No, 5G does not present “new risks” to health.
According to the first conclusions made this Tuesday by the National Health Security Agency (ANSES), the “5th generation” mobile technology, being deployed in France and a matter of heated debate, is without risk to human health.
ANSES is in charge of evaluating the possible health effects of exposure of the population to 5G electromagnetic fields.
The publication of its final report is scheduled for the next school year in September, with recommendations.
But the first findings communicated on Tuesday give an idea of the content of the report.
Two new frequency bands
“The major difference displayed between 5G and mobile networks of previous generations is the much larger quantity of data that should be able to be exchanged without network congestion,” ANSES recalls on its site.
It is this quantity of data that challenges opponents to its deployment.
The deployment of 5G involves the creation of two new frequency bands: the 3.5 GHz band and the 26 GHz band.
“ANSES's expert appraisal work will focus on possible biological or health effects, which would be specifically attributed to the new 5G frequency bands,” the agency said on its website.
A priori, the first observations on these effects would therefore be reassuring.
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“The health risks vary according to the degree of absorption of frequencies by the body,” specifies ANSES.
The more the frequency of electromagnetic waves increases, the more the waves are absorbed by the surface layers of the skin.
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Nantes will wait for the final report from ANSES to decide
In an interim report published in November 2019 on the progress of the work, ANSES noted “a significant lack, or even an absence of data relating to the potential biological and health effects in the frequency bands considered”.
The conclusions published today are only a preview of the report expected at the start of the school year.
The metropolis of Nantes has chosen to be precautionary and will wait for the full report from ANSES to “turn on” or not 5G near its schools and nurseries.
“To date, Nantes will probably be the only city in France where this particular precaution will be taken for our children,” boasted on April 13 Johanna Rolland, the city councilor and president of the Nantes metropolis.
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About thirty branches are located less than 100 meters from a school or a nursery on the territory of the metropolis.
"We are on the precautionary principle," insists Francky Trichet, vice-president of digital innovation within the Nantes community.
If the report does not make any reservations about dangerousness (...), this precautionary principle, by default, falls.
»Final answer in September.
