The announcement of 5G using high-frequency radio airwaves has re-triggered the existing fear of mobile phone radiation and its impact on our health and well-being.
Though it offers lightning-fast speed and the capacity to power new tech like self-driving cars and virtual and augmented reality, there is a genuine concern about how it will influence human health.
Worldwide mobile carriers are trying to deploy this new generation of cellular technology as soon as possible. In the US, President Donald Trump has emphasized that the US must not fall behind other nations, such as China, in rolling out 5G.
Why Is 5G Causing Fear among the Nation?
Experts who are against 5G are concerned about the high-frequency spectrum used in making 5G a reality because it could threaten our health. Namely, in April this year, the government in Belgium stopped a 5G testing in Brussels due to concerns about radiation being harmful.
What’s more, members of the Parliament in the Netherlands are also urging the government to tackle the subject of 5G more closely. And, in Switzerland, there are measures being taken to monitor how 5G influences us.
New Hampshire is thinking of creating a commission which will study the health impact of the 5G network.
To this extent, several Congressmen have written to the Federal Communications Commission explaining their worries about the health impact of 5G. In Mill Valley, California, the council of the city ceased the deployment of new 5G wireless cells.
But, these concerns are not new and consumers have been worried about the effects of radiation for years, including everything from mobile phones to microwaves with claims that these waves can lead to brain cancer, poor fertility, headaches, and other diseases.
This fear is being brought back with the release of new 5G networks that require small cell towers to be placed closely to where we live, work, and go to school.
But, the FDA and FCC claim that we have nothing to be anxious about. Namely, most research has not shown a connection between these signals from mobile phones or cell towers and illnesses.
However, back in 2011, the WHO noted that mobile phones may lead to some brain cancers.
According to critics, there is a need of more tests on the safety of millimetre wavelength for 5G as well as more info before the US and other parts of the world decide to roll it out.
So, Is 5G a Major Threat to Our Health?
The anxieties about 5G are similar to the ones about 2G, 3G, and 4G. 5G in the US is expected to make use of some of the same frequency bands of the previous wireless generations. And, it is this high-band spectrum that is worrisome since it needs denser radio deployments.
Plus, there is a lack of research on the impact of radiation at these high bands.
These bands are non-ionizing and such a radiation does not have sufficient energy to dissolve DNA and trigger cell changes that could cause cancer.
However, if it is revealed that this radiation can activate another biological chain reaction, like oxidative stress, it may be important about 5G.
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