If you've ever walked through a city and spotted tiny cell towers for 5G on the poles of street lights. They look like small boxes however they're actually sending wireless signals from mobile providers to your phone.
The smaller ones are being replaced by the larger, purpose-built cell towers. While they're less noticeable however, they could create issues for users.
The Federal Communications Commission's Radiation Exposure Thresholds
The FCC's Radiation Exposure Thresholds define the maximum amount of time one can expose to electromagnetic energy generated by wireless devices. The limits of exposure are based on scientific data which prove that electromagnetic energy can be harmful to human health.
The rate of absorption called the specific absorption rate (SAR) is an indication of the amount of radiofrequency energy absorption by tissues. It's usually 1.6 Watts per kilogram calculated over one Gram of tissue.
Since 5g is able to transmit at higher frequencies, it has the potential to create more energy on the skin and other directly-exposed body parts. what is a safe distance from a cell tower can lead to various potential harms, including exacerbated appearance of skin disorders like dermatitis, cancer of the skin and cataracts.
Due to the potential for negative effects of 5G radiation, PSU has chosen to set a general localized limits on power density, which is 4mW/cm2 based on the average over 1 cm2, but not to exceed 30 minutes, for all 5G services at 3000 GHz. This limit for localization is in line with the peak SAR spatial-average of 1.6 W/kg, which is averaged over 1 grams of tissues at six GHz.
The FCC's Maximum Exposure Thresholds
Have you ever used a cell phone, you probably know that the safest distance from the tower is at least 400 meters. This is because the power of transmission from the cell tower is significantly increased the farther you are from it.
While this sounds like a good idea however, people who live close to towers might be more susceptible to health issues. For example, a study from 2014 in India discovered that people who lived within 50 meters of cell towers experienced significantly more health complaints than those living further away from the antennas.
But, the study showed that residents who moved to areas further away from cell towers experienced their symptoms improve within a few days. Studies have also demonstrated that exposure to extreme levels of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can lead to brain tumors, cancer as well as other health issues.
This is because RF radiation, which is used in wireless communication can penetrate the human body's outer layer, the skin. This is important to understand since the skin functions as a shield against mechanical injury, infection from pathogenic microorganisms, as well as infiltration of toxic substances. Additionally, it is the biggest organ of the human body and is responsible 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 are based on numerous assumptions that are not supported by evidence from science. This includes the false belief that short-term exposures RF radiations are not harmful due to 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 components of modulated RF signals and the effect of brief bursts of heat caused by RF pulses. These theories are not compatible with the current understanding of biological consequences of RF radiation, and thus they shouldn't be considered for health protection exposure guidelines.
Furthermore to that, ICNIRP and FCC limit the maximum limits of exposure to peak local SARs that are based on the maximum frequency of absorption (psSAR), which can be described as not a reliable dosimetric instrument to determine the degree of exposure to RF radiation. Particularly, psSAR is safe distance to live from cell phone tower when frequencies exceed 6 GHz. Additionally, psSAR hasn't been evaluated for RF radiation exposed to other environmental agents , such like sunlight. The interactions of RF radiations with different environmental agents may cause synergistic or antagonistic impacts. This would result in the risk of having adverse health consequences. For example, co-exposure to RF radiation and sunlight could increase the risk of developing skin cancer, and may also exacerbate other skin conditions like acne.