(RightWing.org) – Cellphones and tablets have become a way of life for most of the world, especially Americans, who use them for everything from personal entertainment to business. Over the past few decades, the technology has steadily increased to the point that we now have lightning-fast 5G connectivity that allows us to reach people across the world in seconds. However, according to scientists, this level of high-speed data transfer isn’t without its drawbacks. And some, they fear, could even be potentially deadly.
The Growth of Cellular Technology
In 1983, four years after the service was available in Japan, Americans got access to 1G technology. It’s widely outdated now, with Russia reportedly having the last remaining 1G network. From there, 2G and 3G networks came into existence about 10 years apart from each other and changed how people communicated, essentially paving the way for smartphones. Next came 4G service, which was introduced in 2009 and remained the go-to until 5G was introduced in 2019. It’s still not available globally, but it’s widespread in the United States. It also operates on much higher frequencies, and that’s what has scientists concerned.
Concerns About Electromagnetic Radiation
The main concern with telecommunications networks is that they use electromagnetic radiation in order to transmit information, and this radiation can potentially cause health issues. Scientific studies have shown to be inconsistent, but one person thinks there’s a reason for that.
Henry Lai, a research professor at the University of Washington, examined more than 200 studies examining how radiation from cellphones affects people. The disconnect between them seems to depend on whether or not the papers were funded by those in the industry or independents. In fact, 75% of independent studies showed a correlation between cellphone use and a biological effect, while only 25% of industry-funded did the same.
Is There a Connection Between Cellphone Use and Health Issues?
Experts are still torn about whether there is a connection as well. Christopher Collins, Ph.D., a radiology professor at New York University, said, according to Forbes, that there’s a difference between ionizing and non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMFs). Ionizing EMFs are the ones that can potentially cause cancer in humans because they have much higher radiation levels than their non-ionizing counterparts.
Applying that to gigahertz (GHz), Collins says it would take approximately 3 million GHz for electromagnetic radiation to pose a danger. Currently, 5G technology only operates on two frequencies: 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz, nowhere close to the 3 million mark.
But what about how the body absorbs millimeter waves? These are extremely high-frequency waves that operate between 30 and 300 GHz. Martin Pall, professor emeritus of biochemistry and medical sciences at Washington State University, and Magda Havas, who specializes in health electromagnetic health effects, believe that the skin can absorb these and, as a result, cause some health issues.
It’s apparent that there still needs to be a lot of research on the matter, but even then, there are likely to be conflicting opinions.
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