If you've ever wandered through a city, you may have seen tiny cell towers for 5G on street light poles. They look like little boxes however, they're actually transmitting wireless signals from cell phone providers to your mobile.
The smaller ones are being replaced by the larger specially-designed cell towers. Although they're not as visible, they still can create problems for those who live nearby.
The FCC's Radiation Exposure Thresholds
The FCC's Radiation Exposure Thresholds establish the safe limit at which an individual can be exposed to electromagnetic energy from wireless devices. The limits for exposure are based upon scientific research that show that RF energy could cause harm to health.
The rate of absorption called the specific absorption rate (SAR) is an indicator of the radiofrequency energy absorption by tissues. It's typically 1.6 watts per kilogram, averaged over one kilogram of tissue.
Since 5g is able to transmit at higher frequencies and has the potential to create more energy on the skin and other exposed body areas. This can lead to a wide range of potential harms, including exacerbated appearance of skin disorders like dermatitis, skin cancer and cataracts.
Because of the potentially harmful effects of radiation from 5G, PSU has chosen to establish a general, localized maximum power density of four MW/cm2 measured on 1cm2, and never to exceed 30 minutes, for all 5G services at 3000 GHz. This limit for localization is in line with the highest SAR that is spatially averaged at 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 grams of tissues at six GHz.
The FCC's Maximum Exposure Thresholds
If you've ever used a mobile phone, you probably know that the safest range from the tower is at least 400 meters away. This is due to the power of the transmission of cell towers increases drastically the further away the tower is.
While this sounds like a good idea, the reality is that people who live close to towers could be more susceptible to health problems. For instance, a 2014 study in India found that those who lived within 50m from cell towers suffered significantly more health complaints than those living further away from the antennas.
This study found that people who moved to areas that were further from the cell towers saw their symptoms return to normal within a few days. Other studies have revealed that exposure to high frequencies of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can cause brain tumors, cancers and other health issues.
This is because radiofrequency radiation, used in wireless communication, can penetrate the human body's exterior layer, which is the skin. This is important to understand since the skin functions as a protective barrier against injuries caused by mechanical forces, infections from pathogenic microorganisms, as well as the entry of harmful substances. Additionally, it is the largest organ of the human body, and is accountable for keeping the integrity of other organs.
what is a safe distance from a cell tower for the Minimum Exposure
The FCC's Minimum Exposure Thresholds rely on various assumptions that aren't supported by scientific research. what is a safe distance from a cell tower include the erroneous assumption that short-term exposures to RF radiations are not harmful due to minimal absorption into body (i.e. the heating of tissues).
The assumption also ignores the more extensive penetration of ELF components of modulated RF signals as well as the effects of brief bursts of heat generated by RF waves that are pulsed. These assumptions are not in line with current understanding of the biological effects of RF radiation. Therefore they shouldn't be used for health protective exposure guidelines.
Furthermore to what is a safe distance from a cell tower , ICNIRP and FCC limit the maximum limits of exposure to peak local SARs that are based on the peak spatial specific absorption rate (psSAR) which is an inadequate dosimetric tool to determine the degree of exposure to RF radiation. Particularly the psSAR tool is not accurate when frequencies exceed 6 GHz. In addition, psSAR is not been evaluated for RF radiation that is exposed to other environmental agents such as sunlight. In the event of interactions, RF radiation with other agents in the environment could result in antagonistic or synergistic results. This would result in an increased risk of adverse health effects. For instance, exposure to RF radiation along with exposure to sunlight can cause an increase in the incidence of skin cancer, as well as aggravate other skin diseases such as acne.