Possible ‘censorship’ and certainly ‘cherry-picking’ of science in ‘Helsingin sanomat’, the major Finnish newspaper

Helsingin sanomat is the major daily newspaper in Finland.

Helsingin sanomat does not publish, as if by default, stories, opinions and science questioning the health safety of the radiation emitted by the wireless communication devices and their networks.

For Helsingin sanomat, that gets its information from STUK (Säteilyturvakeskus; Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority), that, in turn, gets its information from the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection), the issue of the health hazard is settled. It is assumed that the current, ICNIRP-made safety limits, that Finland follows, protect everybody, no matter age or health status, from any and all effects of the radiation emitted by the wireless devices and networks.

However, the issue is not settled as ICNIRP and the industry falsely claim. There are many open scientific questions because the research is not being done. Research is simply being prevented using as an excuse the ‘safety forever and for all’-opinion disseminated by ICNIRP. Research funding agencies hesitate to fund wireless-radiation-related research when they are informed, misleadingly, that the issue is settled and ICNIRP’s safety guidelines protect us all and forever.

As stated above, it looks to me like Helsingin sanomat does not want to publish stories critical of wireless communications, including the hyped 5G deployment.

• Is it because the editors of Helsingin sanomat think all of it is just a rubbish and they are afraid to be called “wackos in tin-foil hats”?
• Is it because of the editors of Helsingin sanomat are concerned that the industry will stop publishing the profit bringing advertisements?
• Is it because the editors of Helsingin sanomat are under some political/industry pressure?

I do not know why the editors of Helsingin sanomat are not interested in 5G, and I will not speculate.

However, what I know is that whenever I approach Helsingin sanomat, or its science department, with information concerning health effects of wireless radiation, there is either a very tepid response or no answer at all.

For clarification for those who do not know me, I am well recognized and established scientist, and here are few examples: I have double-doctorate in biochemistry/cell biology from Poland (Krakow) and Finland (Helsinki), I was Research Professor and Head of laboratory at STUK, I was visiting Professor at Harvard Medical School, USA, at Zhejiang Medical School, China, at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. I testified as one of the 5 science experts in the 2009 USA Senate Hearing on cell phones and health, and in 2011 I was one of the 30 experts, invited by the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), that classified cell phone and alike radiation as possible human carcinogen. Currently, I am a free-lance international lecturer.

Elsewhere, but in Finland, it seems to be different and interviews on the 5G for the major news media outlets are possible. Even in countries where telecoms hold a strong grip on what government and its regulatory agencies do, like the New Zealand.

I was lecturing in the end of November 2019 in New Zealand, with lectures at the Auckland University and the Victoria University in Wellington, at the Iona College in Hawke’s Bay area, and at the Suter Theatre in Nelson. In addition to the lectures I was, among others, interviewed on-air by the New Zealand’s major morning news show ‘The AM Show’ in Wellington: “Expert discusses health issues around launch of 5G in New Zealand”.

In today’s (March 4, 2020) Helsingin sanomat science section is an article ‘Mesipistiäiset kärsivät pahasti hyönteismyrkyistä: Kimalaisten aivot kärsivät ja mehiläisille tulee epämuodostumia’ (Honeybees suffer badly from insecticides: Bumble bees suffer and bees become malformed) presenting a couple of research studies where effects of pesticides on bees were examined.

Indeed, there is no doubts that insecticide chemicals, used in farming, affect not only bees and insects but also birds and other animals.

However, chemicals are not the sole influencer of bees and other insects. There is an ample scientific evidence suggesting (not yet proving but…) that electromagnetic fields emitted by the man-made devices affect bees. Specialized science database, the EMF-Portal at the University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Germany, lists some 80 studies on the effects of man-made electromagnetic fields on bees alone.

The most interesting, and timely, of the studies presented in the EMF-Portal is the recent study from The Netherlands where scientists exposed bees and other insects to a very low power radiation that will be emitted by the 5G network base station antennas. As result of the exposures, internal temperature of the insects increased to the level that, although not lethal, affected normal physiology and behavior of the insects. In respect of bees, the change in behavior might lead to difficulties in performing pollination (see slide #47 in this link).

Now, that the 5G networks are being deployed, the antennas of the 5G networks will be very densely deployed. What impact this dense deployment of 5G antennas will have on the normal behavior of bees, other insects and e.g. birds that are known to use natural electromagnetic fields for orientation in travel?

However, from the Helsingin sanomat story’s final paragraph, the reader can get the impression that the chemicals and loss of habitat are the sole influencers of life of bees and bugs:

“…Maanviljelyksessä käytettyjen hyönteismyrkkyjen lisäksi toinen todennäköinen syy pölyttäjien katoon on niiden elinympäristöjen häviäminen…” (In addition to the insecticides used in agriculture, another probable cause for the loss of pollinators is the loss of their habitat.)

It is time now to bring up the issue of the potential effects of 5G networks not only on people but also on fauna and flora in human environment.

Unfortunately, for some unknown to me reason, Helsingin sanomat does not care to bring the possible 5G bioeffects issues, in scientifically balanced way, to the attention of readership, in their science section.

Helsingin sanomat prefers to cherry-pick their science stories.