5G uses a specific frequency of radio waves to deliver the internet to mobile devices, just like 4G and 3G before that.
This type of radiation, and for that matter much stronger radiation, is commonly part of our daily lives.
In the UK, existing 4G signals sit between 800MHz and 2.6GHz. Whereas 5G will operate at 700MHz and 3.4GHz to 3.6GHz – the TV remote you use several times a day operates at 5.8GHz.
Visible light is also a type of radiation, for example the light from your TV or a lightbulb. This is much higher than these everyday items, but it is still classed as non-ionising, and therefore not associated with any adverse health effects. Visible light operates at a frequency 100,000 times higher than 5G.
Dangerous radiation that can cause harm from prolonged exposure like UV rays from the sun, X-rays and gamma rays are even higher up the spectrum – operating at frequencies a quadrillion times higher than 5G.
Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, states: “All frequencies that are currently and will in future be used for 5G fall within the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that includes radiation which is classed as ‘non-ionising’. This means that these radio waves do not carry enough energy to directly damage cells. This is different from ‘ionising’ radiation, which is generally considered to be hazardous to humans and includes gamma (nuclear) radiation as well as x-rays, which occur at the higher frequency end of the electromagnetic spectrum.”
