(by Arthur Firstenberg, President, Cellular Phone Task Force)
Arthur passed away, back on February 25, 2925. Arthur Firstenberg was seventy-four, went quietly at home after a long, undiagnosed illness. It’s a real loss; he spent decades fighting electrosmog, writing stuff like The Invisible Rainbow, and keeping that Cellular Phone Task Force alive. The site’s still up, actually—his last book The Earth and I just dropped, and the Radio Wave Packet’s been updated too.
Wild how tiny exposures—like that zero-point-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-one milliwatts per square centimeter—mess with E. coli genes, right?
Makes you think twice about Wi-Fi.
Arthur Firstenberg’s Quiet Warning: How Little Radiation Shakes Us
Hey, ever notice how the world got louder—not just noise, but invisible buzz?
Arthur Firstenberg did. He spent his years pushing back against wireless tech.
Guy wasn’t anti-progress; he just wanted proof it wasn’t frying us slowly.
Look at his chart—starts insane-low:
Some Biological Effects of Radio Waves
The following chart was originally published in 2001 and has been updated to comport with current technology.
It is presented here to show just how low some reported biological-effect thresholds are compared with
common modern wireless exposures. The central point is not that every study is identical in design or endpoint,
but that biological effects have been reported across an enormous range of very low power densities—often far
below the levels people assume are biologically irrelevant.
| Power density (µW/cm²) | Reported Biological Effects | References |
|---|---|---|
| 0.0000000000001 | Altered genetic structure in E. coli | Belyaev 1996 |
| 0.0000000001 | Threshold of human sensitivity | Kositsky 2001 |
| 0.000000001 | Altered EEG in human subjects | Bise 1978 |
| 0.0000000027 | Growth stimulation in Vicius fabus (beans) | Brauer 1950 |
| 0.00000001 | Effects on immune system in mice | Bundyuk 1994 |
| 0.00000002 | Stimulation of ovulation in chickens | Kondra 1970 |
| 0.000005 | Effect on cell growth in yeast | Grundler 1992 |
| 0.00001 | Conditioned “avoidance” reflex in rats | Kositsky 2001 |
| 0.000024 | Premature aging of pine needles | Selga 1996 |
| 0.000024 | Smaller tree growth rings | Balodis 1996 |
| 0.0004 | 100 yards from a home WiFi router | — |
| 0.0017 | Decreased seed germination in pine trees | Selga 1996 |
| 0.002 | Sleep disorders, abnormal blood pressure, nervousness, weakness, fatigue, limb pain, joint pain, digestive problems, fewer schoolchildren promoted — controlled study near a shortwave transmitter | Altpeter 1995, 1997 |
| 0.0027 | Growth inhibition in Vicius fabus (beans) | Brauer 1950 |
| 0.004 | 100 yards from a 2G, 3G or 4G cell phone at peak power | — |
| 0.01 | 100 yards from a commercial or outdoor WiFi router | — |
| 0.01 to 0.1 | 1 mile from a 2G, 3G or 4G cell tower | — |
| 0.06 | Altered EEG, disturbed carbohydrate metabolism, enlarged adrenals, altered adrenal hormone levels, structural changes in liver, spleen, testes, and brain — in white rats and rabbits | Dumanskij 1974 |
| 0.06 | Slowing of the heart, change in EEG in rabbits | Serkyuk, reported in McRee 1980 |
| 0.1 | Increase in melatonin in cows | Stark 1997 |
| 0.1 to 1.8 | Decreased life span, impaired reproduction, structural and developmental abnormalities in duckweed plants | Magone 1996 |
| 0.13 | Decreased cell growth (human epithelial amnion cells) | Kwee 1997 |
| 0.168 | Irreversible sterility in mice | Magras 1997 |
| 0.2 | Childhood leukemia up to 12 km from TV tower | Hocking 1996 |
| 0.3 | Impaired motor function, reaction time, memory and attention of schoolchildren, and altered sex ratio of children (fewer boys) | Kolodynski 1996 |
| 0.4 | Breakdown of blood-brain barrier by cell phones | Eberhardt 2008 |
| 0.6 | Change in calcium ion efflux from brain tissue | Dutta 1986 |
| 0.6 | Cardiac arrhythmias and sometimes cardiac arrest (frogs) | Frey 1968 |
| 0–4 | Altered white blood cell activity in schoolchildren | Chiang 1989 |
| 1 | Headache, dizziness, irritability, fatigue, weakness, insomnia, chest pain, difficulty breathing, indigestion (humans — occupational exposure) | Simonenko 1998 |
| 1 | Stimulation of white cells in guinea pigs | Shandala 1978 |
| 2 (lower threshold not known) | Auditory effects — clicking, buzzing, chirping, hissing, or high-pitched tones | Frey 1963, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1988; Justeson 1979; Olsen 1980; Wieske 1963; Lin 1978 |
| 2 | Memory loss in rats exposed to cell phones | Nittby 2009 |
| 5 | Leukemia, skin melanoma and bladder cancer near TV and FM transmitter | Dolk 1997 |
| 5 | Biochemical and histological changes in liver, heart, kidney, and brain tissue | Belokrinitskiy 1982 |
| 8 | Exposure to Head & Chest from Wireless Laptop on Table | — |
| 10 | Damaged mitochondria, nucleus of cells in hippocampus of brain | Belokrinitskiy 1982a |
| 10 | Impaired memory and visual reaction time in people living near transmitters | Chiang 1989 |
| 10 | Decreased size of litter, increased number of stillborns in mice | Il’Chevich (reported in McRee 1980) |
| 10 | Redistribution of metals in the lungs, brain, heart, liver, kidney, muscles, spleen, bones, skin, blood | Shutenko 1981 |
| 150 | Exposure to Head & Chest from any Cell Phone on Table | — |
| 1,000 | FCC’s Whole Body Exposure Limit | — |
| 17,000 | Exposure to Genitals from Wireless Laptop on a Lap | FCC 2018, Racini 2015 |
| 20,000 | Exposure to Brain from any Cell Phone Against Head | — |
- 0.0000000000001 mW/cm² flips genes in E. coli.
- 0.0000000001? That’s where humans start feeling it, per Kositsky.
- 0.000000001 tweaks your brain waves.
We’re talking femtowatts here—tinier than a whisper.
Yet studies say: immune hits in mice, chickens ovulating early, even pine needles aging fast.
It’s not “maybe”—it’s documented, from the ’70s on.
Arthur collected it all, no hype, just facts.
He wrote books, ran the Task Force, sued neighbors over Wi-Fi (yeah, that happened).
Didn’t win every fight, but he made people ask: is convenience worth the cost?
Now the site’s carrying his torch—new resources, his final book out.
If you’re curious, grab the packet PDF; it’s free, eye-opening.
Rest easy, Arthur. We heard you.
