Applying the Precautionary Principle to Wireless Technology: Policy Dilemmas and Systemic Risks

Applying the Precautionary Principle to Wireless Technology: Policy Dilemmas and Systemic Risks

Paul Ben Ishai, Hillel Z. Baldwin, Linda S. Birnbaum, Tom Butler, Kent Chamberlin, Devra L. Davis, show all
Pages 5-18 | Published online: 20 Feb 2024
Cite this article
https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2024.2293631

Current policies in the United States and Europe regarding wireless radiation rest on an outdated assump­tion that the sole adverse impact to be avoided is acute heating of biological tissues.Footnote1 These policies ignore substantial evi­dence of chronic impacts that wir­eless radiofrequency radiation (RFR) can have on public health and the broader environmental consequences. In this article, we briefly review the early history of policy development on RFR, provide evidence of significant adverse nonthermal chronic impacts from exposures that are not considered in current standards, and make the case for imp­le­menting the precautionary pri­nciple to protect public health and the environment. As with most environmental health hazards, the consequences of RFR are especially important to the fetus and children, as they will incur a lifetime of exposures that is without precedent. We thus argue for the adoption of the precautionary principle to reduce chronic, societal-level risks from exposures.

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