fi and DECT which (of course) show nothing but pulsations.
The carrier RF wave is within those pulses. It is exactly the same with any
form of modern digital wireless communications. The DECT pulsations are not
known to be 50 Hz but 100 Hz and 200 Hz (see Pedersen 1997). Since the authors
claim that there are no “per se” pulsations in 4G, 5G, why don’t they take
similar recordings from corresponding cell phones to see whether there are
pulsations or not, plus intense ULF/ELF/VLF variability of the signals. These
types of radiation do not exist without pulsations/ELF components (see Pirard
and Vatovez for recordings of such signals). A continuous wave RF signal alone
has no applications, in other words, it is useless. It is the
modulation/pulsations that make it perform its task to convey information. The
information is ALWAYS within the ELF modulation which is ALWAYS combined with
pulsations in digital telecom signals. Therefore the experiments in the Russian
studies that the authors repeatedly refer to, obviously, for unknown reasons,
they have not reported the ELF components which existed, otherwise they tested
signals which have no applications. In other words these studies are of dubious
quality which we cannot know for sure since the originals are in Russian and
most of the available information is from reviews of other Russian scientists.
The authors should not refer to studies that are not fully available in
English, like Potekhina et al. (1992) and others. There is a huge amount of
work in the western world having tested the bioactivity of the RF and ELF
parameters of complex RF signals which is much more reliable than the
mistranslated Russian studies. Most (if not all) of these studies have shown
that the ELF pulsations/modulation are by far the bioactive factor and not the
(non-modulated) carrier RF signals alone (Blackman et al 1980; Frei et al 1988;
Huber et al 2002). Moreover there have been series of replication studies on
Russian reports which have reported inability to reproduce the reported effects
of non-modulated microwave/mm wave signals (one example is Furia et al 1986).
The authors must replace “Radiofrequency Radiation” (RFR) by “Radiation from
Wireless Communications” throughout their paper, otherwise their paper is
misleading. On the one hand they speak of a possible connection between the
pandemic and the extreme levels of the telecom signals which may be important
for public health protection, and on the other hand they give a false
impression that the adverse effects are due to the RF carrier, pulling away the
attention from the true bioactive components which are the ELFs.
Most studies reviewed by Pall 2013 are ELF studies. Still the authors describe
his review as referring to “RFR”. It seems that the authors do not see anything
else but RFR.
Now the authors referred to Pall (2021). This is a deeply flawed paper as
described in Panagopoulos (2021). I suggest they exclude it completely
otherwise they must also refer to the criticism on this paper. Referring to a
paper which is officially criticized by a peer-reviewed letter to the editor,
without referring to the criticism is inappropriate.
In conclusion, I insist that the authors revise their paper addressing every
point I reported in my previous comments, plus the above points. Otherwise
their paper is misleading and I cannot suggest acceptance. Of course it is for
the editor to decide.
References Blackman CF., Benane SG, Elder JA, House DE, Lampe JA, and Faulk JM,
(1980): “Induction of calcium - ion efflux from brain tissue by radiofrequency
radiation: Effect of sample number and modulation frequency on the power -
density window”. Bioelectromagnetics, 1, 35 - 43.
Frei M., Jauchem J, Heinmets F, (1988): Physiological Effects of 2.8 GHz
Radio-Frequency Radiation: A Comparison of Pulsed and Continuous-Wave
Radiation, Journal of Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy, 23, 2.
Furia L, Hill DW, and Gandhi OP, (1986): Effect of Millimeter Wave Irradiation
on Growth of Saccaromyces Cerevisiae”, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical
Engineering, 33, 993-999.
Huber R, Treyer V, Borbely AA, Schuderer J, Gottselig JM, Landolt HP, Werth E,
Berthold T, Kuster N, Buck A, Achermann P. (2002): Electromagnetic fields, such
as those from mobile phones, alter regional cerebral blood flow and sleep and
waking EEG. J Sleep Res. 11(4):289-95.
