One woman’s recent illness highlights the issue of only considering radiofrequency radiation’s thermal effects
After a 5G base station was installed within 60 meters of her second-floor apartment, a middle-aged, otherwise healthy, Swedish woman developed debilitating symptoms corresponding with radiofrequency (RF)/microwave syndrome, researchers at the Environment and Cancer Research Foundation (ECRF) in Sweden reported this month. This was the third such case the researchers had documented.
According to their case study, published in Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports, fifth generation (5G) wireless technology is being rolled out worldwide “despite no previous research on possible negative effects on human health and the environment.”
As a result, exposure to pulse-modulated microwave radiation has “increased dramatically on a world-wide basis.” Microwave radiation are frequencies in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz within the radiofrequency (RF) spectrum. In city environments, frequencies used for 5G are currently in the 3.5 GHz band.
Studies on possible health effects from exposure to 5G frequencies were all but non-existent until recently. In a study published in October 2022, animals were exposed to the 5G frequency of 3.5 GHz for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for one month. The exposure caused oxidative stress and an increase of degenerated neurons in the hippocampus region of the brain, in addition to decreased irisin levels, a hormone positively correlated with weight loss and healthy cognitive function.
In the case study, the woman quickly developed a large array of debilitating symptoms after the installation. These symptoms included headache, dizziness and balance problems, cognitive dysfunction—including memory, confusion and loss of focus—as well as extreme fatigue, anxiety, cough, nose bleeding, and disorders of urinary function and the skin, including spontaneous bruising and skin eruptions.
The 5G antenna was installed on the roof of a three-floor adjacent building and projected towards her apartment on the second floor. There was previously a 4G base station antenna at the same spot, but it was only after it was replaced by the 5G antenna that the woman quickly developed severe symptoms of microwave syndrome. The 4G antenna was removed shortly after the 5G deployment.
