Scientists, experts rule 5G safe, does not cause cancer

The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) recently updated its Guidelines on Limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields, ruling 5G bands safe for consumers. This is the first time since 1998 the organization has updated these guidelines to protect humans from radiation caused by cell networks, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Though it sees no evidence 5G has any serious negative impact on human health, the standards body is implementing tighter restrictions moving forward.

“When we revised the guidelines, we looked at the adequacy of the ones we published in 1998. We found that the previous ones were conservative in most cases, and they’d still provide adequate protection for current technologies,” said ICNIRP Chairman Dr. Eric van Rongen. “However, the new guidelines provide better and more detailed exposure guidance in particular for the higher frequency range, above 6GHz, which is of importance to 5G and future technologies using these higher frequencies.”

Related: 5G is not going to microwave your brain: All the myths, debunked

These new restrictions will not affect 5G masts or cell towers, but instead, focus on mobile devices themselves. And since these slightly more conservative restrictions target 5G frequencies above 6GHz, these guidelines really only affect future devices supporting mmWave.

According to the BBC, the GSMA claims this will not affect any current 5G phones since they already fall within what the new guidelines deem safe.

“We know parts of the community are concerned about the safety of 5G and we hope the updated guidelines will help put people at ease,” said van Rongen.