ePetition details

In a press release on 9 September 2021, the government announced that £4 million of public funds will be used to help mobile phone companies work together with local councils to use “curbside infrastructure”, such as lampposts and bus shelters, for 5G network equipment.

If Sefton Council takes part in this project, there will soon be 5G wireless antennas on lampposts throughout Sefton, beaming unprecedented levels of hazardous electromagnetic radiation (EMR) into our homes, workplaces and schools.

Shockingly, the industry has not produced a single study to show that 5G technology is safe. No risk assessment has been carried out on its effects on humans, wildlife or the environment. On the other hand, evidence from thousands of peer-reviewed studies already points to possible harms from existing sources of radiation, such as WiFi, 3G and 4G. Experts warn that the addition of 5G to the mix could have very serious and damaging consequences for human health.

EMR was classified as a possible human carcinogen in 2011 by the World Health Organisation International Agency for Research on Cancer. Since then, evidence of increased cancer risks has been strengthened by further human and animal studies.

Cancer rates have skyrocketed in recent years. The vast majority of people in Sefton, and indeed across the UK, will have an affected family member or friend…or will be a cancer sufferer or survivor themselves. Who knows to what extent existing radiation is driving the increase? Who knows how many more people could develop cancer as a result of 5G?

Other proven effects of EMR include damage to the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, and neurological disorders.

Children are at greater risk of harm from EMR, because their brain tissues are more absorbent, their skulls are thinner, and they are physically smaller. Why then are 5G masts being erected near schools across the UK, including Sefton?

The 5G rollout is being challenged on the grounds of safety by scientists and lawyers across the world, including a legal team headed by Michael Mansfield QC here in the UK. In August 2021 in the USA, Robert F. Kennedy Jnr’s Children’s Health Defense and the Environmental Health Trust successfully sued the Federal Communications Commission for failing to ensure that its guidelines adequately protect against harmful effects of exposure to EMR.

Is a faster internet connection worth the potential serious harm that 5G could cause to people’s health? Have any of us ever been asked whether we think the risks are worth taking?

As residents of Sefton, we demand an immediate halt to the 5G rollout across Sefton, to allow for thorough and comprehensive health and safety investigations and risk assessments to be carried out.

References:

Government press release (09/09/2021): ‘Street lamps and bus shelters to help boost 5G roll out in £4 million trial’
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/street-lamps-and-bus-shelters-to-help-boost-5g-roll-out-in-4-million-trial

World Health Organisation International Agency for Research on Cancer (2011): ‘IARC classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans’, Press Release No 208
https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr208_E.pdf

Lloyd Morgan, L et al (2014): ‘Why children absorb more microwave radiation than adults: The consequences’, Journal of Microscopy and Ultrastructure
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213879X14000583

Legal case challenging the UK Government over its failure to take notice of the health risks and public concerns relating to 5G.
https://actionagainst5g.org/

Legal case against 5G in USA: Environmental Health Trust, et al, Petitioners, v Federal Communications Commission and United States of America, Respondents
https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/FB976465BF00F8BD85258730004EFDF7/$file/20-1025-1910111.pdf

International organisation of scientists calling for grea

This ePetition ran from 16/09/2021 to 07/01/2022 and has now finished.

572 people signed this ePetition.