Protesters objecting to 5G rally in May in downtown San Rafael. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

People gather to listen to anti-5g speakers at San Rafael City Plaza in San Rafael Tuesday. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

Protesters gathered in San Rafael in May to rally against the implementation of 5G cellular networks in the county. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)



Marin activists gathered in downtown San Rafael Wednesday to rally against the rollout of the high-speed wireless technology 5G.

Under light rainfall, demonstrators on the city plaza on Fourth Street carried signs that read “Keep 5G out of our homes!” and “Stop Involuntary Exposure! Say No to 5G!” The EMF Safety Network, a group aimed at protecting the public from electromagnetic frequencies, set up the San Rafael event as part of a national day of action organized by Americans for Responsible Technology that included other rallies across the country.

Members of the EMF Safety Network say they believe radiation emitted from 5G small-cell antennas could be harmful.

“Our major goal is to get the attention of the industry,” said Vicki Sievers, the Marin outreach coordinator for the group. “The industry is abdicating responsibility for developing safer technology and for providing appropriate information, warnings to consumers.”

Sievers said they arranged for an expert panel including local doctors to speak at the rally to spread awareness that their patients today have reported experiencing fatigue, insomnia, headaches and other risk factors, which they believe was caused by exposure to emissions from wireless technology.

Speakers included Dr. Michelle Perro, a pediatrician and executive director of GMO Science in San Rafael; Dr. Julie Anne Griffith, a Larkspur neurologist; Dr. Jacqueline Chan, an osteopathic physician at Marin Natural Medicine Clinic in Larkspur; Ellie Marks, the director of the California Brain Tumor Association, and Mary Beth Brangan, an author and co-producer of an award-winning documentary on the threats of microwave pollution.

Griffith said she believes exposure to the radiation causes reproductive harm and increases cancer risk. She urged those in attendance to write letters to local, state and federal lawmakers to share their concerns.

“We know this technology is dangerous and we do not want it,” she said.

Chan said there are too many unknowns and the lack of scientific data that supports the safety of the technology is worrisome. Marks said she is collecting letters to deliver to Gov. Gavin Newsom with hopes that he will step in to block the technology.

Federal regulations, first adopted decades ago and fortified this year, limit the ability of local governments to restrict wireless infrastructure. Those laws, according to the Federal Communications Commission, are aimed at maintaining a free market for the communications industry.

Most upsetting to opponents is that the law prohibits local governments from restricting wireless-transmitting hardware on the basis of the health concerns and the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions. The FCC has determined what it calls safe levels of emissions and says that technology that complies with its standards can’t be prohibited.

The new technology operates on higher radio frequencies than older iterations of wireless. Those frequencies transmit data faster, but they don’t travel as far. As a result, more transmitters will be needed and they’ll need to be placed closer to the people using them — on telephone poles and light posts in the public right of way.

Despite the potential benefits, a group of Marin residents has formed a “5G-free Marin Task Force” to urge cities and towns to take a stand against the technology on the basis of health concerns.

Several local communities have already adopted some form of regulations on the cellular facilities, including San Anselmo, Ross, Mill Valley, San Rafael and Fairfax.

The county of Marin has joined other California communities to mount a legal challenge against the FCC ruling. U.S. Rep. Anna Shoo, D-Palo Alto, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are also attempting to overturn the ruling, which they call unfair.

In an email, Jilane Rodgers Petrie, director of public affairs for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, said: “The science shows that the organizer’s claims about the health effects of radiofrequency energy are false. Radiofrequency energy from wireless devices and networks, including 5G, has not been shown to cause health problems, according to the consensus of the international scientific community.”

When contacted Wednesday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, “the CDC does not conduct studies or have specific information on the health effects of 5G technology” and referred to the agency’s website, which states: “Intense, direct exposure to radiofrequency (RF) or microwave radiation may result in damage to tissue due to heat. These more significant exposures could occur from industrial devices in the workplace.”