5G vs health

Anyone who has been on Facebook of late will have encountered conspiracy theory memes around coronavirus and 5G. Having got caught up in some madness about global economy and the threat of international war a number of years ago I have come to require good sources of information, and to try to understand them well before getting on board with alarming claims. I have no desire to participate in perpetuating the foaming-at-the-mouth conspiracy theory mentality adopted by many concerning 5G and covid19. That said, I do believe that where there is credible information regarding an issue, that it should be brought to the attention of those who are concerned about that issue, and those who aren't concerned when perhaps they should be, even if just a little.

With this in mind I would like to say that I have found credible research regarding the impact on health of man-made EMFs which will include, but is not limited to: Bluetooth, Wifi, 3G mobile tech, 4G and yes 5G. For this post let's start with a paper published in the journal Pathophysiology titled "Disturbance of the immune system by electromagnetic fields-A potentially underlying cause for cellular damage and tissue repair reduction which could lead to disease and impairment."[1] whose abstract concludes with:

"...it must be concluded that the existing public safety limits are inadequate to protect public health, and that new public safety limits, as well as limits on further deployment of untested technologies, are warranted."

I am currently unable to access the journal that it is published in since https://pathophysiologyjournal.com is currently overwhelmed with visitors, so I can't list the proper citation here, but the link to the pubmed listing is at the end of this article.

Already 5G and covid19 conspiracy theorists are touting this paper as proof of their beliefs, but I would urge caution in jumping to such conclusions.

The first thing to note is that, and according to [2]: "The reference values for RF radiation 10 MHz to 300 GHz were recommended in 1998 by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) to 2–10 W/m2 depending on frequency (26). This reference value protects against injuries caused by a heating effect over 1°C after an exposure of 30 min, and with a safety factor of 50." 

Lennart Hardell raised the alarm that in places in Stockholm he was able to measure as much as 69 millwatts per square metre RF power, which was much higher than the ICNIRP reference values. This however needs to be put into context with the 140 Watts per square metre, on average (sometimes much higher), of non-ionizing radiation that the Sun irradiates the people of Stockholm with [3]. That is to say just walking down the street in Stockholm you are exposed to 2029 times as much heat generating radiation from the Sun as you are from the worst RF 'hotspots' in Stockholm that Hardnell et al recorded.

One thing that is fair to say is that RF exposure is increasing year on year as wireless technologies are being adopted for more and more applications, and not just mobile phones. Given that the reference values for RF radiation 10 MHz to 300 GHz were recommended in 1998 by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), it is clear that the safety reference levels are very much overdue for revision.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19398310
[2] "Measurements of Radiofrequency Radiation with a Body-Borne Exposimeter in Swedish Schools with Wi-Fi", Lena K. Hedendahl1*, Michael Carlberg, Tarmo Koppeland, Lennart Hardell, Oncology Letters 2017  (pubmed link)
[3] Global Solar Atlas (website) + Stockholm 59°20'40", 18°05'01"