This is a super important podcast.

You will hear a very interesting and easy-to-understand conversation about how radiation from your cell phones, laptops, and other wireless technologies can affect your brain, health, and sperm. If you have children, then this is even more important for you to hear. 

Please don't be scared. You should find this very relevant and empowering. You will learn how to protect yourself through simple steps, and also how you can help strengthen regulation so that we are all better protected. This is an important time to listen to this podcast, and I'll explain why shortly.

My guest is Dr.  Devra Davis, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and public health warrior. She has an impressive history of pioneering science, public health, and more. For example, she was among the front runners to tackle tobacco, asbestos, the overuse of diagnostic radiation, and now the wireless radiation from our cell phones and other household products.

Important EMF overview with Dr. Devra Davis, Nobel Peace Prize winner.

She founded, and is currently president, of the Environmental Health Trust--a non-profit, scientific think-tank that raises awareness to man-made health threats. In recent years, her attention has focused on the health hazards of exposures to man-made sources of electromagnetic radiation, especially those from wireless devices.

Now, this is why you should listen to this podcast sooner rather than later.

The Environmental Health Trust just filed a historic legal action in 2020 against the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) for the FCC's refusal to update its 24-year-old guidelines on cell phone and wireless radiofrequency (RF) radiation. 

EHT is the lead plaintiff in the action, and is joined by scientists, consumer health nonprofits, and citizens. 

The plaintiff contend that these failures ignore “peer-reviewed scientific studies showing that radiation from cell phones and cell phone towers and transmitters is associated with severe health effects in humans, including cancer, DNA damage, damage to the reproductive organs, and brain damage (including memory problems).”

In a February 2020 article titled "Scientists Sue FCC for Dismissing Studies Linking Cell Phone Radiation to Cancer" by Colin Kalmbacher, published on the website Law & Crime, Dr. Davis is quoted as saying this:

”The FCC has for years failed to protect public health by relying on 24-year-old safety tests designed when phones were the size of a shoe and used by few,” Davis told Law&Crime via email. ”We filed this appeal in order to insist that the agency take full measure of the U.S. government and other scientific evidence that cellphone radiation can be harmful.”

She goes on to explain in an email to Law&Crime:

"The agency has dismissed hundreds of scientific studies submitted to its inquiry on wireless radiation and the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others, without providing any rationale for doing so," she said.

"Unlike France and Israel, many Americans are ignorant of the fact that phones are two-way microwave radios that are tested while held inches away from the body. Safety advice is also hidden within operating systems about keeping devices away from the abdomen of pregnant women or children,” Davis said. “Just like cars in the 1970s, we need the equivalent of airbags and seatbelts, that have saved millions of lives, to ensure hardware and software operate at the lowest feasible levels and protect billions of children and others using wireless radiating devices that comply with outmoded standards"

Executive Director of EHT, Theodora Scarato, told Law&Crime:

"The FCC is ignoring the recommendation of our nation’s largest organization of children’s doctors—the American Academy of Pediatrics,” noting that the physician-led group “asked the FCC to test phones the way we use them—in positions against the body—and the FCC said it was unnecessary."

So, who is Dr. Devra Davis?

Devra Davis is a world renowned epidemiologist and writer, who has specialized in disease prevention and environmental health factors. She has such a long list of impressive accomplishments that I struggle with how to describe her credentials. But, given that the risks of cell phone and other wireless radiation may be new to you, and difficult to believe, and, given that Dr. Davis is spearheading this historic lawsuit against the FCC, I'm going to take time to try to provide you with enough context so that you will listen to her with less doubt.

Dr. Davis has an award-winning career that has spanned academia, public policy, and public service. I'll highlight some things in five categories. It may sound long, but it is abbreviated, she's just done a lot for us. 

