Devra DavisDevra Davis

The rush to bathe the world in Wi-Fi radiation, including Google’s plan to launch thousands of Wi-Fi satellites in space, has run up against claims that such radiation is especially harmful to children, babies and fetuses.

Among those leading the battle to reduce radiation by hard-wiring as many appliances as possible are the National Assn. for Children and Safe Technology and Devra Davis, Ph.D., President, Environmental Health Trust.

NACST, which is hosting the Turn It Off 4 Kids initiative claims that “The debate is over” on the subject of whether wireless radiation, also known as RF-EMF, causes cancer.

Some scientists regard RF as a “Group 1 Human Carcinogen,” placing it in the same category as tobacco, asbestos and benzene, says NACST, referencing studies on Bioinitiative and EMF Safety Network. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, in 2011 classified as a Group 2B Possible Carcinogen the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes microwaves.

Those who ask for more time to study the evidence are compared by Davis to those who ignored findings in the 1930s that cigarettes caused cancer. It was not until 1964 that the U.S. Surgeon General came to that conclusion and ordered warnings put on all cigarette packs.

Fox TV Carries Message on Children

Davis, an epidemiologist who specializes in disease prevention, pleaded the case for protecting children from excessive radiation in a four-minute segment on Fox TV/D.C., Feb. 16.


Studies by the World Health Organization and others have shown an increase in brain cancer with ten years of exposure. The radiation reaching a child’s brain is twice as strong as the radiation reaching an adult's, she said, citing studies by Environmental Health Trust.

It is not the power of the radiation that is the problem but its “pulsed” nature—2.4 billion cycles a second, she said. Microwave ovens, computers and cellphones use the same frequency, she noted.

“This exposure is repeated thousands of times over the life of a child and we are concerned as are the governments of Korea, Belgium, France and Israel,” she added. “The exposure will harm our children over the long run.”

“Simply wire these things and eliminate this concern,” she told Fox News audience. “Don’t you give your children umbrellas before they go to school or do you let them get soaked?” she asked.

New York Unrolls Wi-Fi Terminals

de Blasio
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio unveils a LinkNYC terminal.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Feb. 18 presided over ceremonies unveiling the first of more than 7,500 “LinkNYC” Wi-Fi terminals that will dot the five boroughs.

“It will be the biggest and the fastest such network in the world,” he said while standing near one of the new fixtures on Third ave. More than 500 will be in operation by the end of July, he said.

“Internet access is not a luxury, not something that’s optional, but something that everybody needs and we’re going to have fairness,” he said.

The terminals will provide private Wi-Fi network within a 150-foot radius, free domestic phone service, two USB charging ports, a tablet for accessing the web, and a red 911 button for emergency calls.

Data on those using the system will be collected and will be owned by CityBridge. None of the data will be personally identifiable, de Blasio said.

The terminals will operate within the microwave frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum at 5GHz which is five billion cycles (microwaves) per second. Data will be transferred at up to one Gigabit. One Gigabit is one billion bits.

EMF health advocates say that the terminals will add to the non-ionizing 24/7 burden of microwave radiation already experienced by New Yorkers from cellphones, computers, cell towers, Wi-Fi routers (including the more powerful routers Time Warner, Comcast and others are forcing their customers to take), Wi-Fi utility meters, Wi-Fi on wearable clothes, and other wireless devices and technologies.

Daily Mail/U.K. Covers LinkNYC

The Daily Mail, U.K., devoted nearly 1,000 words and eight photos to the announcement of the terminals.

Companies involved in the venture include Qualcomm and Civiq Smartscapes, said the paper. A column by Nicole Gelinas in the Jan. 11 New York Post said major backers of the $200 million project are Google and Qualcomm.

Intersection is credited with the launch of the system. It is owned by a consortium of investors led by Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet company (a recently formed holding company for Google). Dan Doctoroff is CEO of Sidewalk Labs. Google revenues are $74 billion.

A company called “Control Group” was merged on June 23, 2015 with Titan Outdoor Advertising to form Intersection, said a release by Intersection. Al Kelly, former president of American Express, was named president of Intersection on Feb. 17, 2016. The company is described as one that is “redefining the urban experience.”

Titan described itself as the “largest transit advertising sales company in the world” in the 1990s with revenues of $800 million. It is headquartered in New York and has offices in major cities.

“Hundreds of Millions” in Ads Expected

Doctoroff, speaking at NYU’s Center for Urban Science & Progress Feb. 10, said the terminals would produce “hundreds of millions” of ad income that could be used by New York to improve life in the city.

The nine-foot, five-inch tall terminals have four-and-a-half-foot high digitized ads on both sides.

Advocates for electro-magnetic health practices say that the Sidewalk Labs terminals are a violation of the civil rights of passersby who can be adversely affected by the radiation.

They are circulating petitions to be sent to the New York State Dept. of Technology and Telecommunications and the New York Attorney General saying that the terminals violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York City Human Rights law, and the New York State Human Rights Law.

Those with electromagnetic sensitivities and many medical conditions would not be able to heed the advice of their own doctors, say the advocates.

“If a hotspot is put on the street near a home or critical institution to be accessed, many people will not be able to access the building in question without getting serious symptoms and violating doctors’ orders,” they said.

EHS a “Major Public Health Issue,” Says Confab

More than 50 doctors, scientists and healthcare professionals, meeting in Paris Feb. 11, signed a document saying electro-hypersensitivity is “a major public health issue” and calling for more research on the subject.

The physical suffering of the afflicted is ”real” although controversy remains in some respects on the subject,” said thedocument.

Symptoms of cellphone users reported by doctors include headache, stiffness or pain in the neck, ringing in the ears, visual disturbances, muscle twitching, spasms, joint stiffness and cognitive disorders.

“Second stage” victims may experience “severe cognitive disorders, loss of concentration, loss of short term memory, heartbeat irregularities, insomnia, chronic fatigue and possible depressive tendency.”

Especially vulnerable are children, said the meeting. They may experience sleep disorders, dyslexia, attention disorders, lack of concentration, loss of memory and behavioral problems.

Lack of treatment of EHS can lead to “totally irreversible delirium, spatial disorientation or temporal state of dementia resembling Alzheimer’s disease which also may occur in young subjects.”