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A Facebook group called 'What Goes Up Mast Come Down' shared a picture of a mobile mast on fire. |
There is a growing concern among the public about the potential health effects of the 5G network. The radiation emitted by 5G will largely be the same as previous networks, except that it will be exposing us to something called millimetre waves for the first time. Countries such as Switzerland, the UK and Germany are already rolling out next-generation networks. However, the 5G appeal was launched in 2017, calling for the EU to impose a moratorium on 5G rollout, citing imminent health dangers like increased cancer risks, cellular stress and genetic damage. Despite the big promises, concerns about its potential health effects are also growing.
According to Professor Niels Kuster, founder and director of the Swiss IT’IS Foundation, who has been involved in hundreds of studies about electromagnetic radiation and human health, both mobile phones and telecom antennas emit electromagnetic radiation, regardless of what network generation they are used for. Non-ionising radiation has completely different health effects from ionising radiation, which is higher up the spectrum and includes X-Rays or nuclear radiation, which have proven harmful effects for human health. Non-ionising radiation can affect us in two ways, and telecom gear can heat the human body using non-ionising radiation if it emits too much. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), a global scientific body, for example, has determined a norm for this and continually monitors thermal effects.
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There have been claims that telecom equipment causes cancer and electrohypersensitivity where people experience headaches, nausea or even rashes they believe to be the result of exposure to electromagnetic radiation. However, according to Prof. Kuster, there is very little clear scientific evidence showing that radiation causes the exhibited symptoms associated with electrohypersensitivity. The evidence around cancer is, however, more difficult to interpret. Several large-scale epidemiological studies showed mixed results. The most well-known is probably the 13-country Interphone study from 2000 to 2006 with around 5,000 patients. It concluded that ‘no increase in risk of glioma or meningioma was observed with the use of mobile phones’.
Other studies are happening right now, such as COSMOS, which is being
carried out in the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, the UK, Denmark and
France. ‘In total, we’re tracking 290,000 people across Europe, who we
consult every five years,’ said Professor Hans Kromhout, an epidemiologist
at Utrecht University in the Netherlands who works on the Dutch chapter of
COSMOS. They use information from mobile phone operators to track
consenting participants’ actual phone use, and then relate that to health
outcomes. It is necessary as previous studies showed that participants
have difficulties accurately reporting their phone usage. This study
looked at 21,049 Swedes and 3,120 Finns and tried correlating phone use
with headaches, sinusitis and hearing problems. Participants who called
more than 276 minutes per week reported a slightly higher degree of weekly
headaches. But it turned out that it was unlikely due to radiofrequency
electromagnetic fields.