Fact vs. Fiction: the Environmental Effects of 5G

With the fifth generation of wireless communication looming, companies like Verizon and consumers around the world are waiting for the “giant leap” being promised with 5G. According to PC Magazine, 4G (the current generation) has a speed of approximately two gigabytes per second, but 5G is estimated to max out 10 times faster than its predecessor.

Photo by Jack Sloop on Unsplash

Faster means better, right? 5G technology is an obvious upgrade in terms of ability and sky-high potential for wireless users, but there is a growing concern among some consumers about the environmental and human health impact of 5G. Articles online pop up consistently about concerns ranging from microwaves frying your brain, killing all the birds, to the environmental impacts on trees and natural habitats when installing 5G towers everywhere.

“Some 5G pundits contend that the new network generates radio-frequency radiation that can damage DNA and lead to cancer; cause oxidative damage that can cause premature aging; disrupt cell metabolism; and potentially lead to other diseases through the generation of stress proteins,” Dave Johnson wrote on June 6 for How to Geek magazine.

While these concerns may seem like First-World problems that come with new innovations like 5G, they are the same claims that were being made 15 years ago during the incorporation of the former generation of wireless technology. According to a World Health Organization fact sheet written in 2006, concerns about the effects of long-term exposure to radio frequency waves on human beings and wildlife were popping up everywhere. 

The WHO fact sheet states that “recent surveys have indicated RF exposures from base stations and wireless technologies in publicly accessible areas (including schools and hospitals) are normally thousands of times below international standards.”

Although scientists have declared normal 4G and Wi-Fi levels of radio frequency safe, pundits claim that the use of “millimeter wave” technology changes things. Millimeter waves (or mmW) are extremely high frequency electromagnetic waves that fall in the spectrum directly above the super-high frequency band our common cell phones and other wireless technology use. The use of these waves creates new lanes in the communication highway.

Colorado State University electrical engineering Ph.D. program graduate Dr. Fatah Elsharif says, “The notion that these millimeter waves are less safe than the standard centimeter waves is kind of comical. Your PlayStation connecting to Wi-Fi produces around five gigahertz, and the start of the spectrum for 5G is at six gigahertz. So, if you have no problem connecting all these devices to your Wi-Fi, why are you concerned about one gigahertz more for 5G? Do you really think it would make that much of a difference?”

Dr. Elsharif while defending his Ph.D. research on 5G counter-hacking security measures .

Another roadblock in the idea that millimeter waves are more dangerous comes from the way they propagate. 5G’s waves are more easily absorbed by buildings and foliage. 

“These millimeter waves can’t even go through walls,” Elsharif said. “They work on a line-of-site basis and won’t penetrate nearly the same way your standard 4G will. In open space, these shorter waves will not even make it a kilometer.”

One of the concerns with the smaller area the millimeter waves cover is the need 5G will have for significantly more base stations to propagate signal. Environmentalists are concerned about the possibility that thousands more base stations will have negative impacts on the environment. 

“It is true that the shorter waves will mean there is a need for more base stations to be built, but it won’t be the same kind of giant cellphone towers you see currently,” Elsharif says. “Your standard router for Wi-Fi in your home, or even smaller, is about the size you will see, although there is currently no standard size for these things.” 

Tech journalist Tim Childers wrote in a July 17 article for Live Science Magazine that while 5G will require many antennas spaced closely together, they require significantly less power and can be placed on top of buildings and light poles. These miniaturized base stations will also allow for hundreds more antennas to attach to each station, letting significantly more users connect to each one. Less energy, smaller size and more connectivity make these 5G base stations extremely efficient compared to their counterparts.

“The truth is that there isn’t enough evidence out yet about the environmental effects of these waves,” Elsharif says. “I am not a biologist, so I can’t tell you what these waves can do to the trees, but I have not seen anything credible from the scientific community to tell me millimeter waves are a threat to humans, birds or anything else in the environment.”