ANSES confirms that 5G will not lead to new health risks

taketonews

In April 2021, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) issued its opinion on the deployment of 5G and its effects on health. Almost ten months later, the scientific body provided some details on its estimate of the unlikely risk of 5G on health.

Public consultation and further scientific studies on 5G

In its report, ANSES explained that it had not identified ” no new health risks based on available data on 5G compared to other generations. However, it called for further research, in particular on the exposure of people and on the 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bandwidths, for which it deplored a lack of scientific data.

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After publishing its opinion on the assessment of the health effects associated with 5G, ANSES deemed it useful to organize a public consultation on these documents. Between April 20 and June 1, 2021, more than 200 contributions from associations, citizens and industrialists were collected. ANSES also reviewed the first exposure measurements ” in the vicinity of 5G relay antennas made by the National Frequency Agency (ANFR).

” This consultation allowed us to better explain our approach, while specifying the arguments that support our conclusions. “, specified Olivier Merckel, head of the unit of evaluation of the risks related to the physical agents.

ANSES’s initial conclusions confirmed

In the update of February 17 the agency confirms that all the new elements that have been brought to it ” confirm the initial conclusions “. Thereby :

  • Overall EMF exposure levels will be comparable to or slightly higher than existing technologies. The frequency bands between 700 MHz and 2.1 GHz are already used by 3G and 4G. The same applies to the 3.5 GHz frequency band. It is therefore unlikely that this deployment will lead to new health risks, compared to the results of expert assessments on previous generations.
  • The opinion on the 26GHz frequency band not used in France for the deployment of 5G is still pending. Indeed, ANSES considers that there are still too few data on this subject to conclude on possible health effects.
  • ANSES wishes to continue producing data in order to monitor changes in the exposure of populations to 5G as it expands throughout the country. Arriving in Paris in March 2021, 5G is being rolled out gradually in major French cities. Nevertheless, Europe is clearly lagging behind the United States and China in terms of its adoption.

The next challenge for the Agency will be to identify the environmental and societal impacts of digital technology and therefore indirectly of 5G as soon as possible.



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