If you've ever walked through a town and spotted tiny mini 5G cell towers on the poles of street lights. They look like small boxes, but they're actually broadcasting wireless signals from mobile providers to your phone.
They are replacing larger specially-designed cell towers. Although they're not as visible but they can still cause issues for users.
The Federal Communications Commission's Radiation Exposure Thresholds
The FCC's Radiation Exposure Thresholds establish the maximum amount of time a person can be exposed to electromagnetic radiation from wireless devices. The limits for exposure are based upon scientific research that prove that electromagnetic energy can be harmful to human health.
The rate of absorption called the specific absorption rate (SAR) is a measure of the amount of radiofrequency energy taken up by tissues. It is typically 1.6 milliwatts per kilogram spread over a gram of tissue.
Since 5g is able to transmit at higher frequencies this could be able to cause greater energy intensity on the skin and other exposed body areas. This can lead to many possible harms, like the formation of skin disorders such as dermatitis and skin cancer and cataracts.
Due to the potential for harmful effects of radiation from 5G, PSU has chosen to establish a general, localized maximum power density of four mW/cm2 based on the average over 1 cm2, and never to exceed 30 minutes, for all 5G services at 3000 GHz. This localized limit is consistent with the maximum SAR that is spatially averaged at 1.6 W/kg, averaged over one 5 grams of body tissue, at 6 GHz.
The FCC's Maximum Exposure Thresholds
If you've ever used a mobile phone, you're probably aware that a safe location from the tower is around 400 meters. This is because the power of the transmission of a cell tower increases dramatically the farther you are from it.
While this sounds like something that's good but the truth is that those living close to towers might be more susceptible to health issues. For example, a study from 2014 in India discovered that people living within 50 meters from cell towers suffered significant more health issues than those who were distance from them.
However, this study also revealed that those who relocated to areas further away from the cell towers saw their symptoms improve within a couple of days. Another study has demonstrated that exposure to extreme amounts of electromagnetic field radiofrequency (EMFs) can cause brain tumors, cancer and other health issues.
This is due to the fact that RF radiation, used in wireless communication, can penetrate the body's outer layer of skin. It is crucial to know since the skin functions as a barrier to protect against injury to the body, infection caused by pathogenic microorganisms and infiltration of toxic substances. It is also the biggest organ in the human body, and is responsible for protecting other organs.
The FCC's Minimum Exposure Thresholds
The FCC's Minimum Exposition Thresholds depend on a variety of assumptions that are not supported by scientific research. These include the erroneous assumption that short-term exposures to RF radiation are safe due to the limited radiation penetration in the human body (i.e. thermal heating of tissue).
This assumption does not take into account the more extensive penetration of ELF parts of modulated RF signals, as well as the effect of brief bursts of heat caused by RF pulses. These assumptions are not in line with the current understanding of biological effects of RF radiation. As such they should not be considered for health protection exposure guidelines.
Additionally to that, ICNIRP and FCC are limiting their maximum exposure limits to local peak SARs based on the maximum speed of spatial absorption (psSAR) that is not a reliable dosimetric instrument to assess the amount of radiation exposure. Particularly safe distance from cell tower is not accurate for frequencies above 6 GHz. Additionally, psSAR hasn't been tested for RF radiation that is exposed to other agents of the environment such like sunlight. Interactions of RF radiation and other agents in the environment could cause synergistic or antagonistic results. This would result in an increased risk of negative health adverse effects. For what is a safe distance from a 5g cell tower , exposure to RF radiation with sunlight may increase the risk of skin cancer, and may also exacerbate other skin diseases such as acne.