1 research outputs found
Health Risks Associated with 5G Exposure: A View from the Communications Engineering Perspective
The deployment of 5G wireless communication services requires the
installation of 5G next-generation Node-B Base Stations (gNBs) over the
territory and the wide adoption of 5G User Equipment (UE). In this context, the
population is concerned about the potential health risks associated with the
Radio Frequency (RF) emissions from 5G equipment, with several communities
actively working toward stopping the 5G deployment. To face these concerns, in
this work, we analyze the health risks associated with 5G exposure by adopting
a new and comprehensive viewpoint, based on the communications engineering
perspective. By exploiting our background, we debunk the alleged health effects
of 5G exposure and critically review the latest works that are often referenced
to support the health concerns from 5G. We then precisely examine the
up-to-date metrics, regulations, and assessment of compliance procedures for 5G
exposure, by evaluating the latest guidelines from IEEE, ICNIRP, ITU, IEC, and
FCC, as well as the national regulations in more than 220 countries. We also
thoroughly analyze the main health risks that are frequently associated with
specific 5G features (e.g., MIMO, beamforming, cell densification, adoption of
millimeter waves, and connection of millions of devices). Finally, we examine
the risk mitigation techniques based on communications engineering that can be
implemented to reduce the exposure from 5G gNB and UE. Overall, we argue that
the widely perceived health risks that are attributed to 5G are not supported
by scientific evidence from communications engineering. In addition, we explain
how the solutions to minimize the health risks from 5G are already mature and
ready to be implemented. Finally, future works, e.g., aimed at evaluating
long-term impacts of 5G exposure, as well as innovative solutions to further
reduce the RF emissions, are suggested.Comment: 45 pages, 18 figures, 12 table