Stop Global Rollout of 5G Networks Until Security Confirmed, Expert Urges

We should be cautious and halt the global rollout of 5G (fifth generation) telecommunications networks until we are sure that this technology is completely safe, an expert insists in an opinion piece published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

There are no health concerns regarding 5G and COVID-19, despite what conspiracy theorists have suggested.

But the emitter density required for 5G means more people will be exposed to radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), and at levels new evidence suggests are potentially harmful to health, says Professor John William Frank, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh.

The advent of 5G technology has been hailed by governments and some special interests as transformative and promising economic and lifestyle benefits, thanks to a massive increase in wireless and mobile connectivity at home, at work, at school and in the community, he says.

But it has become the subject of heated controversy, fueled by four key areas of scientific uncertainty and concern.

• Lack of clarity on the technology included in 5G and a growing but far from complete body of laboratory research indicating the potential for biological disruption of RF-EMF
• An almost complete lack (for now) of high-quality epidemiological studies on the impact on human health of exposure to 5G EMFs
• Accumulating epidemiological evidence for these effects from previous generations of RF-EMF exposure at lower levels
• Persistent allegations that some national telecoms regulators failed to base their RF-EMF security policies on the latest scientific evidence, amid potential conflicts of interest

5G uses much higher frequency radio waves (3 to 300 GHz) than in the past, and it uses very new – and relatively unapproved, in terms of security – support technology to enable this more data transmission capability. high, says Professor Frank.

Its inherent fragility means that transmission-boosting “ cellular ” antennas are typically needed every 100-300m, which is much more spatially dense than the transmission masts required for older 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, using lower frequency waves, he says.

A dense transmission network is also required to achieve the “ anywhere / anytime ” connectivity promised by 5G developers.

Existing 4G systems can serve up to 4000 devices using radio frequencies per square kilometer; 5G systems will connect up to a million devices per square kilometer, dramatically increasing the speed of data transfer (by a factor of 10) and the volume of data transmitted (by a factor of 1000), he explains. .

Although several major reviews of the existing evidence on the potential adverse health effects of 5G have been published over the past decade, these have been of “varying scientific quality,” suggests Professor Frank.

And they haven’t stopped the outcry from “a growing number of engineers, scientists and doctors around the world … calling on governments to raise their safety standards for RF-EMFs, order more and better research, and to delay further increases in public exposure, pending clearer evidence of safety, ”he wrote.

The maximum allowable safe limits for RF-EMF exposure vary widely around the world, he points out.

Additionally, “ 5G systems ” is not a consistently defined term, comprising quite different specific technologies and components.

“It is highly likely that each of these many forms of transmission causes somewhat different biological effects, making it virtually impossible to solid, complete and up-to-date research on these effects,” he explains.

Recent reviews of laboratory data on RF-EMF indicate that exposures can produce far-reaching effects, including on reproduction, the fetus, oncology, neuropsychiatry, skin, eyes and immunology. But there is absolutely no evidence to suggest he is involved in the spread of COVID-19, as some conspiracy theorists have suggested, he points out.

“There are reports from knowledgeable commentators on the web that debunk this theory, and no respectable scientist or publication has supported it,” he says, adding, “the theory that 5G and associated EMFs have contributed to the pandemic is unfounded. “

But for the current rollout of 5G, there is a strong basis for invoking the ‘precautionary principle’ due to significant doubts about the safety of potentially widespread new human exposure, which should be reason enough “for call for a moratorium on this exposure, pending an adequate scientific investigation into its adverse health effects, ”he said.

There is no compelling public health or safety rationale for the rapid deployment of 5G, he insists. The main gains promised are either economic, and possibly more for some than others, or related to greater convenience for the consumer, he suggests.

“Until we know what we’re getting into, from a health and ecological standpoint, these putative gains have to wait,” he concludes.