The Effect of Electromagnetic Radiation on Public Health: Implications on 5G Policy

Abstract

The growing popularity of mobile devices has fostered the development of newer cellular networks to provide better connectivity, but this race to support faster and more wireless connections is risking public health due to possible deleterious effects of electromagnetic radiation on humans. 5G, the latest mobile network, utilizes increasingly high frequencies (millimeter waves) and wide ranges of electromagnetic spectrum (low-band, mid-band, and high-band) to allow large amounts of data to be transmitted at high speeds. The extremely high frequencies of millimeter waves have never been used in mobile networks before, and multiple studies point to their potentially detrimental health effects (such as pain, disruption of the nervous system, ocular damage, and gene expression changes). Furthermore, the dangerous possible health implications of lower frequency radiation used in networks today are also becoming more apparent as radiation has been linked to increased rates of cancer, electro sensitivity, sleep problems, cognitive deficits and permeability of the blood-brain barrier. This paper argues that current 5G policy and safety guidelines for radiation exposure do not adequately account for these health concerns. Therefore, this paper urges the use of precautionary principles (emphasizing caution, pause, and review in the introduction of potentially harmful technology) in the rollout of 5G and proposes a set of policy recommendations to protect public health and safety while deploying 5G.