Panagopoulos DJ, (2021): Comments on Pall’s “Millimeter (MM) wave and microwave
frequency radiation produce deeply penetrating effects: the biology and the
physics”, Rev Environ Health, doi: 10.1515/REVEH-2021-0090. Online ahead of
print.
Pedersen GF, (1997): Amplitude modulated RF fields stemming from a GSM/DCS-1800
phone, Wireless Networks 3, 489-498
Pirard W, and Vatovez B, Study of Pulsed Character of Radiation Emitted by
Wireless Telecommunication Systems, Institut scientifique de service public,
Liège, Belgium. (available in:
https://www.issep.be/wp-content/uploads/7IWSBEEMF_B-Vatovez_W-Pirard.pdf)
Reviewer #10: No further comment.
There is additional documentation related to this decision letter. To access
the file(s), please click the link below. You may also login to the system and
click the ’View Attachments’ link in the Action column.
Author’s response
Reviewers’ Comments
Review of the revised paper titled “Evidence for a Connection between COVID-19
and Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation from Wireless Communications Including
5G”
Comments on 2nd revision
Although the authors are clearly no experts on the physical parameters of these
radiation types, for reasons unknown and despite my repeating comments, they
insist on calling this complex radiation “RFR”. This is misinformation. The
whole technique of multiplexing (different tasks from different users
accommodated simultaneously by 2G/3G/4G/5G antennas) is based on ELF
pulsations. Moreover there is no microwave generator that is not turned on and
off for energy saving reasons and this represents additional pulsations. Thus,
it is not only the periodic checking of a device by base antennas (’polling’),
but several more types of ELF pulsations, plus ELF/VLF modulation, plus random
variability of the signal mainly in the ULF (0-3 Hz) band. The authors
completely ignored the wi-fi pulsations before my comments. Now they provided
recordings from wi-fi and DECT which (of course) show nothing but pulsations.
The carrier RF wave is within those pulses. It is exactly the same with any
form of modern digital wireless communications. The DECT pulsations are not
known to be 50 Hz but 100 Hz and 200 Hz (see Pedersen 1997).
We greatly appreciate the reviewer’s constructive criticism, and we will
address all of the remaining issues in this Third Rebuttal.
The oscillogram that we showed in Figure 2 of the Second Rebuttal depicted the
actual measurement of a DECT 6.0 base station showing 50 Hz pulses. In response
to the reviewer’s critique of the pulsation rate that we found, we repeated the
measurement using a different DECT phone base, because the original DECT phone
base that we had tested was no longer available to us. This time we used a
Uniden DECT 6.0 base, model no. DECT 1588, manufactured in 2008. The pulsation
rate was indeed 100 Hz, as the reviewer stated is the DECT pulsation rate. We
are puzzled as to why we originally measured 50 Hz with the previous DECT phone
base.
Since the authors claim that there are no “per se” pulsations in 4G, 5G, why
don’t they take similar recordings from corresponding cell phones to see
whether there are pulsations or not, plus intense ULF/ELF/VLF variability of
the signals. These types of radiation do not exist without pulsations/ELF
components (see Pirard and Vatovez for recordings of such signals). A
continuous wave RF signal alone has no applications, in other words, it is
useless. It is the modulation/pulsations that make it perform its task to
convey information. The information is ALWAYS within the ELF modulation which
is ALWAYS combined with pulsations in digital telecom signals.
The reviewer wrote, “The authors claim that there are no ‘per se’ pulsations in
4G, 5G.” Please let us clarify our viewpoint and understanding. Previously the
reviewer requested a “technical description of 5G (that) should include the
frequencies of the ELF pulsations which play by far the most important role in
the bioeffects”. However, after investigating the standards documentation on
5G, we found no mention of these ELF in the 5G protocol. In other words, ELF
pulsations or other modulations are apparently not part of the 5G protocol
itself, or else this may be proprietary and not in the public domain.
