Residents of several cities, including Aspen, Colorado. Bern, Switzerland. San Diego, California. The UK county of Totnes is protesting the installation of 5G radio base stations over concerns about the negative impact these network nodes could have on humans, animals and plants. They point out the potential dangers of radio frequency (RF) radiation emitted by antennas placed in close proximity to people.
Protesters also cited a lack of scientific evidence that 5G signals, particularly those transmitted in the millimeter wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, are safe. While current mobile devices operate on frequencies below 6 gigahertz, 5G uses frequencies above 600 megahertz, including the mmWave band from 30 GHz to 300 GHz.
There are enough concerns about 5G that some cities have canceled or postponed the installation of base stations.
Members of the IEEE Future Networks Initiative, which is helping pave the way for the development and deployment of 5G, took note of these news reports. In September, the group published a short paper titled “5G Communication Systems and Radio Frequency Exposure Limits.” This report reviews existing guidelines on RF exposure.
research institute We asked two members of the IEEE Initiative for their thoughts on the controversy surrounding 5G. IEEE Fellow Rod Waterhouse serves on the initiative’s editorial board. technology focus We published and edited the 5G report. His research interests include antennas, electromagnetism, and microwave photonics engineering. He is his CTO and co-founder of Octane Wireless in Hanover, Maryland.
IEEE Senior Member David Witkowski co-chairs the initiative’s Deployment Working Group. He is an expert in the wireless and telecommunications industry. Mr. Witkowski is the Executive Director of the Wireless Communications Initiative for Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a San Jose, Calif.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to solving problems in communications, education, transportation and other fields.
Introduction to 5G
Most of the concerns that 5G will have negative health effects stem from the fact that its base station architecture is very different from that supporting today’s 3G and 4G cellular networks, Waterhouse said. It is said that they are doing so. These towers are separated by several kilometers and are usually located on high-rise structures away from populated areas. Because 5G base stations are smaller than a backpack, they can be installed almost anywhere, including on utility poles, street lights, and rooftops. This means stations will be located near homes, apartments, schools, shops, parks, and farms.
“Wireless companies will embed devices in everyday structures like benches and bus stops, which will bring them lower to the ground and closer to people,” Waterhouse says. [compared with the number of cell towers around today] Due to limited reach. 5G mmWave networks require cell antennas to be placed every 100 to 200 meters. ”
That said, one of the benefits of these smaller base stations is that they don’t need to transmit as much power as today’s cell phone towers because they have a smaller coverage area.
“If a 5G base station installed at a bus stop were to transmit the same amount of power that is currently being transmitted from a base station 30 meters high, that would be a cause for concern,” Waterhouse said. Masu. Please be so. ”
According to Witkowski, the 5G radios that replace the 750 MHz 4G radios will have the same coverage as the 4G radios, assuming no changes to the antennas. But, of course, it increases data rates and reduces network response times.
Waterhouse predicts that 5G will be rolled out in two stages. The first, he says, will operate in a band close to the slice of spectrum in which 4G equipment operates (below 6 GHz). “It’s going to be a little bit more bandwidth and faster data speeds for everyone. Also, 5G base stations will only be installed in certain small areas and not everywhere,” he said. say.
The next phase, which he calls “5G Plus,” will have more base stations and use millimeter wave frequencies, which will significantly improve bandwidth and data rates.
Witkowski said U.S. carriers, which already have dense deployments in sub-6 GHz bands, will begin deploying 5G in the K/Ka band and mmWave. Also, the 3G and 4G radios may be replaced by the new 5G radio.
“For U.S. carriers with access to vacant/reclaimed spectrum, such as T-Mobile on 600 MHz and Sprint on 2.5 GHz, their deployment strategy is to leave 3G/4G in place for the time being and “We’re going to be adding 5G to the lower bands,” Witkowski says.
existing regulations
Waterhouse points to two international documents that set safe limits for RF exposure. One is the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines, which have been in existence since 1998. IEEE C95.1, “IEEE Standard for Safety Levels for Electric, Magnetic, and Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields,” was developed by the IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety and released in 2005. IEEE C95.1 covers the spectrum from 3 kilohertz to 300 GHz. Future Networks’ report details the various human exposure limits contained in these documents. .
The ICNIRP and IEEE guidelines, which are revised regularly, were both updated this year. Local exposure limits (for frequencies above 6 GHz) were set even lower. Belgium, India, Russia and other countries have even stricter restrictions.
As for whether millimeter wave bands are safe, Waterhouse said RF from cellular sites is in the non-ionizing radiation spectrum, so it’s not the type of radiation that can damage DNA or cause cancer. do. The only known biological effect of RF on the human body is tissue heating. Excessive exposure to RF can cause your entire body to overheat to dangerous levels. Local exposure can damage skin tissue and the cornea.
“The higher the frequency, the smaller the actual impact and depth of penetration into the human body. The advantage is that the millimeter waves reflect off the surface of the skin, so the skin is not damaged,” he says. .
Waterhouse acknowledged that millimeter waves have been used for a variety of applications, including astronomy and military applications, but the impact of using millimeter waves in communications is not well understood. Waterhouse said it was up to regulators overseeing carriers to ensure 5G was secure. The general perception is that mmWave is safe, but still needs to be monitored, he said.
“The majority of the scientific community does not think there is a problem, but it would be unscientific to say there is no reason to be concerned,” Professor Waterhouse said.
Many opponents say 5G needs to be proven safe before regulators allow its deployment. The problem with this claim, according to Witkowski, is that it is logically impossible to prove anything with 100 percent certainty.
“Everything we do carries a risk: taking a shower, making breakfast, commuting to work, eating at a restaurant, going out in public,” he says. The first medical research into the potential health effects of EMR began nearly 60 years ago, and since then literally thousands of studies have reported no health risks or found inconclusive results . to find evidence of risk, but those studies have not been replicated. Reproducibility is a key element of good science.
Although we must continue to consider the issue of the health impacts of EMR, the majority of evidence shows there is no reason to pause implementation. ”
