<https://www.rte.ie/author/915974-professor-kevin-curran/> By Professor
Kevin Curran
School of Computing, Engineering & Intelligent Systems
Opinion: there have been increased health concerns about mobile phone usage
and new 5G networks, but are they justified?
The latest generation of mobile communications, 5G will have a higher
frequency and bandwidth for transferring wireless data quicker than previous
generations. 5G signals are less capable of traveling large distances so
they require strengthening in the form of increased infrastructure such as
booster antennas.
The frequencies of the microwave used in many 5G system roll-outs are in the
1-millimeter wave length. Some argue that the long-term health risks of
these short microwaves have not simply been tested rigorously and the
Federal Communications Commission <https://www.fcc.gov/> (FCC) in the
United States and mobile communications operators are simply presuming that
they are safe based on 1996
<https://althealthworks.com/15057/california-is-fighting-50000-new-5g-cell-t
owers-due-to-cancer-risk-bills-in-these-states-will-permit-their-installatio
n-in-your-backyardyelena/> research
<http://www.wi-cancer.info/new_home.aspx> .
In fact, the International Association of Fire Fighters
<http://www.iaff.org/> position on locating cell towers and commercial
wireless infrastructure on fire department facilities is worth noting. They
oppose <http://www.iaff.org/hs/resi/celltowerfinal.htm> the use of fire
stations as base stations for towers and/or antennas for the conduction of
cell phone transmissions, until a study on health effects of exposure to
low-intensity RF/MW radiation is conducted and it is proven they are not
hazardous to the health of their members.
From RTÉ Radio 1's This Week, Nicole van der Meulen, senior strategic
analyst with Europol, spoke on how 5G internet access will mean a greater
threat to business and personal security
What we do know to date about mobile phone radiation and cancer is that the
radio frequency radiation they emit does not increase the risk of brain
tumours. However, there is strong evidence
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110569017300602> that
mobile phone radiation affects sperm levels in men. It is a difficult
diagnosis to make as the way we use mobile phones keeps changing in addition
to the amount of radiation they emit.
There are new concerns that with the coming deployment of 5G networks, we
will be exposed to more dangerous radiation. Most of the research to date
has been performed on 3G and 4G networks so we do need to examine if cell
radiations cancer effects for 5G are different. Regulators will also need
to ensure policies reflect new levels of exposure. The amount of radiation
people can safely be exposed to is measured by the specific absorption rate
(SAR). The current limit for mobile phones is 1.6 watts of energy per
kilogram of tissue however these regulations have not been updated for many
years.
Radio frequency exposure and cancer
Mobile phones emit radiation of varying power on the electromagnetic
spectrum. There is ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. The waves emitted
from radios, mobile and mobile cell towers, Wi-Fi routers, and microwaves
are all referred to as "non-ionizing" radiation. These waves do not carry
enough energy to strip electrons from atoms and molecules i.e. Ionize.
On the other hand, ionizing radiation is something we control as we know it
can damage our DNA so we restrict the amount of X-rays a person is exposed
to. However, non-ionizing radiation from mobiles does have enough energy to
break our DNA, and cause cancer
From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland in June 2011, Dr Robert Baan,
International Agency for Research on Cancer, says mobile phones are possibly
carcinogenic to humans
Some question this and ask if another mechanism other than direct DNA damage
could instead lead to cancer or other biological problems. Beyond specific
thresholds, radiation can damage the functioning of tissues or organs and
can produce acute effects such as hair loss, radiation burns, skin redness
or acute radiation syndrome. These effects are more severe at higher doses
<http://https/www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ionizing-radiation-he
alth-effects-and-protective-measures> and higher dose rates e.g the dose
threshold for acute radiation syndrome is about 1 Sv (1000 mSv).
Exposure to low-frequency electric and magnetic fields generally results in
negligible energy absorption and no measurable temperature rise in the body.
However, exposure to electromagnetic fields at frequencies above about 100
kHz can lead to significant absorption of energy and temperature increases
<https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a180678.pdf> .
