5G Declared Safe By Radiation Watchdog

Experts at the International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) have declared that 5G is safe for human health.

ICNIRP is based in Germany, and it is the international body in charge of setting limits on exposure to radiation, the Guardian reported.

Last month the UK communications regulator Ofcom carried out safety tests in the UK of 5G base stations and found that there is no danger to the public posed by electromagnetic energy (EME) levels.

5G safe

The ICNIRP meanwhile called for new guidelines for millimetre-wave 5G, the most high-frequency version of the telecommunications standard.

But in practice, that form of 5G still has output levels significantly below the new maximum.

“We know parts of the community are concerned about the safety of 5G and we hope the updated guidelines will help put people at ease,” the Guardian quoted Dr Eric van Rongen, the ICNIRP chair, as saying.

“The guidelines have been developed after a thorough review of all relevant scientific literature, scientific workshops and an extensive public consultation process,” said Dr van Rongen. “They provide protection against all scientifically substantiated adverse health effects due to [electromagnetic field] exposure in the 100 kHz to 300 GHz range.”

The findings are however unlikely to satisfy campaigners, who have long argued that radiation emitted from mobile phones or mobile networks pose health risks, despite years of evidence to the contrary.

Indeed, a number of studies have found no evidence to suggest that mobile phone use is linked to tumours, and that the arrival of smart grids, mobile networks, or smart meters in people’s homes, carries a cancer risk.

Processed meat

Yet despite there being no clear evidence to suggest a link between cancer and mobile phone use, the World Health Organisation labelled mobile phones as ‘possibly carcinogenic’ in June 2011, despite previously advising that they were safe.

By labelling radio frequency radiation as a ‘possible carcinogenic’, it puts it in the same category as pickled vegetables or talcum powder.

However mobile phones are not as dangerous as alcohol or processed meat.

Tom Jowitt

Tom Jowitt is a leading British tech freelancer and long standing contributor to Silicon UK. He is also a bit of a Lord of the Rings nut...

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