The Faulty Logic Behind 5G
Part 1: Mining and Human Rights
By Jack Sturman, opinion writer
Part 1: Mining and Human Rights
By Jack Sturman, opinion writer
As societies rush to adopt technological innovations, the health and environmental implications are often overlooked. This is nowhere more apparent than in the race to 5G. The issue of 5G has often come up in the news of late with regards to the installation of 5G “smart” cells in the United States with the telecoms industry calling for 800 thousand by the year 2026. The “race to 5G” has been spurred on by the wireless industry, which has appealed to nationalist sentiments in America targeting China’s Huawei Technologies (Patel). The fact that most information about 5G on the internet stems from a hodgepodge of investment websites and conspiracy theories has not helped. The spread of misinformation that 5G cell towers caused the rise of COVID-19 on social media has also been debunked by the WHO and health authorities (Heilweil). Lost in all of these rumors and unfounded claims, are very real concerns that the rise of 5G technologies and the Internet of Things is set to exacerbate the crises and conundrums of the modern era. The first section of this piece is set to explore the impact on human rights and the environment of mining the materials for 5G. The second part will examine potential human health and environmental risks of the 5G deployment in the United States from non-ionizing RF radiation. The third part will explore satellites being launched into space for internet connectivity and 5G.
The installation of 5G is set to be a boon for extractivist industries in Latin America and Africa, which are involved in child labor, human rights abuses, and dumping toxic chemicals into the environment. The rise of 5G is slated to increase demand for silver, gallium, and cobalt. The Silver Institute has stated that demand for silver will increase from 7.5 million oz to 23 million oz on an annual basis in 2030. The start of silver mining can be found in Potosi, Bolivia where the indigenous peoples were forced to labor in the silver mines by European colonizers, who were violent and abusive toward them with many deaths reported. The intense brutality and violence toward the Natives, we now know, was coupled with mercury poisoning based on the research in Environmental Health Perspectives showing that 39,000 metric tons of mercury vapor went into the atmosphere between 1574 and 1810. The researchers found high rates of birth deformities and ailments in contemporary sources (Robins and Hagan). The violence toward Natives in Latin America has continued in the modern era in the fight over the Escobal Mine, with eight environmental activists murdered by the multinational mining giant Tahoe Resources, which would stand to benefit from access to the third-largest silver reserve in the world (Lakhani). In Latin America, freshwater depletion has been reported from their silver mines. The toxic chemical, arsenic, released from silver-gold mines is carcinogenic and damages the nucleic acids in bacteria (Fashola et al). Therefore, the rise of silver mining in Latin America and the developing world has contributed to the subjugation of Native peoples and the contamination of their bodies from the toxic waste, which could be exacerbated by demand for 5G.
The demand for cobalt from 5G is set to rise from 45,000 tons in 2020 to 73,000 tons in 2025 according to Reuters (“Cobalt Demand for 5G Will Reach 73,000 T by 2025, Competing with the Electric Vehicle Sector”). The vast majority, 58,8%, of cobalt stems from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo where few regulations exist on artisanal mines. The cobalt mining in the DRC has horrific human rights conditions. There are 40,000 child laborers as young as four years old working deep underground in the cobalt mines. The children who lived near cobalt mines in the DRC were discovered to have much higher rates of oxidative stress and DNA damage, which could lead toward cancer according to research conducted by Nkulu et al for Europe PFC Funders (Fashola). The CDC has admitted that cobalt mining can lead toward the inhalation of dust particles resulting in hard metal lung disease, while inhalation of dust particles might also lead to asthma and breathing problems. The surveys of Amnesty International found that 90 percent of workers suffered from coughing fits and lung problems because of their labor in the mines (“The Toll of the Cobalt Mining Industry on Health and the Environment”). The research of scientists in the DRC found high levels of uranium in the waterways close to cobalt mines, coupled with an alarming number of birth deformities (Mucha et al). The cobalt mining in 2019 had released over 1.5 million tons of CO2, which could accelerate climate change and extreme weather events (Farjana et al).
