Review date
September 2023
Article publication date
16 August 2023
Summary
This report discusses the measurement of 5G communication signals outdoors in Bilbao, Spain. These measurements were taken at multiple locations and for multiple frequency bands. The measured values were compared to previous measurements from the previous year and to public safety limits. It was found that radiofrequency electromagnetic energy (RF-EME) levels had slightly increased when compared to the previous year, however they were greatly below international safety guidelines provided by the ICNIRP.
Link to
Measurements and analysis of 5G mobile communications signals in outdoor environments
Published in
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
ARPANSA commentary
This study found that 5G exposure levels in population-dense urban environments were well below public safety limits.
The finding that 5G measurements have remained well below safety limits is consistent with previous studies (Chountala et al., 2021, Celaya-Echarri et al., 2020) including a recent study conducted in Australia by ARPANSA (Henderson et al 2023). Limitations to this study include that only four locations were surveyed, and each were in relatively urban environments. Thus, whilst these measurements may be representative of exposures in population-dense cities, this may be less true for more rural environments.
Whilst there was a year-on-year increase found in RF-EME for frequencies in the 5G frequency range, this does not mean that RF-EME exposure is increasing overall. Other studies (Manassas et al., 2023) have indicated that RF-EME exposure is not continuously increasing but has increased and decreased at various points in time.
Australian public safety limits for RF-EME exposure, including 5G, are described in the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) safety standard. These limits are well below levels at which harm from RF-EME exposure may occur. These limits are in line with the international guidelines set by ICNIRP.