First, she has an established track record of groundbreaking work both in and outside of government. For example,

• She was Founding Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology, the first of its kind in the world.
• Dr. Davis also was the founding director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the U.S. National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences and the only woman to serve as Scholar in Residence. 
• At the National Academy of Sciences, she helped efforts to remove tobacco smoke from airplanes and the environments of young children.
• President Clinton appointed the Honorable Dr. Davis to the then newly established Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, (1994-99) an independent executive branch agency that investigates, prevents, and mitigates chemical accidents. 
• As the former Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, she has counseled leading officials in the United States, United Nations, European Environment Agency, Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization, and World Bank and served as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the U.S. National Toxicology Program, 1983-86 and various advisory committees to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
• She also served as a U.S. delegate to the International Conference on Women in Beijing in 1996, the Johannesburg Conference on Sustainable Development in 1997, and other major international conferences.
• She has served on a dozen doctoral committees and directed four post-doctoral fellows.
• Honored for her research and public policy work by various national and international groups, she has been a Fellow of both the American Colleges of Toxicology and of Epidemiology. 
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations Climate Convention tapped her to serve as a Lead Author on their assessment of climate mitigation policies (1999-2005) and as a member of this panel she was a member of the team of IPCC scientists awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with the Honorable Al Gore.

Second, Dr. Davis has been a prolific and esteemed scientific author.

• She has authored more than 200 publications in books and journals that include the prestigious Lancet (one of the world's best known medical journals), and Journal of the American Medical Association, the New York Times and many more. 
• Her research has been covered in major scientific publications and highlighted on major media outlets like CNN, CSPAN, BBC, and public radio.
• Davis’ work has appeared in more than a dozen languages.

Third, Dr. Davis has authored three popular books for the public. 

• She was a National Book Award Finalist for When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution (2002, Basic Books). 
• Her most recent book, Disconnect:The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Is Doing to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family, was selected by TIME magazine as a top pick in 2010, received the Silver Medal from Nautilus Books for courageous investigation. It is the subject of international policy-making. For example, it forms the foundation for policy changes in Canada, Israel and elsewhere.
• Her book the Secret History of the War on Cancer was a top pick by Newsweek that influenced national cancer policy by the Cancer Association of South Africa, and is being used at major schools of public health, including Harvard, Emory, and Tulane University. 

Fourth, Dr. Davis lectures at universities around the world. A short list include Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, and more major universities in the US, Israel, Europe, India, Australia, and elsewhere.

And five, she has won numerous awards. For example,

• Davis was honored by the Betty Ford Comprehensive Cancer Center and the American Cancer Society with the Breast Cancer Awareness Award, commended by the Director of the National Cancer Institute for Outstanding Service, and appointed a Global Environmental advisor to Newsweek Magazine.^[4]
• She was a recipient of a Women's Leadership Exchange Compass Award, presented by OPEN: The Small Business Network from American Express, for breaking the paradigms of how women are perceived
• Davis received the first Lisa Zhang Environmental Award from the United Nations in July 2008.^[4]
• In June 2009, Davis received the Artemis Award presented by the Euro-American Women's Council and the Greek Foreign Ministry in recognition of her outstanding contributions to science and public health policy.^[4] 
• She was also awarded the Nautilus Books Silver Medal for Courageous Reporting,^[2]and chosen by Amazon editors as a top pick of 2014.
• The Lemelson Center for Invention and Innovation of the Smithsonian Institution honored her as an innovator on the environment for which she gave a distinguished lecture in 1998.

Regarding the EHT lawsuit against the FCC, while the while the back story is complicated, one milestone is in 2012, when the General Accountability Office recommended in a report that wireless radiation regulations be re-assessed. This led the FCC in 2013 to ask for public comment on whether a review was needed. The FCC accepted submissions for years and took no action until December 4, 2019 when it decided that no review needed to be done and that wireless radiation limits were protective. In response, Dr. Davis is quoted as saying:

“The FCC decision flies in the face of mounting scientific evidence demonstrating harm from RF radiation and runs counter to the science-based decisions of other governments that have devoted major resources to evaluating new evidence on the issue and have taken steps to curtail exposures as a result of their findings.” Dr. Davis testified in the 2009 US Senate hearing on the health effects of cell phone radiation, and EHT’s Chairman Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, founder of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, testified in the 2008 House hearings on cell phone radiation.

