Baby boomers will probably remember the sea change in the public’s perspective that occurred in the early 1960s with the publication of Rachel Carson’s powerful book, “Silent Spring,” about the catastrophic environmental consequences of the overuse of pesticides. Today there is no question but that this reckless exposure was ill-considered and disastrous. I will be taking some pertinent quotes from the PBS documentary "American Experience Films: Rachel Carson," and drawing parallels to the current reckless exposure of the population and natural environment to man-made radiofrequency radiation. 

"If we are ever to solve the basic problem of environmental contamination, we must begin to count the many hidden costs of what we are doing." 

This stark warning was in respect to the reckless application of pesticides, particularly DDT, after World War II. Scientists, as well as the federal government, were telling the population that the application of these pesticides did great good by eliminating disease and increasing crop yields. There was no recognition, or at least no acknowledgement, that these pesticides were simultaneously doing devastating harm to wildlife. This is the same situation that has been ongoing for decades regarding the exponential proliferation of man-made electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell towers, cellphones, small-cell antennas on utility poles, landline DECT phones, laptops, and smart utility meters. 

"It was sort of the gospel at the time that human ingenuity would triumph over nature. What Carson was arguing was for caution." 

" … there could be no dispute that with her rebuke to modern technological science, Carson had shattered a paradigm." This is the shattering that we need now regarding the telecoms' mantra of the harmlessness of man-made electromagnetic radiation. 

"There was really no rigorous testing of these chemicals to ensure their safety.” Shockingly, the same is true with regard to this invisible radiation. 

"She sees human beings in their post-World War II form as being arrogant, that human arrogance outruns human wisdom." Tragically, this human arrogance has persisted with the now-ubiquitous exposure to this radiation.  

"Although manufacturers were required by law to register new chemical compounds, the government mandated no independent safety testing of those compounds." Although the FCC promulgated guidelines for human exposure to man-made electromagnetic radiation in 1996, those guidelines were inadequate at the time, and certainly since then, considering the explosion in exposure, particularly in the last 20 years.  

According to a court decision in 2021, these guidelines did not take into consideration scientific evidence of the negative effects of wireless infrastructure on the environment or on vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and children, from exposure levels well below the guidelines. 

"Scientists had been thinking about the question of acute toxicity, rather than what are the long-term impacts of this chemical world that we're creating." 

“She felt that proponents of widespread pesticide use were conducting an experiment with life itself without having done adequate testing or research to determine what the consequences might be. And that the citizenry weren’t being informed because the proponents of pesticides were telling them only one side of the story and the one that benefited their own interests.” This is exactly the story of the telecom industry, acting in collusion with the federal government, preventing the overwhelming evidence of harm from this radiation to reach the general public. 

“She raised the level of awareness of the general public of all of these chemical applications and why we need to think about their implications. People were deeply moved and frightened by what she said.” People now need to be deeply moved and yes, frightened, by the many and serious negative health effects from everyday wireless products that have come to be regarded as essential. Wireless devices are not essential; wired devices work even better. Switching to wired is easy to do with an ethernet cable connected to a modem that does not get Wi-Fi, preferred by gamers for its speed and reliability. What is needed is a shift in perspective. Let the telecoms compete on the safest products, rather than on the glitziest. 

Carson testified before a Senate committee in June 1963: “We have acquired technical skills on a scale undreamed-of even a generation ago. We can do dramatic things and we can do them quickly. By the time damaging side effects are apparent, it is often too late or impossible to reverse our actions.” Let us hope that the damage to humans and the environment from the reckless proliferation of electromagnetic radiation is not irreversible.  

The story of the reckless use of pesticides “is the story about human hubris.” Will we heed the lesson from this story in time to save the planet? 

Sheila Resseger, of Cranston, is an advocate for safe technology, which involves raising awareness of the harms of wireless devices and infrastructure. She is a co-founder of RI4SafeTech and of 5G Free RI, a board member of the Toxics Information Project and a Cranston contact for TechSafe Schools.