Nonetheless, we fully agree with the reviewer that the information in wireless
communications radiation is carried by pulsing or other modulations. The
various multiplexing schemes employed in telecommunication signalling give rise
to ELF components, even though the carrier frequency may be in the GHz range.
We added the following material to the manuscript that starts at the bottom of
page 3 - 4.
“…organisms lack the ability to adapt to heightened levels of unnatural
radiation of wireless communications technology with digital modulations that
include short intense pulses (bursts).”
The following was added to the manuscript on page 4, along with 4 new
references added to the manuscript for these citations (Lin-Liu and Adey, 1982;
Penafiel et al., 1997; Huber et al. 2002; Panagopoulos, 2021).
“All types of wireless communications employ ELFs in the modulation of the
radiofrequency carrier signals, typically pulses to increase the capacity of
information transmitted. This combination of radiofrequency radiation with ELF
modulation(s), is generally more bioactive, as it is surmised that organisms
cannot readily adapt to such rapidly changing wave forms (Lin-Liu & Adey, 1982;
Penafiel et al., 1997; Huber et al., 2002; Panagopoulos et al., 2002).
Therefore, the presence of ELF components of radiofrequency waves from pulsing
or other modulations must be considered in studies on the bioeffects of
wireless communications radiation. Unfortunately, the reporting of such
modulations has been unreliable, especially in older studies (Panagopoulos,
2021).”
Therefore the experiments in the Russian studies that the authors repeatedly
refer to, obviously, for unknown reasons, they have not reported the ELF
components which existed, otherwise they tested signals which have no
applications. In other words these studies are of dubious quality which we
cannot know for sure since the originals are in Russian and most of the
available information is from reviews of other Russian scientists. The authors
should not refer to studies that are not fully available in English, like
Potekhina et al. (1992) and others.
We removed this reference, Potekhina et al. (1992), and this sentence from the
manuscript that was previously on page 10:
“Potekhina et al. (1992) found that certain unmodulated frequencies (55 GHz; 73
GHz) caused pronounced arrhythmia.”
There is a huge amount of work in the western world having tested the
bioactivity of the RF and ELF parameters of complex RF signals which is much
more reliable than the mistranslated Russian studies. Most (if not all) of
these studies have shown that the ELF pulsations/modulation are by far the
bioactive factor and not the (non-modulated) carrier RF signals alone (Blackman
et al 1980; Frei et al 1988; Huber et al 2002). Moreover there have been series
of replication studies on Russian reports which have reported inability to
reproduce the reported effects of non-modulated microwave/mm wave signals (one
example is Furia et al 1986).
We understand that studies on the bioeffects of invariant signals (continuous
radiofrequency waves) are not equivalent to studies on bioeffects of modulated
wireless communication radiation. We agree with you about the failure in some
early Russian reports to reveal these important modulation parameters.
On page 4, we included this sentence in the paragraph where we discuss ELF
modulations:
“Unfortunately, the reporting of such (ELF) modulations has been unreliable,
especially in older studies (Panagopoulos, 2021).”
On page 13 in the Discussion Section, we added this paragraph, because it
points to the complexity of real world wireless communications signals, even
from a single wireless device, and the Panagopoulos, 2016 reference was also
added:
“Finally, there is an inherent complexity to the WCR (Wireless communications
radiation) that makes it very difficult to fully characterize wireless signals
in the real world that may be associated with adverse bioeffects. Real world
digital communication signals, even from single wireless devices, have highly
variable signals: variable power density, frequency, modulation, phase, and
other parameters changing constantly and unpredictably each moment, as
associated with the short, rapid pulsations used in digital wireless
communication (Panagopoulos et al., 2016). For example, in using a mobile phone
during a typical phone conversation, the intensity of emitted radiation varies
significantly each moment depending on signal reception, number of subscribers
sharing the frequency band, location within the wireless infrastructure,
presence of objects and metallic surfaces, “speaking” versus “non-speaking”
mode, among others. Such variations may reach 100% of the average signal
intensity. The carrier radiofrequency constantly changes between different
values within the available frequency band. The greater the amount of
information (text, speech, internet, video, etc.), the more complex the
communication signals become. Therefore, we cannot estimate accurately the
values of these signal parameters including ELF components or predict their
variability over time. Thus, studies on the bioeffects of wireless
communications radiation in the laboratory can only be representative of real
world exposures (Panagopoulos et al., 2016).”
