ACHES ‘Weekly Picks’ Substack
23 January 2026
ACHES has been set up to promote, enhance, and protect human and environmental wellbeing. ACHES provides a forum to raise awareness and advance the truth about legal, medical and scientific information relating to current and emerging technologies. ACHES “Weekly Picks” highlight the most relevant news pieces from our partners and collaborators to raise awareness of the health harms caused by such technologies, and offer much-needed solutions to enhance our health.
Social Media Ban for Under-16s: Pros and Cons
Is an outright ban on social media for all under-16s a step in the right direction or a step too far? This week, we have seen much written about the latest move by the government, under Keir Starmer, to consider banning social media following in the footsteps of Australia, which imposed such a ban last December. The House of Lords is planning to vote next week on a more-nuanced proposal to ban social media, which would be added to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. However, even parents of children who have taken their own life, such as Molly Russell’s father, see this as an overreach “the government should enforce existing laws rather than implementing sledgehammer techniques like bans”. There could also be “unintended consequences” that could cause more problems; for instance, such bans might create a “false sense of safety that would see children – but also the threats to them – migrate to other areas online”. At ACHES, we see many benefits of not allowing smart phones and tablets in schools because children should be offered the chance to learn and be educated in a safe environment free from digital harms and distractions.
Safe Tech International: The SMART Grid Symptoms
For many years, scientists, other professionals and members of the public have noticed and experienced the correlations between artificial man-made exposures and symptom onset related to harms from smart meters and cell tower antennas. Safe Tech International have highlighted symptoms include sleep disturbances, tinnitus, short-term memory loss, headaches, fatigue, and heart issues, among the growing list of symptoms that thousands are experiencing on a daily basis. A Top 20 Symptoms list reported from Smart meters is featured (courtesy of Ken Gartner Bio-Safer Housing Consultant), and a brilliant cartoon (see below) produced from the EMF Safety Network. On a related note, a recommended new book to read is by Julia Lupine, titled: “Electro-censorship”, which exposes the corruption, deception and lies of the telecommunications industry. The author provides a deep dive explaining how many people suffering symptoms of EMF radiation have been discredited, as well as exposing the addictive aspects of digital technology. As EHS/EMR-S has become more well recognised, Julia explains how the associated adverse health impacts have been marginalized, with industry experts demanding proof of disease onset, and claiming the biological impacts were not necessarily harmful.
DRY FEBRUARY: A WELCOME INITIATIVE
The OFF FEBRUARY manifesto begins in just over a week. This international initiative is encouraging people to disengage with social media in the 28 days of February by deleting all apps on their phones for one month. The aim is also to raise awareness of the harms from modern technologies and our overreliance on digital devices. By following this digital detox, you can recover a staggering 54 hours of your time per month (equating to more than 2 days). Join the movement to turn off social media and turn on your life!
Review Finds US Wireless Radiation Rules Outdated, Not Enforced
The latest review paper by Theodora Scarato (Director of Environmental Health Sciences’ Wireless & EMF program) has found that the US oversight of cell towers, cell phones, Wi-Fi and wireless radiation is not only outdated, but heavily influenced by industry. Despite the pernicious rollout of telecoms technology, no comprehensive scientific review of health-risk evaluations has been conducted by the industry. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission), which sets exposure limits, says it lacks health expertise and defers to other federal agencies. However, a comprehensive review of the science or an evaluation of the health risks posed by such technology has not occurred in over 20 years. In the US, the exposure limits set by the FCC have not changed since 1996, and only address short-term heating effects, but not long-term health risks – as ACHES has detailed in numerous posts.
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