Is 5G a Health Risk?

The biggest risk to public safety posed by 5G is the people who try to burn down the cellular towers.

Much misinformation has been distributed surrounding the new mobile technology. Yesterday I noticed that someone had to take the time to debunk a YouTube video where a supposed 5G engineer had a chip from a 5G tower which had Cov-19 written on it, another attempt at spreading a ridiculous rumour. On closer inspection, the chip was from an old TV set.

Some are concerned while others may be wondering why people have been driven to such destructive acts. My intention here is to highlight what 5G is, using layperson terminology in the hope that readers will have a better understanding.

The name, 5G, simply stands for Fifth Generation mobile networks. As has been widely communicated, the new technology provides faster connectivity and a higher concentration of devices that can connect within the range of the cellular tower. This is achieved through a couple of methods, one that has raised concern is the frequency. The technology can use a range of frequencies, in New Zealand we will initially use 3.5GHz. This is defined as a mid-band deployment which is a balance of increased speed over 4G and area of coverage from a single cellular tower, more on this later.

Is this radiation? Yes, it is. Radiation is defined as the emission and propagation of energy in the form of waves, rays, and particles.

Should we be concerned? Before this is answered, we should discuss context and ionisation.

Context: Our in-home WiFi mainly uses 2.4GHz, with many homes also using the 5GHz frequency and have been for a number of years. As a side, our microwave ovens also use 2.4GHz, this does have 800–1000W of power applied to heat the content of the oven. The heating is caused by water molecules inside the food absorbing the 2.4GHz microwaves vibrating and generating heat.

Ionisation: The image below from MBIE shows the electromagnetic spectrum and delineation of non-ionisation vs ionisation. Simply put, ionisation is radiation with enough energy to alter the composition of an atom, a form of radiation which we should be far warier.

As shown above, there is more radiation generated through visible light than what we will receive through micro radio waves.

How about the high band? This is where 5G moves into the lower end of the millimetre waves, as shown in the image above. In New Zealand, it is proposed that we will have 26GHz available for deployment in 2022. This is will enable even higher speeds using 5G. This is still well within the non-ionisation spectrum. Initial trials of the high band range have had problems with range, with waves having difficulty penetrating walls and certain types of glass. This means that more work is required on the high band frequency 5G prior to wider deployment.

So, should we be concerned about 5G? Based on the information above, light sources and the sun are more of a risk to our health.