If you've ever walked through a city you might have noticed tiny cell towers for 5G on the poles of street lights. They look like small boxes however, they're actually transmitting wireless signals from mobile providers to your mobile.
The smaller ones are being replaced by the larger built cell towers. While they're less noticeable but they can still create problems for those who live nearby.
It is the Federal Communications Commission's Radiation Exposure Thresholds
The FCC's Radiation Exposure Thresholds determine the safe distance that a person can be exposed to electromagnetic radiation from wireless devices. The limits for exposure are based on research which show that the energy of RF could be harmful to human health.
The specific absorption rate (SAR) is a measure of the radiofrequency energy taken up by tissues. It's usually 1.6 milliwatts per kilogram calculated over one Gram of tissue.
However, because 5g transmits at higher frequencies, it has the potential to increase the intensity of energy on the skin and other directly-exposed body parts. This could lead to many possible harms, such as an increase in development of skin diseases like dermatitis, skin cancer and cataracts.
Due to the potential for negative effects of 5G radiation, PSU has chosen to establish a general, localized maximum power density of four mW/cm2 measured on 1cm2, and never exceeding 30 minutes for all 5G services running at 3000 GHz. This limit for localization is in line with the maximum spatial-average SAR of 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 operated a cell phone, you probably know that a safe location from the tower should be at least 400 meters. This is due to the power of transmission from cell towers increases drastically the further the tower is.
While it sounds like something that's good, the reality is that people who live close to towers may actually be more susceptible to health issues. For instance, a study conducted in 2014 in India discovered that people living within 50 meters of cell towers had much more health problems than those living further far from antennas.
But, the study revealed that those who relocated into areas farther away from cell towers experienced their symptoms improve within a couple of days. Another study has revealed that exposure to high frequencies of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can cause brain tumors, cancers as well as other health issues.
This is due to the fact that radiofrequency radiation, which is utilized in wireless communication, can penetrate the human body's outer layer, which is the skin. It is crucial to know since the skin functions as a protective barrier against mechanical injury, infection caused by pathogenic microorganisms and infiltration of toxic substances. safe distance from cell tower is also the largest organ in the human body and is accountable for protecting other organs.
The FCC's Minimum Exposure Thresholds for the Minimum Exposure
The FCC's Minimum Exposure Thresholds rely on several assumptions that aren't supported by scientific research. These include the erroneous assumption that exposures of a short duration to RF radiation are safe due to the limited radiation penetration in the human body (i.e. the heating of tissues).
This assumption does not take into account the greater penetration of ELF components of modulated RF signals and the consequences of brief bursts of heat caused by RF pulses. These theories are not compatible with the current understanding of biological effects of RF radiation. Therefore they should not be relied upon for health-protection exposure standards.
In addition to that, ICNIRP and FCC limit their exposure limits to local peak SARs, based on the peak speed of spatial absorption (psSAR) that is not a sufficient dosimetric tool to assess the amount of radiation exposure. Particularly safe distance from cell tower is inconclusive for frequencies that exceed 6 GHz. Additionally, psSAR hasn't been tested for what is a safe distance from a 5g cell tower with co-exposure to other environmental agents such as sunlight. Interactions of RF radiation with other environmental agents may produce synergistic or antagonistic results. This would result in an increased risk of negative health adverse effects. For instance, exposure to RF radiation with sunlight may increase the risk of skin cancer and exacerbate other skin disorders, such as acne.