5G: What is it and is it safe?
Ever since the development of smartphones in the early 1990s which came along with the addition of wireless networks which meant that you could access the internet without needing to be connected to a home network. The introduction of wireless networks changed technology so drastically that many of us cannot imagine living without it.
The first wireless network I became familiar with is known as 3G which uses cell phone towers to pass signals and establish an internet connection. Although with 3G people soon realized that at times it could be rather slow, which eventually lead to the invention of 4G which was much faster than 3G.
Fast forward to today, where the top-of-the-line cell phones are now coming 5G activated, meaning that those cell phones are able to connect to the next generation of wireless networks. As is expected with upgrades, 5G promises to be even faster than 4G with less lag, more coverage, and a better experience for those who use it.
Although as of the introduction of 5G, many have started to wonder if such radio frequencies are safe to be used by the public. I have also begun to wonder the same thing because most good things don’t come without a price.
The main difference with 5G is that for those promised high speeds to be accomplished, there will have to be more cell phone towers so that the risk of a “dead zone” is reduced. According to this article by Scientific American, “Given limited reach, 5G will require cell antennas every 100 to 200 meters, exposing many people to the millimeter-wave radiation.” Due to that increased exposure to such radioactive waves, this has sparked concern about how these waves may translate to adverse health effects. Mentioned in the same article as before, it states that “short-term exposure can have adverse physiological effects in the peripheral nervous system… while long-term exposure may pose health risks to the skin, the eyes, and the testes.”
Now, what must be made clear is that these claims are being made without solid amounts of research to back them up. The main reason for that is because 5G is such a new technology that is being developed very quickly, scientists and researchers haven’t had the chance to test its safety for the public.
Although, on the other hand, I find myself very interested in subject matters that have to do with technology, especially the internet. That is why I decided to research this topic due to curiosity, but also due to the media.
Back in 2019, when 5G was being developed, a multitude of sources were covering the topic about all of the improvements it would have, but some sources such as BBC were using headlines such as “Does 5G pose health risks?” This article uses that headline urgency that the public is well accustomed to in an effort to try and scare them. Although, what many people wouldn’t have noticed if they kept reading was that at one point during the article it mentions that “in 2014 the World Health Organization (WHO) said that no adverse health effects have been established.” If you keep reading you will see that those claims about the development of certain types of cancer came from testing and research on rats and not humans.
With that, no conclusions can be drawn because as of right now since there just isn’t much research done on the topic. I suspect that as more people start to use the 5G network, more and more research will arise investigating its effects on humans. With that, many of us will patiently await that research to make sure that 5G isn’t significantly different than previous generations and will make surfing the web even more seamless than it already is.
