I decided to do some research on both sides of this and pass on the information to you, before either of us rush out and buy a $1600 box that counteracts the invisible rays (minus the 10% off if you use your favorite influencer’s code, of course!).
Are cellphone towers slowly cooking our DNA? Or is this just more fearmongering?
Get-Fit Guy is hosted by Kevin Don. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Welcome back to Get-Fit Guy—Coach Kevin Don here and this week I had the pleasure of the social media algorithms bombarding me with more “unusual” information. They have clearly learned that I am into learning about and implementing healthy living strategies and therefore send me everything that is trending in that space.
This week, I saw a well-known fitness influencer selling a sticker that goes on your phone to protect you from EMF. Looking further into his posts, there was a lot of what looked to be fearmongering around 5G and EMF signals in the home. However, as always, I decided to do some research on both sides of this and pass on the information to you, before either of us rush out and buy a $1600 box that counteracts the invisible rays (minus the 10% off if you use your favorite influencer’s code, of course!).
As always, let's start with some background. What exactly is EMF? Well, it's an acronym for electromagnetic fields. These are areas of energy, often called radiation, that run on a spectrum. On the far left of the spectrum are longer and less “intense” waves, like radio, through to television signals, radar signals, things like television remote controls (which are infrared), microwaves, then to the visible spectrum of light we can all see, to ultraviolet (invisible rays from the sun) and finally, on the far right, the shortest, most intense radiation waves—x-rays and gamma rays.
5G for our cellular devices is on what is called the millimeter wave spectrum at its most powerful. This falls between infrared (remote controls) and microwaves. 5G is faster than previous cell phone signals, which operated on lower frequencies. Why do we need new frequencies? Demand. More people have multiple devices and demand the fastest signals and download speeds. It’s hard to cram more into existing space, so new frequencies have to be used to keep up to the demand for faster speed, even with more devices coming online all the time.
Because these new waves are more intense due to their shorter length, a lot of people believe they are harmful and, because they are edging on microwaves, that we will somehow end up being cooked or have our DNA unraveled. For this to happen, the atoms would have to be impacted by a wave that is strong enough to remove an electron. This kind of radiation is called ionizing radiation. X-rays and gamma rays fall into this category, which is why radiographers stand behind thick shields when performing scans all day long, why pilots have flight times limited because they are exposed to more radiation in the upper atmosphere, and why scientists working with nuclear energy have to wear special monitors. Radio waves, cell phone signals, infrared signals, and even microwave signals are not ionizing. They are, in fact, called non-ionizing radiation and simply do not have enough energy to displace electrons from atoms.
They do, however, have enough energy to make atoms vibrate. This can cause heating. This is how your food gets hot in the microwave. So, standing very close to a huge and high-powered radar, for example, could cause severe burns. This type of energy is not emitted by cell phone towers, even on the millimeter wave spectrum.
Some studies have shown increased temperatures in the brain and body when using EMF from cellphones. However, the participants affected were all older, which means they have thinner skin and blood flow differentiators.
The International Agency for Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, has EMFs listed as a class 2B, which means “possibly carcinogenic.” Also listed as a class 2B carcinogen: baby powder, aloe vera, coffee, and pickled vegetables. These aren’t quite as dangerous as class 2A carcinogens, which include working as a barber, night shift work, bacon, steak, and glass ornaments. Or even the top tier of category 1 carcinogens: sunlight, wood dust, and alcohol.
I hope you see what I’m saying: it’s easy to be scared when you read “cellphone signals classed as a possible carcinogen” until you have a look at the items listed as more dangerous and realize that you expose yourself to them almost daily without any fear. I certainly don’t see fitness influencers selling me a vibrating box to nullify the dangers of my pulled pork sandwich. That’s because it’s easier to be afraid of that which you cannot see.
In fact, such is the fear around EMF and 5G that many people are developing really bad anxiety symptoms and are claiming to have “electromagnetic sensitivity.” They are reporting symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and sleep issues, even when exposed to levels of radiation far below any kind of threshold. In studies done on such patients, they were actually unable to distinguish between when they were being exposed to EMFs and when they weren’t. In Taiwan, the number of patients reporting this illness has decreased since 2013, in spite of the number of cellphones and usage of WiFi increasing. This has led to electromagnetic sensitivity being classified as a phobia and patients show recovery using cognitive behavioral therapy. However, this “EMF-sensitive” market has given rise to pseudoscientific devices being peddled by many fitness influencers.
It's best to remember that EMF exposure is totally unavoidable, even if you wear a tinfoil suit and helmet. Since the beginning of the universe, stars such as our sun have been emitting EMFs. We know this because we can see sunlight. WiFi routers, cellphone signals, microwave ovens, power lines, televisions, smartwatches, remote controls—they are all emitting EMFs. They are all non-ionizing and therefore incapable of changing DNA. If you tried to avoid EMFs, you’d be very stressed because it's impossible and as far as energy goes, sunlight has more energy and is listed as more carcinogenic than anything you have in your home, technology-wise.
In the US, if you were concerned, there are currently no federal restrictions on EMF exposure, but some states have introduced their own guidelines. There are no federal restrictions because the Environmental Protection Agency has reviewed available data and concluded that the levels of EMFs we are exposed to currently are not a risk to human health. The EPA has a dose calculator online, where you can work out your annual dose of ionizing radiation, something you should definitely be concerned with. Just like Icarus, if you fly too close to the sun, you may end up with severe health problems.