Does increased phone usage lead to cancer?
No-one can definitively state at this time whether mobile radiation causes
cancer. The reason is due to our inability to stage the gold standard of
clinical trials which is a randomised controlled trial (RCT). In an RCT,
test subjects are randomly assigned to one of two groups where one group
gets a treatment and the other gets a placebo.
"While animal studies can be a poor way to understand human health, it is
worth pointing out that not all research studies conclude that mobile phones
are risk free"
To conduct an RCT with 5G and cancer (or mobile phones in general) would be
too expensive and possibly impossible as you would have to recruit thousands
of people and try to enforce a plan on each one as to how they use their
phones for a period of say five years. If that was not hard enough, then you
also have to select a group who are willing to go without mobile phones
Instead, we simply have to rely on "observational" data which tracks
peoples real-world mobile phone use and their disease incidence.
Observational data studies of course tend to be weaker and less clear-cut
than experimental studies like Random Controlled Trials (RCTs) but they can
tell us about associations between phenomena. To date, the best
independently conducted human studies have concluded that using mobile
phones is not associated with an increased risk of brain tumours in humans.
5g vs 4G
5G technology is effective only over short distances so new antennas will be
required in much more dense patterns than ever before and this will lead to
increased radiation exposure. However, the overall exposure is expected to
remain low and well within the guidelines
<https://www.icnirp.org/cms/upload/publications/ICNIRPemfgdl.pdf> from the
International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection
<https://www.icnirp.org/> (ICNIRP). Some 5G will use similar frequencies to
existing 4G, but other deployments will use higher frequencies, where in
those cases there will be less penetration of radio waves through materials
such as walls.
If mobile phones caused brain tumours at the same rate as cigarettes cause
lung cancer, someone would have spotted it
The global research to date on the cancer incidence data in humans suggests
no avalanche of head and neck tumours. It is reasonable to assume that if
there was a big risk, we would have seen it by now. In 2012 an independent
report
<https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/cancer-contr
oversies/mobile-phones-wifi-and-power-lines> concluded that there is no
convincing evidence that being exposed to radio frequency fields, including
those from mobile phones, masts and base stations within the guidelines
could affect somebody's health.
Yes, there are studies out there which have at times pointed to a smoking
gun. For instance, one of the most robust animal studies from the US
National Toxicology Program <https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/> (NTP) determined
there is <https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/results/areas/cellphones/index.html>
"clear evidence" that male rats exposed to high levels of 2G/3G radio
frequency radiation developed heart schwannomas.
There can be scaremongering in this area but, due to the difficulty in
accurately measuring the effects conclusively of 5G radiation on humans, it
is not clear as to who is "extreme". In fact, there was a petition
<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/14/mobile-phones-cancer-inc
onvenient-truths> last year signed by 236 experts warning that 5G will
massively increase human exposure to mobile phone radiation. The petition
had scientists and doctors from 35 countries calling for a moratorium on the
roll-out of 5G until independent scientists have investigated the health
risks
More research examines the different mechanisms by which non-ionizing
radiation may or may not harm our health has to be welcome and should also
feed into regulation. For example, mobile phone manufacturers in the United
States test devices for compliance with wireless radiation emission
standards by placing them against the head, and near the torso with a 5mm
separation from the body. However, when we place a phone in our body, it
does not have a 5mm gap, so the all-important specific absorption rate will
be higher.
As our exposure to wireless radiation from multiple sources is much higher
than even 10 years ago, it is worth considering minimising your exposure to
radio frequency radiation. Don't take your mobile to bed or keep it in your
pocket and try to use hands-free technology as much as possible.
READ: Perks and challenges: a guide to 5G
<https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0616/970909-perks-and-challenges-a-
guide-to-5g/>
Website:
https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2019/0313/1036125-should-we-be-worried-ab
out-radiation-from-5g-networks
===========================================================
The fb-exchange mailing list
Manage account, subscribe or unsubscribe:
//www.freelists.org/list/fb-exchange
Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/fb-exchange ;
Administrative contact: insight@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
===========================================================
