If not otherwise stated, limits apply to entire frequency range: ca. 600 to 3000 MHz.

Report of the Unlicensed Devices and Experimental Licenses Working Group

• Introduction

"The primary mission of the Unlicensed Devices and Experimental Licenses Working Group ("UEWG" or "Working Group") was to examine the Commission's rules and policies regarding the operation of unlicensed low power transmitting devices and the authorization of experimental licenses under Part 5. With regard to unlicensed devices, this review was conducted to determine the current status of unlicensed device operation, including available spectrum, interference potential, types of devices, applications, and regulatory models, with a view towards identifying changes or alternative approaches for regulating unlicensed devices that might promote more efficient and productive use of the spectrum. The Experimental Radio Service (ERS) was also examined to determine the extent to which improvements can be made that would further encourage innovation and technical development.

"The work of the UEWG included examining the comments filed in response to the Public Notice issued by the Spectrum Policy Task Force on June 6, 2002, and the comments and statements made by the participants at the Public Forum held on August 1, 2002."

• Unlicensed Devices (pages 4 to 18)  
• NB Page 5:    2. Non-interference Requirement   The basic premise of all Part 15 unlicensed operation is that unlicensed devices cannot cause interference to licensed operations nor are they protected from any interference received. The operational parameters for unlicensed operation are set forth in Section 15.5 of the rules, as follows:

• (a) Persons operating intentional or unintentional radiators shall not be deemed to have any vested or recognizable right to continued use of any given frequency by virtue of prior registration or certification of equipment
  
• (b) Operation of an intentional, unintentional, or incidental radiator is subject to the conditions that no harmful interference is caused and that interference must be accepted that may be caused by the operation of an authorized radio station, by another intentional or unintentional radiator, by industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) equipment, or by an incidental radiator.
• (c) The operator of a radio frequency device shall be required to cease operation of the device upon notification by a Commission representative that the device is causing harmful interference.  Operation shall not resume until the condition causing the harmful interference has been corrected.

• Experimental Licenses (pages 18 to 23)

Commentary by Libby Kelley:

"The FCC has always stated that it does not regulate signal interference problems for "unlicensed devices," as Part 15 states. When people have interference problems that affect medical devices, garage doors, electronic beds, etc., they are on their own.

"Many years ago, an independent RF engineer tested RF signals coming off Sutro Tower, a 999 foot tower loaded with antennas that transmitted up to 50 miles with combined RF emissions at about 30 Megawatts at that time, on Twin Peaks in the middle of San Francisco. Many residents in that area were complaining of garage doors and electronic key locking devices malfunctioning. The independent engineer traced the source to the very powerful RF emissions from the antennas on Sutro Tower. This was at the time when people had cordless phones and microwave ovens in homes but it was before Wi-Fi routers and smart meters. The independent RF engineer went inside some of the homes below Sutro Tower and took measurements. He found that metal bed frames were reradiating high intensity RF signals from those Sutro Tower antennas. At that time, there was no Federal agency equipped to investigate this as EPA's 26 field offices that were fully staffed and equipped to assess civilian exposure conditions to antennas and towers were closed down in 1995, the year before the Federal Telecom Act passed, launching the Wireless Revolution. Someone must have realized that this service would be inundated with requests after that law went into effect, initiating the deployment of the wireless infrastructure, made up of wireless communications facilities every 1-3 miles began.

"The heart pacemakers were found to be operating at the same or harmonic frequency ranges as licensed antennas early in the Wireless infrastructure deployment in the mid 1990s. The device manufacturers redesigned these devices to operate at a different frequency. Hospitals in the greater Dallas /Fort Worth area experienced a forced shutdown of sensitive monitoring devices the day the telecom companies in that area tested their wireless cellular network. The hospitals had not known that the frequency band their equipment used had been sold to a telecom company. The popular press assures us the potential for mechanical signal interference has been solved. Yet, we still hear about interference with pacemakers, defibrillators, baby monitors, etc. The public is not protected.

