Listening for the ‘quiet zone’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/08/2021 (661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you remember the kids’ TV show The Friendly Giant, you’ll recall him saying, “Look up, look waaaay up.”

That’s what I did while out for a recent Crescentwood stroll. Besides cumulus clouds, many peculiar objects appeared atop some condo buildings.

Like many of you, I walk/cycle/drive past 5G-enabled cellular antennas every day and miss seeing them because, instead of looking up, we keep our eyes on the road or sidewalk.

Citizen scientist and retired research biologist Marg Friesen has been looking up on our behalf.
5G is the term being used for the next generation of radio-frequency technologies. 

“5G is intended to carry more data and download faster,” Friesen explained.

In Crescentwood, 5G microcells are multiplying faster than dandelions and Friesen says people need to be better informed about radio frequencies.

As a scientist and grandparent, Friesen is advocating for more research into health effects and privacy invasion from 5G for current and future generations, as well as or more public engagement.

To this end, she and a team of local residents have taken numerous readings of radio frequency radiation in Crescentwood and throughout Winnipeg as part of a 200-city research project. Because trees and buildings block higher frequencies for 5G, more small-cell antennae are required, meaning they will appear every half block on light standards and apartment buildings.

Most people are not aware that the City of Winnipeg has given control of what goes on lamp posts to Manitoba Hydro. Tech companies tout the advantageous possibilities from being interconnected but have not been forthcoming on the potential for adverse health and environmental problems.

Friesen’s wish is that people learn about the World Health Organization’s international agency for research on wireless radiation cautions. She cites the Global EMF Monitoring Network (www.globalEMF.net), which has collected data on the “growing population that is developing an intolerance to radiation called electro-hyper-sensitivity or electromagnetic illness.” (It should be pointed out here that, while the WHO calls for further study, it also states  that “no scientific basis currently exists for a connection between EHS and exposure to EMF.”)

While Friesen acknowledges that “few would give up their cell phones, there are options (to installation of microcells) such as installing fibre optics to homes for transmission alternatives.”

In Winnipeg, Friesen is part of the international BRAG Project; the letters stand for Black, Red, Amber and Green designations of quiet zones which have low radioactive frequencies. She seeks out green zones “because we want to keep them that way.”

I asked Friesen to take radioactive readings on my street and joined her on a walkabout. Not only is Red Light, Green Light no longer a children’s game, I discovered that there are cities in California where property values are enhanced for those living in green quiet zones. This may be coming soon to a neighbourhood near you.

For more info from the City of Winnipeg visit www.engage.winnipeg.ca/smallcelltechnology  

Heather Emberley is a community correspondent for Crescentwood. Email her at heather.emberley@gmail.com if you have a story suggestion.