Is 5G harmful to humans and environment? Here's what WHO, Juhi Chawla have to say

There have been several concerns with the effects of 5G technology. Many famous people around the globe have raised concerns against the rapid roll-out of the 5G technology. 

One such celebrity is Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla, who said that the technology should not be implemented without analyzing the harmful effects of radiofrequency. Juhi has filed a suit against the implementation of 5G in India. The actress believes RF radiation from wire-free gadgets and network cell towers are extremely harmful and injurious to the health and safety of the people.

An official statement from Juhi Chawla's spokesperson on the suit being filed reads, '𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 ,𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 5𝐆 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚, 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐟, 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐅 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 ‘5𝐆’ 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞, 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.' 

Let us now look at what is 5G and how it can affect us:

What is 5G?

The term 5G refers to the fifth generation of mobile technology. With 5G internet is supposed to become super-fast. It will become 1000x faster than the present 4G we are using to put this in numbers. They will have a bandwidth of 100 GB per second. The frequency used by 5G is not crowded with current devices. Since 3G and 4G use the same spectrum, there are huge interferences. Moreover, unlike 360 degree towers of 4G, 5G antennas are directional, leading to lower interferences. 

So, Is 5G harmful to us?

Ever since the roll-out of 5G worldwide, there have been many allegations about its safety. There was a report that it caused the death of hundreds of birds in Netherland. However, the information later was proved to be a hoax. But why do people condemn 5G?

Mainly because the waves cannot travel long distances like 4G, so there will be many more antennas. Possibly as high as one antenna every 100-200 meters. This has raised suspicion. 

There are two very different and distinct opinion that institutions hold on this issue:

- Most governments are trying to reassure the citizen that the radiations from the 5G networks are entirely safe. Many scientists also argue that concise range and short wavelength radiation are non-ionizing and thus non-harmful.

- However, some scientists have argued that even exposure to a non-ionizing electromagnetic field can harm us. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified that these radiations can be "possibly carcinogenic to humans" and a study conducted by the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) found clear evidence that exposure to cell phone non-ionizing radiofrequency radiation increased cancer and damaged DNA in rats and mice. 

As per a statement by the WHO, “To date, no adverse health effects from low level, long term exposure to radiofrequency or power frequency fields have been confirmed, but scientists are actively continuing to research this area.”

So, what’s the solution?

We must understand that 5G is indeed the future. With the pace of internet deployment and adoption, it is impossible to escape being a part of it. So, there are only a few options:

- There must be proper research and a basis for proper guidelines for implementation, considering the safety of humans and the environment.

- On a personal front, we should limit our exposure to smartphone and devices. Limiting exposure will limit the harmful effects of radiation if any.

• Juhi Chawla
• WHO