Evaluation Engineering - 2

@TWITTER.COM/EEEDITORMIKE
MHOCKETT@EVALUATIONENGINEERING.COM

How safe are 5G signals?
I know, I know, it's another 5G editorial.
Yes, we at Evaluation Engineering have
covered developments in 5G extensively, given
that the fifth generation of wireless connectivity is rightfully all the rage, and will be for at
least the next several years. But there's an
aspect of 5G that we haven't really touched
on since its inception: How safe is it? As in,
how safe to us humans are the ultra-fast, ultrahigh frequency signals that 5G will rely upon?
We all know that higher exposure to radiation increases the risk for various cancers and
other ailments. We're currently being exposed
to radiation, both from natural sources like
the sun, soil, outer space, and food, along with
human-made radiation caused by our TVs,
cellphones, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth devices. I'm
sure many of us have seen the news reports
linking cellphone radiation to cancer.
So, with 5G promising to ramp up signal
strength and speed, along with multiplying
the amount of signals constantly being passed
through our bodies, should we concerned for
our health?
In 2011, the World Health Organization
(WHO) classified radio frequency electromagnetic radiation-the kind that comes
from cellphones-as possibly carcinogenic
to humans. Several proponents saying 5G is
a health risk point to that classification as a
key pillar in their arguments. But the chair of
the group of experts that made that classification recently told CNBC that it was based on
several human epidemiological studies that
pointed to a link between cellphone radiation
and cancer, while laboratory evidence and
very limited animal evidence didn't provide
much of a link between the two. That's why
the classification was only "possible," adding
that the science still isn't there yet to make a
complete determination either way.
With today's media cycles and people's
short attention spans, laypersons tend to
hear the word "possibly" when it comes to
health risks and assume the worst, just as
searching for flu symptoms on WebMD.com
can quickly lead one to think that a common
cold symptom means something dire.

EVALUATION ENGINEERING JUNE 2019

Today, the most well-known health governing agencies and associations that study this
topic-including WHO, the Centers for Disease
Control, the Federal Communications Commission, the Food and Drug Administration,
and the National Cancer Institute-all agree
that there is no direct evidence that cellphone
radiation is causing adverse health effects.
I'm not an oncologist or a health expert,
but what is known is that exposure to enough
of any electromagnetic frequency affects the
human body by heating it. That's how microwave ovens work, and why there are limits as
to how powerful cellphone radiation can be.
But don't worry, 5G won't cook us.
Jerrold Bushberg, clinical professor of radiology and radiation oncology at UC Davis,
told CNBC that for 5G, "the amount of RF
energy being transmitted is very, very low and
would need to be thousands of times greater
to even be felt by the body as a heat source,
much less cause any harm to the body."
What about mutation? Another known fact
is that enough radiation can make changes
to the atoms in the cells in the human body,
which can lead to cancer. It's the reason radiation therapy can be used to treat cancer
by damaging the atoms in cancer cells. But
Bushberg calmed that concern as well, explaining that, unlike with deadly ionizing
radiation, the human body easily normalizes
any additional heat from RF energy.
In terms of radiation, 3G and 4G frequencies hover in the 1 to 2 GHz range, while 5G
will ramp up as high as 70 GHz. Still, nonionizing radiation doesn't change to ionizing
radiation until that frequency level gets to
about 2.4 million GHz.
Even with all this information, no industry expert can say without a doubt that 5G
is 100% safe to the human body. But there
just isn't enough evidence to say that 5G is
even 0.1% unsafe. As always, more research
is needed.

96.8 BILLION
Worldwide semiconductor
sales during Q1 2019

13%
Decrease year-over-year
during Q1
Source: Semiconductor Industry Association

19.1%
Year-over-year North American
PCB sales increase in March 2019
Source: IPC

3.051 BILLION
Square inches of silicon
wafers shipped in Q1 2019

1.1%
Year-over-year decrease in silicon
wafer shipments in Q1 2019
Source: SEMI

29.27 BILLION
Design automation market
value predicted by 2027

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Source: Reportlinker

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Evaluation Engineering

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