"As for licensed carriers, they are protected under P 15 of the FCC rules. You may have heard about FCC's handling of a signal interference problem between two licensed carriers of satellite based communications systems - a GPS system and LTE Squared, a new 4th generation wireless broadband service. Since the GPS company was licensed first, the 4G company had to cease transmitting signals that were interfering with the GPS carrier. FCC licenses these companies in exchange for being paid and that enables the companies to transmit signals using a particular bandwidth in a particular geographical area for communications purposes The telecom companies 'own the air.' "

Elizabeth Kelley, MA
Arizonans for Safer Utility Infrastructure
 wwwelectromagneticsafety.org

300MHz-300GHz in uW/cm2 (microwatts/cm2)

• Canada, USA
• China, Russia, Italy, France (Paris), Poland Hungary
• Switzerland / Switzerland Precautionary Limit for Sensitive Areas (Children, Elderly, Medically-challenged) 
• Belgium (Brussels, Wallonia, Flanders), Bulgaria, Luxembourg
• Lichtenstein
• Austria (Salzburg) Indoor-Outdoor
• Cosmic Background

Michael Bevington sells this Summary for a small fee to support the UK charity Electrosensitivity UK.  It is an excellent resource. 

"Electromagnetic-Hypersensitivity is categorised as a multisymptomatic 'el-allergy' in the Nordic classification of 2000. Its symptoms are 'certainly real' and it can be a 'disabling condition' (W.H.O., 2005). It was first recorded in the mid 20th-century as an occupational illness, but recently it has spread into the general population through environmental exposure from increasing levels of electro-magnetic fields and radiation. This Summary introduces current research on this syndrome, covering EM-Sensitivity and EM-Hypersensitivity. It includes tables of symptoms, EMF sources and exposure guidelines, along with references to scientific studies.

"Following sensitisation, Michael Bevington, a trustee of the charity ElectroSensitivity UK, found few doctors with the range of knowledge to give full help. This Summary aims to meet that need and to help the growing number of people who have become sensitised to EMFs and EMR . . .

"Recent developments in the scientific understanding of ES and EHS have led to differing views in several areas. In addition, the varied experiences and symptomatology of each sufferer make a consensus difficult on some individual aspects, such as treatments and shielding.

This Summary, therefore, aims to present a range of views on the grounds that they differ more in emphasis than in fundamentals.

"This Summary is dedicated to all ES and EHS sufferers, especially those who have lost family, friends, homes or jobs through their illness, and to all doctors and scientists trying to help them."

Warnings and Recommended Alternatives for:

Microwave Radiation: Home Phones, Internet, Wi-Fi, Cell Tower/Mobile Phone Masts, External Wireless Radiation, Cell Phones, Microwave Ovens, E-book Readers, DECT Baby Monitors

Intermediate Frequencies: Lights, switches, T.V. treadmill, Other Sources of Digital Harmonics Including Digital Displays, Projectors, Laptops, etc.

Powerline, Magnetic and Electric: Computer Monitor, Alarm Clock, Laptop, Audio Headset, Lamps and Lightbulbs, Power Supply, Power Lines, Wall Wiring, Sewing Machine, Hair Dryer, Bed, Massage Chair, Electric Blanket, Cars and Buses

Ionizing Radiation: Radon, Airplane Flights, X-Rays, UV Light

Plus Links to Additional Information and Resources

This chart illustrates the frequencies that exist in the electromagnetic spectrum and where common EMF sources are located within the ionizing and non-ionizing range.

"When it comes to EMF issues, one of the most frequently heard phrases is "There is no evidence to support EMFs having health effects" or simply "There is no conclusive evidence." We believe that this is completely wrong; there is an enormous body of evidence out there, but public and even academic awareness seems to be very poor. Therefore, we will be presenting a list of papers and ORs which either show serious effects or are considered important papers on the subject which we have collected over the years."

