Question from Barbara: I know that we’re all supposed to be using 5G cell phones in the not so distant future.
I’ve been hearing conflicting reports about whether 5G is safe or not.
I’ve tried to research this for myself and found that some “experts” say the radio frequencies used for 5G can cause cancer while others say they won’t.
Can you clear this up for me once and for all? Are 5G phones safe to use?
Rick’s answer: I’d love to clear this issue up for you Barbara, but I’m afraid that won’t be possible at this present time.
Researchers at the FDA, the FCC and other relevant organizations are doing their best to come up with the answers we all need, but as of right now the only definite answer they have to your question is “probably”.
The FDA discusses this issue at length in this article on their website, and this is the conclusion they have drawn based on their studies to date:
“The current limit on radio frequency (RF) energy set by the Federal Communications Commission remains acceptable for protecting the public health. The FDA recently provided an updated assessment of the current limits based on the currently available scientific evidence.
To date, there is no consistent or credible scientific evidence of health problems caused by the exposure to radio frequency energy emitted by cell phones.”
The FDA’s doctors, scientists and engineers continually monitor the scientific studies and public health data for evidence that radio frequency energy from cell phones could cause adverse health effects. If a credible risk is detected, the FDA will work closely with other federal partners to mitigate the risk.
The gold standard for the assessment of risk to public health remains the data and information that is available from studying effects on humans (emphasis mine). The currently available epidemiological studies, public health surveillance data, and supportive laboratory studies on cell phone radiation provide abundant evidence to support the FDA’s determination.”
Sounds pretty reassuring, right? In a nutshell, their research hasn’t yet found a link between RF radiation and cancer.
Here’s the final conclusion they arrived at in regards to 5G specifically:
“The FDA is responsible for, among other things, ensuring cell phones – and any radiation-emitting electronic product – are safe for the public to use. This includes, understanding the health risks (if any) of new electronic products that emit radiation as they become widely available to the U.S. public, such as 5G cell phones. While many of the specifics of 5G remain ill-defined (emphasis mine), it is known that 5G cell phones will use frequencies covered by the current FCC exposure guidelines (300 kHz-100 GHz), and the conclusions reached based on the current body of scientific evidence covers these frequencies. The FDA will continue to monitor scientific information as it becomes available regarding the potential impacts of 5G (again, emphasis mine).”
The problem is there hasn’t yet been any long-term and widespread research into how 5G radiation effects the human body because 5G hasn’t been fully rolled out to the masses yet.
While 5G could ultimately be found to be completely harmless to humans, there simply isn’t enough hard data to reach a definitive conclusion either way at this point in time.
I guess you might say we’re all going to be participating in this very important study once 5G is rolled out to all of our neighborhoods.
I apologize for not being able to “clear this up” for you Barbara, but unfortunately I just can’t – at least not right now.
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