If you've ever wandered through a town you might have noticed tiny cell towers for 5G placed on poles for street lighting. They look like small boxes, but they're actually broadcasting wireless signals from cell phone providers to your phone.
These smaller towers are replacing larger, purpose-built cell towers. Although they're not as visible but they can still create issues for users.
The Federal Communications Commission's Radiation Exposure Thresholds
The FCC's Radiation Exposure Thresholds define the safe limit at which one can expose to electromagnetic energy generated by wireless devices. The limits for exposure are based upon scientific research which show that the energy of RF can cause harm to health.
The rate of absorption called the specific absorption rate (SAR) is a measure of the amount of radiofrequency energy that is taken up by tissues. what is a safe distance from a 5g cell tower is typically 1.6 watts per kilogram, averaged over one Gram of tissue.
Since 5g is able to transmit at higher frequencies this could be able to create more energy on the skin and other directly-exposed body areas. This can lead to a wide range of potential problems, including an increased the development of skin conditions like dermatitis, cancer of the skin and cataracts.
Because of the potentially negative effects of 5G radiation, PSU has chosen to create a general maximum power density of four MW/cm2 averaged across 1 centimeter, and not exceeding 30 minutes for all 5G services running at 3000 GHz. This limit for localization is in line with the maximum SAR spatial-average of 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 g of tissue at 6 GHz.
what is a safe distance from a cell tower for Maximum Exposure
If you've ever used a mobile phone, then you've probably realized that a safe range from the tower is around 400 meters. This is due to the transmitting power of the cell tower is significantly increased the further the tower is.
While what is a safe distance from a cell tower sounds like something that's good but the truth is that those living close to towers may actually be more susceptible to health issues. For instance, a 2014 study in India found that residents living within 50 meters of cell towers experienced significant more health issues than those living further far from antennas.
But, the study revealed that those who relocated to areas that were further from cell towers experienced their symptoms return to normal within a couple of days. Studies have also shown that exposure to high amounts of electromagnetic field radiofrequency (EMFs) could cause brain tumors, cancers as well as other health issues.
This is due to the fact that RF radiation, which is utilized in wireless communications, can penetrate the human body's outer layer, the skin. This is vital to be aware of because the skin acts as a protective barrier against injuries caused by mechanical forces, infections from pathogenic microorganisms, as well as entry of toxic substances. The skin is the most important organ in the human body, and is responsible for keeping the integrity of other organs.
The FCC's Minimum Exposure Thresholds
The FCC's Minimum Exposition Thresholds are based upon many assumptions that aren't supported by evidence from science. This includes the false belief that exposures to RF radiation is safe because of the minimal radiation penetration in the human body (i.e. thermal heating of tissue).
This assumption does not take into account the deeper penetration of the ELF parts of the modulated RF signal as well as the effects on the body of short bursts generated by RF waves that are pulsed. These assumptions are not in line with the current understanding of biological effects of RF radiation. As such they shouldn't be used for health protective exposure standards.
Furthermore there is the fact that both ICNIRP and FCC restrict its maximum levels of radiation exposure for local peak SARs that are based on the peak frequency of absorption (psSAR) which is not a reliable dosimetric instrument to determine the degree of exposure to RF radiation. In particular the psSAR tool is not accurate when frequencies exceed 6 GHz. In addition, psSAR is not been evaluated for RF radiation exposed to other agents of the environment such as sunlight. In the event of interactions, RF radiation with other environmental agents may result in antagonistic or synergistic effects. This would result in an increased risk of adverse health adverse effects. For example, exposure to RF radiation with sunlight may raise the chance of skin cancer, as well as aggravate other skin conditions like acne.