The gallium required for GaS and GaN semiconductors in 5G telecoms networks often tends to be extracted from bauxite mining, which has often been shut down from the health risk involved. The research in Malaysia has found much to worry about with bauxite mining in their capital city of the state of Pahang, Kuantan (Abdullah et al). Dust matter from bauxite mining was found to be at 164 to 277 ug/m3 for 24 hour PM10 levels, which lies above both the 150 ug/m3 started in EPA guidelines and the Malaysia National Ambient Air Quality Standard 2015. The WHO has found that inhalation of fine particulate matter, both PM2.5 and PM10, were able to cause heart disease, strokes, lung cancer, and asthma when entering the lungs. The air pollution in rural areas and urban centers caused 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016. The WHO makes clear that lowering air pollution levels from 150 ug/m3 levels down to 50ug/m3 could stop 15% of pollution-related deaths, saving 630,000 lives (“Ambient (Outdoor) Air Quality and Health”). The Bukit Goh Health Clinic near the bauxite mines in Pahang found an increase in asthma and in upper respiratory tract infections between 2014 and 2015. The bauxite released into the water supply has high concentrations of aluminum, iron, and silica. The toxic metals found in bauxite are carcinogenic while causing multiple organ toxicity and bone disease in children. Though the Department of Pahang State Health points to how drinking water has safe levels of bauxite when run through water treatment plants, they have often ignored the impact of biomagnification. Dr. Maketab Mohamed at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia draws attention to the fact that Malaysian authorities refused to release data from their water quality monitoring stations to show concentrations of heavy metal and bauxite in the rivers, which flow through the Pahang region (“Bauxite in Malaysia | It’s in the Water”). The Pahang Fishing Department stopped fishing in Kuantan when the waters became red from bauxite mining on December 30, 2015. The impact of biomagnification can be seen in the Mediterranean Sea close to the Gardanne alumina refinery with fish exposed to the bauxite residue (red mud) with 444 of the 1308 fish tested and mercury levels above the European regulatory limit (Bouchoucha et al). Therefore, mining for bauxite can lead toward air pollution infecting the lungs of residents close to the mines and polluting their local water supplies.
The installation of 5G is set to be a boon for extractivist industries in Latin America and Africa, which are involved in child labor, human rights abuses, and dumping toxic chemicals into the environment. The rise of 5G is slated to increase demand for silver, gallium, and cobalt. The Silver Institute has stated that demand for silver will increase from 7.5 million oz to 23 million oz on an annual basis in 2030. The start of silver mining can be found in Potosi, Bolivia where the indigenous peoples were forced to labor in the silver mines by European colonizers, who were violent and abusive toward them with many deaths reported. The intense brutality and violence toward the Natives, we now know, was coupled with mercury poisoning based on the research in Environmental Health Perspectives showing that 39,000 metric tons of mercury vapor went into the atmosphere between 1574 and 1810. The researchers found high rates of birth deformities and ailments in contemporary sources (Robins and Hagan). The violence toward Natives in Latin America has continued in the modern era in the fight over the Escobal Mine, with eight environmental activists murdered by the multinational mining giant Tahoe Resources, which would stand to benefit from access to the third-largest silver reserve in the world (Lakhani). In Latin America, freshwater depletion has been reported from their silver mines. The toxic chemical, arsenic, released from silver-gold mines is carcinogenic and damages the nucleic acids in bacteria (Fashola et al). Therefore, the rise of silver mining in Latin America and the developing world has contributed to the subjugation of Native peoples and the contamination of their bodies from the toxic waste, which could be exacerbated by demand for 5G.
