5G Wireless Networks Ruled Safe By Ofcom
5G networks well within safety limits. Testing by UK regulator Ofcom of 16 5G base stations in the UK find no identifiable risks for people’s health
Ofcom has conducted the first 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.
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.
Staylittle 4G Mast feature
Picture by Phil Blagg
PB201-2017
Health risks
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.
Into this UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has published its tests over 16 locations in 10 cities where 5G-enabled mobile base stations had been installed. The tests measured the strength of the electromagnetic field (EMF).
Ofcom is should be remembered has been testing EMF emissions from mobile phone towers since 2003.
The arrival of 5G networks last year saw it expanding its testing to 5G base stations.
The maximum measured at any of the test sites was 1.5 per cent of the levels set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
This is found at a base station of London’s Canary Wharf.
Despite these findings that 5G is safe, the Ofcom evidence-based study is unlikely to change the mind of campaigners.