Positive (P)
    This study has FOUND EFFECTS from the exposure or radiation category 
Null (N)
    This study has found NO EFFECTS from the exposure or radiation category 
Neutral (-)
    This study has offered IMPORTANT INSIGHTS or findings but IS NEITHER A POSITIVE OR NULL FINDING 

• Mobile and Cordless Phones 

(387 studies listed) Positive 228 Null 79 Neutral 80  

• Mobile Phone Masts  

(56 studies listed) Positive 22  Null 8  Neutral 26 

• Radio Transmitters  

(43 studies listed) Positive 36 Null 2 Neutral 5 

• Powerlines, Substations and other Powerfrequency EMF Exposure 

(283 studies listed)  Positive 171 Null 35 Neutral 77 

• Wi-Fi  

(13 studies listed) Positive 3 Null 0 Neutral 10 

• Electrical Sensitivity  

(61 studies listed) Positive 20 Null 20 Neutral 21 

• EEG and Brain Responses  

(52 studies listed) Positive 47 Null 2 Neutral 3 

• Radiofrequency EMF Mechanisms  

(164 studies listed) Positive 117 Null 27 Neutral 20 

• Powerfrequency EMF Mechanisms  

(167 studies lsted) Positive 121 Null 20 Neutral 26  

1226 studies on this list . . . This page will be regularly added to.

"The term "radio wave sickness" was first used by Russian doctors to describe an occupational illness developed by large numbers of workers exposed to microwave or radiofrequency radiation. The symptoms were called "neurasthenic." "Neurasthenia" was an older term for this group of symptoms, which was coined by an American physician, George Beard, in 1868, to describe a new type of illness that followed the building of the railroads and the telegraph system in this country.

"The illness was particularly common among telegraph, and later among telephone operators. The term "neurasthenia" fell out of fashion in the twentieth century in this country, when this cluster of symptoms, or a large number of them, began to be referred to as "anxiety" symptoms, presumably of purely psychological origin. Illness by radio waves has been rediscovered, and is now classed with illness caused by electricity in general, under the term "electrical sensitivity."

"There have been four international scientific conferences held in recent years on electrical sensitivity--one in Austria, two in Denmark, and one, for medical doctors, in Dallas, Texas. Two books exist on the subject, by Grant (1995) and Bergqvist (1997)."

A9.1 DEFINITION A9.2 DISEASE CLASSIFICATION 

• Sweden
• Canada: Workers Compensation Board of British Columbia 

A9.2 DISEASE CLASSIFICATION
A9.3 SELF-REPORTED SYMPTOMS Top Twelve Self-Reported Symptoms EMF Sources Reported to Be Related to the Symptoms.
A9.4 ESTIMATED PREVALENCE OF ELECTROSENSITIVE PEOPLE.  
A9.5 SELECTED SCIENTIFIC STUDIES, ANALYSES, AND CASE HISTORIES.  
A9.6 RECOMMENDATIONS, STANDARDS, AND POLICIES.  
A9.7 SELECTED ASSOCIATIONS FOR ELECTROSENSITIVE PEOPLE.

Power Density

Definition:  

"Above 30 MHz, the usual unit of measurement is power density, though electric and magnetic fields can also be measured. It is usually expressed in milli- or microwatts per square centimetre (mW/cm2 or uW/cm2), and is defined as the amount of power per unit area in a radiated microwave field or other type of electromagnetic field."

"Research from abroad, partially replicated (and in some instances expanded on) by scientists in English speaking countries, indicates many potential benefits in health, wellbeing and work productivity can be obtained from developing a more comprehensive understanding of potential EMF bio-effects. They also indicate ways in which present communications systems, and the electromagnetic nature of the microenvironments individuals occupy, can be improved to benefit all. It is suggested that the potential cost benefits of adopting improved EMF-hygiene protocols and developing new generations of technology that can actually improve biological functioning and human performance is immense, makes tremendous commercial sense and present enormous commercial opportunities.

"As can be seen in the following table, both beneficial and detrimental biological effects are indicated at exposure levels far lower than those required for 'thermal effects', the traditional marker used to set many guidelines on presently 'acceptable' power density levels.: . . ."