Beverly Rubik1 and Robert R. Brown2

1 College of Integrative Medicine & Health Sciences, Saybrook University, Pasadena CA; Institute for Frontier Science, Oakland, CA, USA
2 Department of Radiology, Hamot Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Erie, PA; Radiology Partners, Phoenix, AZ, USA

 

Abstract:

 

COVID-19 public health policy has focused on the SARS-CoV-2

virus and its effects on human health while environmental factors have been largely ignored. In considering the epidemiological triad (agent-host- environment) applicable to all disease, we investigated a possible environmental factor in the COVID-19 pandemic: ambient radiofrequency radiation from wireless communication systems including microwaves and millimeter waves. COVID-19 surfaced in Wuhan, China shortly after the implementation of city-wide 5G (fifth generation of wireless radiation), and spread globally, demonstrating a statistical correlation to international communities with 5G antennas installed. In this study, we examined the peer- reviewed scientific literature on the detrimental bioeffects of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) and identified several ways in which RFR may be contributing to COVID-19 as a toxic environmental cofactor. We conclude that RFR and, in particular, 5G, which involves 4G infrastructure densification, has exacerbated

 

 

COVID-19 prevalence and severity by weakening host immunity and increasing SARS-CoV-2 virulence by (1) causing morphologic changes in erythrocytes including echinocyte and rouleaux formation that may be contributing to hypercoagulation; (2) impairing microcirculation and reducing erythrocyte and hemoglobin levels exacerbating hypoxia; (3) amplifying immune system dysfunction, including immunosuppression, autoimmunity, and hyperinflammation; (4) increasing cellular oxidative stress and the production of free radicals exacerbating vascular injury and organ damage; (5) augmenting intracellular Ca2+ essential for viral entry, replication, and release, in addition to promoting pro- inflammatory pathways; and (6) worsening heart arrhythmias and cardiac disorders. In short, RFR is a ubiquitous environmental stressor that contributes to adverse health outcomes of COVID-19. We invoke the Precautionary Principle and strongly recommend a moratorium on 5G wireless infrastructure at this crucial time to help mitigate the pandemic, and to preserve public health until governmental safety standards for RFR exposure based on current and future research are defined and employed.

Introduction

Background

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COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China in December 2019, shortly after city-wide 5G had “gone live” on October 31, 2019. COVID-19 outbreaks soon followed in other areas where 5G had also been at least partially implemented, including South Korea, Northern Italy, New York City, Seattle, and Southern California. In April 2020, Payeras and Cifre (2020) reported a statistically significant correlation between the density of 5G antennas and the location of COVID-19 cases in specific regions throughout the world. During the first wave in the United States, COVID-19 attributed cases and deaths were higher in states with 5G infrastructure compared with states that did not yet have this technology (Tsiang and Havas, manuscript submitted).

There is a large body of peer reviewed literature, since before World War II, on the biological effects of wireless radiation that impact COVID-19 has been the focus of international public health policy throughout 2020. Despite unprecedented public health protocols to quell the pandemic, the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise. We propose a reassessment of our public health strategies.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2020), the simplest model of disease causation is the epidemiological triad consisting of three interactive factors: the agent (pathogen), the environment, and the health status of the host. Extensive research is being done on the agent (SARS-CoV-2). Risk factors that make a host more likely to succumb to the disease have been elucidated. However, environmental factors have not been sufficiently explored. Are there environmental factors involved and actions that we can take to mitigate COVID-19? In this paper, we investigate the role of wireless communication radiation as a widespread environmental stressor.

This is the first comprehensive paper examining scientific evidence that radio-frequency radiation including 5G (fifth generation of wireless communication technology and its necessary earlier generations), henceforth referred to as RFR, may be a contributing factor in COVID-19.

RFR from wireless technology has already been recognized as a form of environmental pollution and physiological stressor (Balmori, 2009).

many aspects of our health. In examining this literature, we found intersections between the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and detrimental bioeffects of wireless radiation exposure. Here we present the evidence that RFR is a contributing factor exacerbating COVID-19.

 

 

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