We have a unique opportunity to demand stronger protections from our technologies. A lot has changed over the past 24 years so we really need updated regulation. 

After learning more about Dr. Davis, I hope that you are as grateful as I am about her legal pressure on the FCC.  To learn how this lawsuit unfolds, how you can help, and for podcast show notes, register for my email newsletter by texting the world "DETOX" to 66866.

What follows is a really good conversation about what you should know about wireless radiation from what you buy and do, and the simple ways you can reduce your wireless radiation exposures to take care of the brains, eyes, bodies, and reproductive health of you and your loved ones. 

Dr. Davis and I end our conversation with talking about resiliency. She says, "The human body is a wonderful thing. We have lots of ways to repair damage. Whatever damage people have had from EMFs can often be repaired. There is a lot that we can do to restore our health. For children, we want to prevent their harm."

Remember that I have an online workshop, called EMF Detox, which details with checklists and short videos the easy ways you can reduce exposures to electromagnetic fields from what you buy and do. Learn more on my website at www.nontoxicliving.tips, or just register for my newsletter. Access to EMF Detox will become even more affordable soon when the monthly membership re-opens, which happens just a few times a year. So check that out if you want more support in detoxing your EMFs. Please note that this conversation was recorded in July 2019.

Podcast Show Notes

[0:00] Podcast intro

[13:32] Conversation with guest, Dr. Devra Davis, begins.

[13:32] Unique vulnerabilities of children

• The faster cells grow, the more vulnerable they are.
• Brain of the newborn is the fastest growing cells in humans, which grows to 100 billion cells at birth, and then doubles within the first 2 years of life
• For male, most vulnerable cells are sperm. Sperms also grows rapidly.
• Skulls of kids are thinner, contain more fluid so more radiation penetrates children's brains.

[15:50] Adult male 

• So far, all studies on brain cancer are examined on adults, except for one. The one study being done on children in Europe but it was being delayed, as is not unusual with these types of studies.
• Children have not historically been studied. Models look at brain of 3- and 6- year old to show how much more radiation gets absorbed.

[16:59] Blood-brain-barrier and barrier to protect testes

BBB is designed to protect the brain from toxic agents in body; also barrier to protect the testes. Cell phone radiation has been demonstrated in experimental studies to weaken that barrier and that means toxic agents are more likely to get into the brain.

• BBB is more vulnerable during the developing stages.
• Some cancer treatments rely on weakening BBB to deliver cancer treatments to brain.
• Can it repair? That's one of the wonderful things of human beings, we have great repair processes. We have great DNA repair for all sorts of things. But we don't know whether BBB can repair.

[19:20] Absence of proof of harm is not proof of safety

[19:55] Unprecedented sea of radiation: 3G, 4G, 5G. Different effects from different generations of technology.

• G = generation for technology.
• With each step up in G, there's been an increase in speed of access.
• Cell phone radiation (on 2G and 3G). There are now thousands of studies (animal) show that 2G and 3G can damage genes, weaken membranes, increase biochemicals in bloodstream that can predict cancer and diseases

• Research on microwave radiation from your cell phones was done on 2G. There are now thousands of studies on cell phone radiation, showing that 2G and 3G can damage genes, membranes, disrupt biochemicals in blood stream that can increase risk of cancer and aging
• For 5G to work, we need (1M antennas)
• Frequencies of EMFs are measured by how fast they go
• Massive experiment
• Thousand antennas can send signals in and out at same time. It's like a super highway:
  • 4G: 4 miles long, 4 lanes wide
  • 5G: 40 lanes wide, half a mile long
• 5G requires a fiber optic cable, which is complex cables. We should re-think it. Last part of the backbone is planned on being wireless. It can be/ should be wired. It's the wireless radiation as 5G is currently planned that poses huge threats to human health. But parts of the 5G network can be wired, thus reducing human wireless exposures.
• Millimeter waves can harm eyes, can accelerate growth of bacteria, viruses, and potentially cancer cells... Why make  it ubiquitous throughout our cities when we know it has a biological impact?!
• Scientists requesting a wireless 5G moratorium until it can also be wired. Not confident it can happen unless a lot of people are concerned.  We have to write to our congress people to let them know that we don't want this radiation.
• Risks to wildlife, pollinating insects, migrating animals
• This is a bad bargain

[26:18] Different waves of radiation have different effects.

