According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), electromagnetic fields (EMF) are ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ (Category 2B).
We last discussed the risk of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RFR), emitted by in-built mobile phone antennae, in edition 277 of BC Disease News (here), after the inaugural launch of EE’s 5G mobile network in the UK. EE has defended the safety of mobile phone-produced RFR in recent months:
‘… there are strict rules on the power level that each site broadcasts a signal at – this is governed by an organisation called ICNIRP.org, which informs the Health & Safety Executive and Public Health England, together acting as the health-related watchdog for the mobile industry. All 5G is being rolled out within those guidelines.
It’s important to point out that no health risks have been established from exposure to the low-level radio signals used for mobile communications (and WiFi), and this includes 5G Operators in the US [which] have chosen to use the higher frequency mmWave spectrum, and there is no danger associated to that – because all new wireless technologies are rolled out under similar strict guidelines.
… non-ionizing waves, the waves that carry mobile signals, are not able to change the structure of a cell, so don’t cause any cellular damage, and as such don’t cause illness’.
However, British Telecom, which owns EE, was criticised last year for warning shareholder investors about the potential health risks and withholding information from customers. The 2017 Annual Report disclosed:
‘We can’t provide absolute assurance that research in the future won’t establish links between radio frequency emissions and health risks’.[i]
Although the general position in the UK is that devices producing exposures within current ICNIRP guidelines do not pose a risk to public health, Italy has displayed growing concern over the health effects of EMF.