The demand for cobalt from 5G is set to rise from 45,000 tons in 2020 to 73,000 tons in 2025 according to Reuters (“Cobalt Demand for 5G Will Reach 73,000 T by 2025, Competing with the Electric Vehicle Sector”). The vast majority, 58,8%, of cobalt stems from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo where few regulations exist on artisanal mines. The cobalt mining in the DRC has horrific human rights conditions. There are 40,000 child laborers as young as four years old working deep underground in the cobalt mines. The children who lived near cobalt mines in the DRC were discovered to have much higher rates of oxidative stress and DNA damage, which could lead toward cancer according to research conducted by Nkulu et al for Europe PFC Funders (Fashola). The CDC has admitted that cobalt mining can lead toward the inhalation of dust particles resulting in hard metal lung disease, while inhalation of dust particles might also lead to asthma and breathing problems. The surveys of Amnesty International found that 90 percent of workers suffered from coughing fits and lung problems because of their labor in the mines (“The Toll of the Cobalt Mining Industry on Health and the Environment”). The research of scientists in the DRC found high levels of uranium in the waterways close to cobalt mines, coupled with an alarming number of birth deformities (Mucha et al). The cobalt mining in 2019 had released over 1.5 million tons of CO2, which could accelerate climate change and extreme weather events (Farjana et al).
The gallium required for GaS and GaN semiconductors in 5G telecoms networks often tends to be extracted from bauxite mining, which has often been shut down from the health risk involved. The research in Malaysia has found much to worry about with bauxite mining in their capital city of the state of Pahang, Kuantan (Abdullah et al). Dust matter from bauxite mining was found to be at 164 to 277 ug/m3 for 24 hour PM10 levels, which lies above both the 150 ug/m3 started in EPA guidelines and the Malaysia National Ambient Air Quality Standard 2015. The WHO has found that inhalation of fine particulate matter, both PM2.5 and PM10, were able to cause heart disease, strokes, lung cancer, and asthma when entering the lungs. The air pollution in rural areas and urban centers caused 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016. The WHO makes clear that lowering air pollution levels from 150 ug/m3 levels down to 50ug/m3 could stop 15% of pollution-related deaths, saving 630,000 lives (“Ambient (Outdoor) Air Quality and Health”). The Bukit Goh Health Clinic near the bauxite mines in Pahang found an increase in asthma and in upper respiratory tract infections between 2014 and 2015. The bauxite released into the water supply has high concentrations of aluminum, iron, and silica. The toxic metals found in bauxite are carcinogenic while causing multiple organ toxicity and bone disease in children. Though the Department of Pahang State Health points to how drinking water has safe levels of bauxite when run through water treatment plants, they have often ignored the impact of biomagnification. Dr. Maketab Mohamed at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia draws attention to the fact that Malaysian authorities refused to release data from their water quality monitoring stations to show concentrations of heavy metal and bauxite in the rivers, which flow through the Pahang region (“Bauxite in Malaysia | It’s in the Water”). The Pahang Fishing Department stopped fishing in Kuantan when the waters became red from bauxite mining on December 30, 2015. The impact of biomagnification can be seen in the Mediterranean Sea close to the Gardanne alumina refinery with fish exposed to the bauxite residue (red mud) with 444 of the 1308 fish tested and mercury levels above the European regulatory limit (Bouchoucha et al). Therefore, mining for bauxite can lead toward air pollution infecting the lungs of residents close to the mines and polluting their local water supplies.
Works Cited
Abdullah, Noor Hisham, et al. “Potential Health Impacts of Bauxite Mining in Kuantan.” The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences : MJMS, vol. 23, no. 3, 2016, pp. 1–8, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4934713/.
“Cobalt Demand for 5G Will Reach 73,000 T by 2025, Competing with the Electric Vehicle Sector.” Ecofin Agency, 22 Sept. 2020, www.ecofinagency.com/telecom/2209-41843-cobalt-demand-for-5g-will-reach-73-000-t-by-2025-competing-with-the-electric-vehicle-sector. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
“Ambient (Outdoor) Air Quality and Health.” Who.int, World Health Organization: WHO, 2 May 2018, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health.