Frequencies of electromagnetic fields are measured by how fast they go.

• 2G & 3G: 900 million cycles per second
• 4G: 2.4 billion to 5 billion cycles per second
• 5G: 6 billion cycles per second. But it needs prior 3G & 4G to work, so it attracts radiation from 3G-5G into your bedroom.
• We're living in the age of the technology imperative: Because you can do some thing, doesn't mean we should do it. Even if you can do it, sometimes they're wrong.
• Do we need wireless toilet, diaper, bassinet
• A lot of our devices are taking us away from our humanity, from what it means to be a human being.
• What are we giving up when we're on technology? Privacy, the right to your photos, IP address you've ever visited.
• [31:15] It's time for a reset for how we use technology today. What do we want for our children?

[32:33] Interference of digital screens on child development

• Digital screen triggers dopamine, like crack does.
• Children need to look at faces to learn empathy.
• Empathy and brain and nervous system
  • Important study in Switzerland. Children (middle schoolers and teenagers). who used devices the most, had deficits in memory. That's a brain effect.
  • Internet addiciton camps in Korea and China.
  • Functional MRIs on children's brains show a lack of development involved in empathy and overdevelopment of part of brain involved in fast responses, immediate gratification.
  • Digital dementia is a diagnosis, attributed to the early use of screens. 
  • Some people think that handwriting helps develop hand-eye coordination, and to help anticipate the "other."
  • We want our children to learn how to play together.

[34:13] Natural and man-made EMFs

• When babies are born, skin-to-skin contact between mother and child are critical for development. 
• Sun is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Microwave radiation has been around a long time too. But, current exposures is unprecedented. Even in the past 4 years, the amount of microwave radiation has more than quintupled.
• We now have more than 7 billion cell phones
• Internet of Things might have 50 billion more devices within another decade. All are planned to be wireless.
• Wireless devices are important but not convinced that 5G will be basis for a telephone voice connection. It should be researched. Restricted to military and other applications that are appropriate for 5G.
• [37:14] We are now in a sea of radiofrequency radiation that has never existed in human history, and it's never been fully evaluated for its effects on us.
• While genes are very important, we're seeing patterns of cancer that we can't explain.
• [37:30] Only 1 in 10 or maybe 1 in 20 cases of most cancer...are from inheriting a defect from your parents. That means that 19 out of 20 cases comes from an interaction with the environment--where they were born, what they ate, what they were exposed to in air and water,... so while genes are very important in cancer...but we're increasingly seeing patterns of cancer that we cannot explain.
• Rectal cancer has quadrupled in the past decade.
• When something has changed that much in one decade, we have to ask what else might be going on.

[39:20] CDC reported last year, unexplained cases of cancer in children.

• Brain cancer in children is more common... relatively rare but still increased
• Our children are developing more forms of brain cancer, autism has continued to increase, and we don't really understand why

[39:56] Baby monitors.

• Wireless baby monitors. Get it wired if you need. Wireless radiation is not a good idea. We are concerned about the rapidly developing brain and body.
• If you must use wireless baby monitors, then maximize distance between wireless monitor and. baby.

