Health Council advice on 5G leaves questions open

The Dutch EMC-ESD association is a member of the sounding board group of the Knowledge Platform Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) and Health. The Health Council recently issued its advice on 5G publishedThe EMV Knowledge Platform has drawn up an initial impression on this subject; the text of this initial impression is given below.

The Electromagnetic Fields Committee of the Health Council has published its advice on the possible health effects of electromagnetic fields with frequencies intended for 5G [1]. This advice was drawn up in response to questions from the Standing Committee for Health, Welfare and Sport of the House of Representatives. Members of Parliament receive signals from society about (inter)national studies and reports that come to different conclusions that are not always unanimous when it comes to electromagnetic fields and health [2].

First impression
The committee only looked at the relationship between exposure to electromagnetic fields and frequencies intended for 5G with the potential to harm health. The Committee is therefore unable to answer the question of whether exposure to electromagnetic fields with 5G frequencies actually poses health risks. This advice should be regarded as a first step in the risk assessment of 5G.

The committee concludes that a connection between potential health damage and exposure to 5G frequencies that are also used for 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi has not been demonstrated and is also not likely. This also applies to an increased risk of cancer, reduced male fertility, poorer pregnancy outcomes and birth defects. However, these risks cannot be ruled out. The committee also considers it likely that exposure is associated with changes in electrical activity in the brain. It is not known what this means for health. The committee does not make a statement about the potential for health damage from 5G frequencies around 26 GHz because hardly any research has been done on this subject.

Because the lower frequency bands for 5G (up to 3.5 GHz) have been in use for telecom applications and Wi-Fi for years, without this having led to proven health damage, the Health Council sees no reason to stop or limit the use of these frequency bands. The committee advises to use the latest ICNIRP exposure limits. In addition, because of the health damage that cannot be ruled out, the committee advises to keep exposure as low as reasonably possible as a precaution and to conduct further research into this. For the frequencies around 26 GHz, the committee advises to wait with putting them into use until further research has been conducted.

The Knowledge Platform mainly sees the advice to wait with the introduction of frequencies around 26 GHz as a new element. The Knowledge Platform endorses the need for more research into this. The Knowledge Platform wonders whether further research into the harmful effects that cannot be ruled out at the current lower frequencies will lead to clearer conclusions. The Knowledge Platform certainly considers research into the consequences of the introduction of 5G for exposure to be useful.

Background
The fact that the Health Council committee cannot yet answer all the questions from the House of Representatives is mainly due to the limited time the committee had, which meant that it could not perform an extensive analysis of the scientific data. The committee was only able to look at the potential for health damage, but not at which exposure levels health damage occurs and whether there may be a threshold value below which no damage occurs. For this, it refers to the WHO, which is conducting such an analysis and which should be completed in 2022. If the WHO report contains indications of harmful effects below the current exposure limits, this could lead to a tightening of those limits.

It is especially useful to research the new frequencies of 5G around 26 GHz, because little is known about them.

Research into exposure to lower frequencies is useful in answering the question of whether this will change due to the introduction of 5G. It can also provide insight into the effectiveness of measures to keep exposure as low as reasonably possible. It is important to try to distinguish between people who do and do not use 5G. This is important because there is a group of people in the Netherlands who want to be exposed to 5G as little as possible or not at all. Exposure to all frequencies intended for 5G must remain below the exposure limits. Although the electromagnetic fields of 5G frequencies can already be measured and tested against the exposure limits, work is still underway to develop an internationally recognised measurement method for 5G.