The population health effects from 5G: Controlling the narrative

Abstract

The development and implementation of the fifth-generation wireless technology (5G) are currently ongoing and have largely been met with enthusiasm from the telecommunication industry, applications industries, national governments, and the public. However, 5G has also been met with resistance from anti-5G campaigning organizations supported by pockets of the general public. Concerns relate to the perception that 5G might increase total exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation, with further concerns around the fact that in addition to the frequency bands used in 3G and 4G, 5G will (and in some places already does) also use frequencies of >6 GHz including a new ∼ 30–300 GHz “high band” with wavelengths from 10 to 1 mm [millimeter waves (MMWs)] (1). Further concerns relate to the use of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technologies and beamforming, and to the implications on infrastructure as 5G requires many additional new small cells. A cursory read of popular and social media provides interesting reading and illustrates how different interpretations of the same information can result in widely varying interpretations, not least compounded by 5G-related conspiracy theories (2). Competing narratives around 5G are also described around geopolitical debates (3). Ideally, the peer-reviewed evidence synthesis literature should be free of these and other non-scientific influences, but in practice, this is rarely, if ever, the case. To explore the narrative that formed the basis for the evaluation of health risks in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, the publications on the topic published during the first critical period of discussion are briefly reviewed and discussed

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