The following discussion goes beyond the scope of our manuscript, but we wish
to mention it here, since we enjoyed reading the references provided by the
reviewer and thinking about possible mechanisms of action.
Since modulations including short intense pulsations are involved in wireless
communications radiation, one hypothesis for a mechanism is that organisms act
as dispersive and lossy media for this radiation. As a result, the impinging
complex waveform may decompose into its various frequency components and thus
partially demodulate the signals, such that ELF may emerge and act as a key
bioactive component (Pirard and Vatovez, 2012, page 27) (NB: this reference was
provided by the reviewer). An alternative hypothesis, also proposed by Pirard
and Vatovez, is that there is a “cumulated influence of all the (frequency)
components because the human body could possibly not be able to discriminate
within the spectrum of the signal, so that the effects of the envelope shape
(e.g. pulsed variations of the amplitude) would need to be defined (Pirard and
Vatovez, 2012, page 27). Further research is needed to test comparatively these
hypotheses.
If organisms can indeed demodulate wireless communication radiation signals
such that bioeffects may be due to component frequencies, the rapid digitally
pulsed waves of wireless communications radiation would yield numerous Fourier
frequency components. The faster the rise and fall times of a “pulse,” the
greater the number of Fourier frequency components. These would include a large
number of ELF component waves that may be bioactive.
This discussion on the possible mechanisms of action of the bioeffects goes
beyond the scope of our manuscript, so we did not add any material on this
topic. Nonetheless, the interested reader will find it here in the Peer Review
section of the publication.
The authors must replace “Radiofrequency Radiation” (RFR) by “Radiation from
Wireless Communications” throughout their paper, otherwise their paper is
misleading. On the one hand they speak of a possible connection between the
pandemic and the extreme levels of the telecom signals which may be important
for public health protection, and on the other hand they give a false
impression that the adverse effects are due to the RF carrier, pulling away the
attention from the true bioactive components which are the ELFs.
We are aware that each scientific and engineering discipline has a different
language and jargon to describe physical phenomena. Engineers, among others,
might find it misleading to call it “RFR” (radiofrequency radiation). Our paper
aimed for JTCR is interdisciplinary and largely for a medical audience. As we
explained in our Second Rebuttal, the health and medical science literature has
typically utilized “RFR” or simply “RF” as an “umbrella” term for wireless
communications radiation. Nonetheless, we changed our terminology throughout
the manuscript, where appropriate, removing the term “RFR” and substituting
“WCR” (wireless communications radiation). Here is the revised paragraph on
page 2 where we first introduce the new terminology, and softened the language
a bit, adding the words, “possible,” “may be” and “potentially,” which renders
the thesis of our manuscript more hypothetical: “We explore the scientific
evidence suggesting a possible relationship between COVID-19 and radiofrequency
radiation related to wireless communications technology including 5G (fifth
generation of wireless communication technology), henceforth referred to as WCR
(wireless communications radiation). WCR has already been recognized as a form
of environmental pollution and physiological stressor (Balmori, 2009).
Assessing the potentially detrimental health effects of WCR may be crucial to
develop an effective, rational public health policy that may help expedite
eradication of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, because we are on the verge
of worldwide 5G deployment, it is critical to consider the possible damaging
health effects of WCR before the public is potentially harmed.”
Most studies reviewed by Pall 2013 are ELF studies. Still the authors describe
his review as referring to “RFR”. It seems that the authors do not see anything
else but RFR.
