Technologically the world is moving into 5G networks and because of this shift, different conspiracy about 5G (fifth generation) has begun to emerge which needs to be addressed.
This article isn’t a substitute for scientific research but a collection of opinions of authority in the field of health and radiation physics.
I will be making use of the submissions of three professors of radiation physics at the University of Ibadan (UI) to debunk the narratives in the trending audio on 5G and lay open the conspiracy about 5G.
Firstly, there is a need to sensitize my readers about the advantages of 5G networks. According to IOT solutions, the main advantages of the 5G are a greater speed in the transmissions, lower latency and therefore greater capacity of remote execution, a greater number of connected devices and the possibility of implementing virtual networks (network slicing), providing more adjusted connectivity to concrete needs.
Despite the technological change 5G is bringing into our world, people have been raising concerns about the health implication of 5G and even some have made a connection between it and COVID 19 (Corona Virus).
To allay the fear of people and to burst the myth, I have decided to bring out some of the speeches of my Professors in radiation physics concerning the said topic. I obtained my M.sc at the University of Ibadan and I was thought non-ionizing radiation by Professor Idowu Farai and also taught ionizing radiation by Professor Jibril. The words of these great academics mean a lot to me than any unfounded and unscientific statements.
During an inaugural lecture delivered by Prof Idowu Farai in 2011 at the University of Ibadan, he said
Concerns have been raised over possible detrimental health effects such as cancer, due to radiofrequency (RF) radiation from the GSM base stations. The anxieties have been heightened by some alarmist publications by some of our scientists in the dailies (e.g. The Nation, 25 January 2011). There are speculations that there are some non-thermal health stochastic effects at the low power densities of the GSM operations. The claims include sleep disturbances, dizziness, heart palpitations, headache, blurry sight, swelling, nausea, burning skin, vibrations, and electrical currents in the body, pressure on the breast, cramps, high blood pressure, and general debility. One fundamental problem is that people do not know that there are different radiation types and energies. All crawling animals are not snakes! The energy of a photon in GSM signals is either 4uev (900MHz) or8uev (1800MHz). These energies are a million orders of magnitude less than the minimum radiation energy of about 16eV that can ionize water molecules and lead to the health effects. It may interest us to know that after reflection and absorption by the atmosphere, the intensity of solar radiation bathing us on the earth’s surface is on average, 198W/m2. This is thousands of times more than the power density any base station or even a radio station can emit. Going by the hues and cries on GSM safety, we should all have been killed by sun rays.
He concluded by saying that, the current position of the WHO on these various claims is based on a recent review by 31 scientists from 14 countries in France (WHO/IARC2011). The review is to classify RF electromagnetic radiation as possibly carcinogenic underclass 2E, which means that there is limited evidence in humans, and less sufficient in experimental animals to show the link between RF exposure and cancer.
5G came out in 2019 but wasn’t popular in some countries of the world but in the year 2020 people started getting aware of the network. As 5G gets more popular, it started attracting various concerns and criticism from different quarters. And one of them was that there is a connection between 5G networks and COVID 19.
The trend of this topic “conspiracy of 5G” made three professors of radiation physics at UI to debunk the narratives in the trending audio on 5G.
Hear what they have to say:
The man who made this audio message can be likened to someone who is interpreting a strange language he has never studied. He does not know what he’s saying. In a simple language, the so-called 5G (fifth generation) is a transmission at a far higher frequency range than 4G. This feature implies the transmission of greater quantum of energy (signal) per time, hence heavy data (such as images) will download faster and will be transmitted at a higher resolution. Meanwhile, this may require more booster antennas at closer ranges to travel very far because high-frequency signals get attenuated faster than low-frequency signals. In short 5G will be able to accommodate larger data than 4G. Generally, people have always displayed some fear each time a new technology arose. The fear attributed to mobile technology is that the signals (waves) are injurious to humans. Meanwhile all mobile signals most fall within microwaves (the extreme end of radio waves) which are non-ionizing radiations. Ionizing radiations like x-rays and gamma rays have far higher frequencies and exposure to the human body may be injurious. However, are not used for mobile telecommunication. The man’s use of the word ‘radioactive’ reveals that he is completely ignorant of what he claims to be explaining. The word Radioactive is from Radioactivity which is a completely different phenomenon from a radio wave. Technology is more than speculation. It is a product of basic scientific theories.
Dr. Popoola (Physics department UI)
I don’t understand the over-stretching of a simple scientific matter. Simple basic physics which our Prof. Farai has laid to rest for us as a guru in the Radiation business. Use E = hf from modern Physics and the frequencies or the wavelengths of the regions for the G’s what amount of energy do you arrive at. Just like Prof. Farai said, mixing up non-ionizing radiation sources to be Radioactive is a simple QED ignoramus!!
Prof. Jibril (Physics Department UI)
I hope we will all understand the nonsense in this video from this simple explanation. Communication networks of whatever G, for now, and soon, are generally in frequencies of the order of GigaHertz (GHz or 10⁹ Hz). Thank God the video revealed this much. Meanwhile, the bulk of the energy from the sun (solar radiation) is in the UV frequency range (i.e.10¹⁵ Hz). Now I ask, how can mankind, who has been bathing under the shower of UV radiation from the sun over the ages, now be under any threat of radiation of energy over 1 million times less energy than UV radiation? That is one point. Most importantly for us on this platform, there is no application of a technology that is not under any regulatory control by international bodies made up of experts from all parts of the globe. Most of us have one thing or the other to do with such bodies as WHO, ICNIRC, UNSCEAR, etc. If they are unaware of the fears expressed in this video or have been compromised, then we are all guilty. We should stop attending their programmes.
Prof. Farai (Physics department UI)
Other Physicists’ view on the subject
In conclusion, any statement that has no scientific backing shouldn’t be welcomed by the public. I don’t know the intent behind the conspiracy about 5G but any scientifically baseless argument shouldn’t be embraced.