[40:45] Infrared saunas

• The ability of EMF to damage is a function of EMF's frequency and pulse.
• Infrared sauna has steady, continuous waves; and has been demonstrated to release toxins.
• Other light technology for healing
• It is complex, but the ability of an EMF wave to damage is a function of its frequency and its pulse
• Release toxins
• They are a completely different cat than wireless phone.
• Infrared saunas have constant waves.
• Cell phones have irregular, pulsing waves which is damaging

[42:12] Complexities of science

• Historically, studies examine 1 export at a time. But, in real life, we are exposed to multiple exposures at once.
• There's a body of literature that shows that results of studies are influenced by who funds the study. Seen in pharmaceutical studies.
• Science works best by studying one thing at a time under controlled variables.
• The real world is much more complicated, and it's much harder to study real life exposures. Hence, the projected models that are needed to extrapolate.
• [45:03] Case-controlled studies show that those who use cell phones before age 20, especially as young children, have 4 times more brain cancer by the time they reach adulthood. That's a pretty alarming finding in epidemiology.

[45:47] Strategies to confuse the public

• Dr. Davis and others have written about several industries pursue strategies to confuse the science and public.
• Look at sponsors of studies.
• Scientists can attacked 
• Results/opinions can depend on where you sit and who bought your seat
• Why the public and policymakers are so confused
• Studies influenced by who is funding it. Drug research tends to be sponsored by drug manufacturing
• Toxic chemicals is a real challenge. Science works best studying one thing at a time. It's very difficult to get good data on real exposures (what did you eat 10 years ago, how many head Xrays, etc)
• People who start using cell phones before age 20--especially as young children--have 4 times more brain cancer by the time they reach adulthood. That's a pretty alarming find in epidemiology. 
• Confusion is sometimes the goal
• Culture of denial
• When it's said that 5G doesn't penetrate skin, that's true. But, 5G requires 3G and 4G, which can penetrate the skin!
• Some people in physics community say wireless radiation is too weak to damage. But studies show that these weak radiation exposures can cause DNA damage. [50:01] Even Cleveland Clinic tells men who want to have children to get cell phones out of their pockets. Because they have demonstrated damage to sperm.

[50:12] Varied responses to the data by governments, insurance companies

• Lloyds of London and Swiss Re (secondary insurers) took a big hit from asbestos companies took big losses from lawsuits. Because asbestos companies withheld information on the dangers of asbestos.
• They have written white papers (on EHT.org) fear that cell phones from the EMFs will be the next asbestos and won't insure health damage from EMFs .
• In addition, 10K forms filed for SEC to indicate liabilities, they report pending lawsuits from people with brain cancer.
• Switzerland (on EHTrust.org) and others have much more strict EMF standard
• France and Israel have removed wireless radiation from nurseries and environments of babies and young children
• WaWei, the Chinese manufacturer, has created a baby router that will put itself to sleep, and will reduce (radiation and green house gases)
• Concerned EMFs will become the next asbestos so have concern that EMFs can be a legal liability. Will not insure EMFs.

[52:40] Hopeful insights on our resiliency?

The human body is a wonderful thing. We have lots of ways to repair damage. Whatever damage people have had from EMFs can often be repaired.

1. Eat well
2. Exercise
3. Stay connected to people is really important.
4. Live in clean, healthy environment is really important.
5. Sleep in the dark. Get a sleep mask if you can't control light in your bedroom. Your body naturally produces melatonin, which can repair damage throughout the body. Producing melatonin is a good way to repair damage.
6. Reduce bluelight exposures. Bluelight glasses can help filter blue light.
7. Digital detoxing. 
8. Be mindful.
9. Connect with earth, forest bathing, connect to natural world around us in whichever way we can...  That is part of our healing process. 

We can recover. There is a lot that we can do to restore our health. For children, we want to prevent their harm.

[55:23] Do children have different resiliency?

Because they grow faster, they repair faster. When children get a cut, 2 days they are gone. So, yes, they heal faster.

In adults too, even in stroke patients, brain damage can repair.

Resources

• Environmental Health Trust: EHTrust.org
• "The Miseducation of America on 5G: The New York Times Gets It Spectacularly Wrong" by Dr. Devra Davis, July 22, 2019.
• "5G: The Unreported Global Threat" by Dr. Devra Davis, May 2019