We acknowledge that most studies reviewed by Pall (2013) involve ELF. However,
fourteen of the 116 references in Pall’s 2013 review involve radiofrequency,
microwave, and millimeter wave bioeffects.
We modified the manuscript on page 10 accordingly: “CCBs also block the
increase of intracellular Ca2+ caused by WCR (wireless communications
radiation) exposure as well as exposure to other electromagnetic fields (Pall,
2013).”
Now the authors referred to Pall (2021). This is a deeply flawed paper as
described in Panagopoulos (2021). I suggest they exclude it completely
otherwise they must also refer to the criticism on this paper. Referring to a
paper which is officially criticized by a peer-reviewed letter to the editor,
without referring to the criticism is inappropriate.
Thank you for this information. We were previously unaware of the Panagopoulos
(2021) critique. We have removed all citations to Pall (2021) and also removed
the reference from our manuscript.
In conclusion, I insist that the authors revise their paper addressing every
point I reported in my previous comments, plus the above points. Otherwise
their paper is misleading and I cannot suggest acceptance. Of course it is for
the editor to decide.
We also added more detailed information to this paragraph in the manuscript
about 5G (number of phased array antennas, 64 - 256 and performance up to 10x
that of 4G) that appears on page 2, as follows:
“The 5G standard specifies all key aspects of the technology, including
frequency spectrum allocation, beam-forming, beam steering, multiplexing MIMO
(multiple in, multiple out) schemes, as well as modulation schemes, among
others. 5G will utilize from 64 to 256 antennas at short distances to serve
virtually simultaneously a large number of devices within a cell. The latest
finalized 5G standard, Release 16, is codified in the 3GPP published Technical
Report TR 21.916 and may be downloaded from the 3GPP server at
https://www.3gpp.org/specifications. Engineers claim that 5G will offer ;
performance up to 10 times that of current 4G networks (Lin, 2020).”
We have addressed every point of the reviewer in three rebuttals. Should we
inadvertently have missed a point, please inform us, and we shall correct it
accordingly. We appreciate the reviewer’s critique, especially the reference to
relevant papers and acknowledge the significant effort it must have taken.
References:
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Berthold T, Kuster N, Buck A, Achermann P. (2002): Electromagnetic fields, such
as those from mobile phones, alter regional cerebral blood flow and sleep and
waking EEG. J Sleep Res. 11(4):289-95.
Lin, J.C. 2020. 5G Communications Technology and Coronavirus Disease. IEEE
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print. PMID: 34246201
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Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields 8-12 October, 2012: 1-27.
https://www.issep.be/wp-content/uploads/7IWSBEEMF_B-Vatovez_W-Pirard.pdf
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Huber R, Treyer V, Borbely AA, Schuderer J, Gottselig JM, Landolt HP, Werth E,
Berthold T, Kuster N, Buck A, Achermann P. (2002): Electromagnetic fields, such
as those from mobile phones, alter regional cerebral blood flow and sleep and
waking EEG. J Sleep Res. 11(4):289-95.
Panagopoulos DJ, (2021): Comments on Pall’s “Millimeter (MM) wave and microwave
frequency radiation produce deeply penetrating effects: the biology and the
physics”, Rev Environ Health, doi: 10.1515/REVEH-2021-0090. Online ahead of
print.
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Wireless Telecommunication Systems, Institut scientifique de service public,
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4th editorial decision
25-Aug-2021
Ref.: Ms. No. JCTRes-D-21-00034R3
Evidence for a Connection between COVID-19 and Exposure to Radiofrequency
Radiation from Wireless Communications Including 5G
Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
Dear authors,
I am pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been accepted for
publication in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Research.
You will receive the proofs of your article shortly, which we kindly ask you to
thoroughly review for any errors.
Thank you for submitting your work to JCTR.
Kindest regards,
Michal Heger
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
Comments from the editors and reviewers:
A true lover of wisdom has hands too busy to hold on to anything! He learns by
doing and every pebble in the path becomes her teacher! Oink