Department of Health Technologies, School of Information Technologies, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia.
Department of Business Administration, School of Business and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia.
Int J Radiat Biol. 2022;98(7):1210-1221. doi: 10.1080/09553002.2022.2026516. Epub 2022 Jan 31.
The deployment of new 5G NR technology has significantly raised public concerns in possible negative effects on human health by radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF). The current review is aimed to clarify the differences between possible health effects caused by the various generations of telecommunication technology, especially discussing and projecting possible health effects by 5G. The review of experimental studies on the human brain over the last fifteen years and the discussion on physical mechanisms and factors determining the dependence of the RF EMF effects on frequency and signal structure have been performed to discover and explain the possible distinctions between health effects by different telecommunication generations.
The human experimental studies on RF EMF effects on the human brain by 2G, 3G and 4G at frequencies from 450 to 2500 MHz were available for analyses. The search for publications indicated no human experimental studies by 5G nor at the RF EMF frequencies higher than 2500 MHz. The results of the current review demonstrate no consistent relationship between the character of RF EMF effects and parameters of exposure by different generations (2G, 3G, and 4G) of telecommunication technology. At the RF EMF frequencies lower than 10 GHz, the impact of 5G NR FR1 should have no principal differences compared to the previous generations. The radio frequencies used in 5G are even higher and the penetration depths of the fields are smaller; therefore, the effect is rather lower than at previous generations. At the RF EMF frequencies higher than 10 GHz, the mechanism of the effects might differ and the impact of 5G NR FR2 becomes unpredictable. Existing knowledge about the mechanism of RF EMF effects at millimeter waves lacks sufficient experimental data and theoretical models for reliable conclusions. The insufficient knowledge about the possible health effects at millimeter waves and the lack of in vivo experimental studies on 5G NR underline an urgent need for the theoretical and experimental investigations of health effects by 5G NR, especially by 5G NR FR2.
新的 5G NR 技术的部署引起了公众对射频电磁场（RF EMF）可能对人类健康产生负面影响的极大关注。本综述旨在阐明不同代电信技术可能导致的健康影响之间的差异，特别是讨论和预测 5G 可能产生的健康影响。对过去十五年中人类大脑的实验研究进行了回顾，并对决定 RF EMF 效应随频率和信号结构变化的物理机制和因素进行了讨论，以发现和解释不同电信代际健康效应之间的可能区别。
可用于分析 450 至 2500 MHz 频率范围内 2G、3G 和 4G 对人类大脑的 RF EMF 影响的人类实验研究。搜索出版物表明，没有关于 5G 或高于 2500 MHz 的 RF EMF 频率的人类实验研究。本综述的结果表明，不同代（2G、3G 和 4G）电信技术的 RF EMF 效应特征与暴露参数之间没有一致的关系。在低于 10 GHz 的 RF EMF 频率下，与前几代相比，5G NR FR1 的 FR1 应不会产生主要差异。5G 使用的无线电频率更高，场的穿透深度更小；因此，效果比前几代要低。在高于 10 GHz 的 RF EMF 频率下，作用机制可能会有所不同，5G NR FR2 的影响变得不可预测。关于毫米波 RF EMF 效应机制的现有知识缺乏足够的实验数据和可靠结论的理论模型。关于毫米波可能产生的健康影响的知识不足以及缺乏对 5G NR 的体内实验研究突显了对 5G NR 健康影响的理论和实验研究的迫切需要，特别是对 5G NR FR2 的研究。
