Radio frequency questions answered
by Kenneth Chan | Feb. 5, 2020
Stories of “radiation” emitted by smart phones radiation have always made me a bit uneasy. In fact, every time I happened across a story highlighting the invisible dangers — with words like HARMFUL, TUMOR or CANCER flashing — I’d reconsider the convenience of carrying my phone in my front pocket.
These concerns were top-of-mind when I attended a Hawaiian Electric safety session about this exact topic: “Radio Frequency (RF) Awareness” led by Andrew Thatcher, a certified health physicist and a leading expert on radio frequency. The session’s aim was to provide information to employees about RF ahead of the rollout of 5th generation wireless (5G) in Hawaii. The technology promises speeds 100 times faster than what we currently enjoy — bringing ideas like self-driving cars and augmented reality closer to actual reality.
But 5G also will require installing many more cell stations because its frequencies don’t travel very far — as little as a few hundred feet in some urban areas. And because these small cells will share real estate on many of our utility poles across the islands, we want to know more for the safety of our line workers and customers.
So, what are the implications of the higher frequency cell signals? The short answer is that it’s safe and that we shouldn’t worry. But as with everything scientific, the full answer from Thatcher’s presentation is a bit more complicated.
There are two main categories that EM radiation falls under: ionizing and non-ionizing.
Ionizing radiation — consisting of ultra-high frequency UV rays, X-rays and gamma-rays — are dangerous. They can break chemical bonds and cause damage to DNA. They’re why we’re encouraged to use sunblock outdoors and wear lead aprons during x-ray exams.
In contrast, the frequencies being used to deliver 5G broadband are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is non-ionizing. Non-ionizing radiation includes TV and radio signals, microwaves, Wi-Fi and infrared. The potential danger from these sources is heat. A high-powered television broadcast antenna easily emits enough power to damage tissue, like how a microwave oven cooks food, whereas the small cell antenna used for 5G is much weaker.
“When I go out and do measurements after installation, I found that they’re really not any different than the background is anyway,” Thatcher told me. “The energy that we’re talking about from a cellular base station is just modest. I mean it’s tens of thousands of times less than is necessary to give us any kind of meaningful heat to the body, it’s just not enough.”
In essence, you’d have to be extremely close to the antennas for an extended period of time for there to be any meaningful exposure, he said. What about the smart meters that will connect our homes and give us the ability to monitor our power usage and help reduce our electric bill? “Generally, the antennas and the power level for those smart meters is about three-tenths of a watt. So, a tiny amount of power,” Thatcher said. These signals are so weak they cannot even be measured inside a home.
It’s a relief to know that as our cities and towns get networked for the future, our lives will not only be more connected and convenient but also that whatever mobile devices I’ll be using in the next few years can stay safely within reach — in my right pants pocket.
Kenneth Chan is a visual communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric Company.