Banza Lubaba Nkulu, Célestin, et al. “Sustainability of Artisanal Mining of Cobalt in DR Congo.” Nature Sustainability, vol. 1, no. 9, Sept. 2018, pp. 495–504, 10.1038/s41893-018-0139-4.
“Bauxite in Malaysia | It’s in the Water.” Clean Malaysia, 24 Dec. 2015, cleanmalaysia.com/2015/12/24/bauxite-in-malaysia-its-in-the-water/. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
Bouchoucha, M., et al. “Trace Element Contamina tion in Fish Impacted by Bauxite Red Mud Disposal in the Cassidaigne Canyon (NW French Mediterranean).” The Science of the Total Environment, vol. 690, 10 Nov. 2019, pp. 16–26, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31284191/, 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.474. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
Farjana, Shahjadi Hisan, et al. “Life Cycle Assessment of Cobalt Extraction Process.” Journal of Sustainable Mining, vol. 18, no. 3, Aug. 2019, pp. 150–161, 10.1016/j.jsm.2019.03.002. Accessed 7 Dec. 2019.
Fashola, Muibat, et al. “Heavy Metal Pollution from Gold Mines: Environmental Effects and Bacterial Strategies for Resistance.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 13, no. 11, 26 Oct. 2016, p. 1047, 10.3390/ijerph13111047.
Heilweil, Rebecca. “How the 5G Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory Went from Fringe to Mainstream.” Vox, 24 Apr. 2020, www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/24/21231085/coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory-covid-facebook-youtube.
Lakhani, Nina. “The Canadian Company Mining Hills of Silver – and the People Dying to Stop It.” The Guardian, 13 July 2017,
“Cobalt Demand for 5G Will Reach 73,000 T by 2025, Competing with the Electric Vehicle Sector.” Ecofin Agency, 22 Sept. 2020, www.ecofinagency.com/telecom/2209-41843-cobalt-demand-for-5g-will-reach-73-000-t-by-2025-competing-with-the-electric-vehicle-sector. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
“Ambient (Outdoor) Air Quality and Health.” Who.int, World Health Organization: WHO, 2 May 2018, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health.
Banza Lubaba Nkulu, Célestin, et al. “Sustainability of Artisanal Mining of Cobalt in DR Congo.” Nature Sustainability, vol. 1, no. 9, Sept. 2018, pp. 495–504, 10.1038/s41893-018-0139-4.
“Bauxite in Malaysia | It’s in the Water.” Clean Malaysia, 24 Dec. 2015, cleanmalaysia.com/2015/12/24/bauxite-in-malaysia-its-in-the-water/. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
Bouchoucha, M., et al. “Trace Element Contamina tion in Fish Impacted by Bauxite Red Mud Disposal in the Cassidaigne Canyon (NW French Mediterranean).” The Science of the Total Environment, vol. 690, 10 Nov. 2019, pp. 16–26, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31284191/, 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.474. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.
Farjana, Shahjadi Hisan, et al. “Life Cycle Assessment of Cobalt Extraction Process.” Journal of Sustainable Mining, vol. 18, no. 3, Aug. 2019, pp. 150–161, 10.1016/j.jsm.2019.03.002. Accessed 7 Dec. 2019.
Fashola, Muibat, et al. “Heavy Metal Pollution from Gold Mines: Environmental Effects and Bacterial Strategies for Resistance.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 13, no. 11, 26 Oct. 2016, p. 1047, 10.3390/ijerph13111047.
Heilweil, Rebecca. “How the 5G Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory Went from Fringe to Mainstream.” Vox, 24 Apr. 2020, www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/24/21231085/coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory-covid-facebook-youtube.
Lakhani, Nina. “The Canadian Company Mining Hills of Silver – and the People Dying to Stop It.” The Guardian, 13 July 2017,