5G and health
Publications
Publications
- . (2021). Das ITA in den Medien. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/detail/news/das-ita-in-den-medien
- . (2020). Wer kontrolliert die Energie?. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/detail/news/wer-kontrolliert-die-energie
- . (2020). Factcheck 5G & Health ITA-Dossier no. 47 (April 2020; AutorInnen: Karen Kastenhofer, Michael Nentwich). Wien. doi:10.1553/ita-doss-047enDOIDownloadRISENWBIB Abstract
-> Electromagnetic fields have already been considered a potential health risk with previous generations of mobile radio communication. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified mobile phone radiation as “possibly carcinogenic”. To this day, experts continue to discuss this topic with much controversy. -> 5G, the latest generation of mobile phone networks, promises to transmit larger amounts of data with lower latency. Industry 4.0, augmented reality games or the Internet of things rely on such higher performance. -> The assessment of risks and gaps of knowledge enables precautionary regulation and a prudent approach to 5G
- . (2020). Faktencheck 5G & Gesundheit. ITA-Dossier Nr. 47 (März 2020; AutorInnen: Karen Kastenhofer, Michael Nentwich). Wien. doi:10.1553/ita-doss-047
- . (2020). Faktencheck: 5G und Gesundheit in Kürze. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/detail/news/faktencheck-5g-und-gesundheit-in-kuerze
- . (2020). 5G-Mobilfunk und Gesundheit (p. 130). Wien. doi:/10.1553/ITA-pb-ITA-AIT-11
- . (2020). Mehr Forschung zu 5G nötig. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from https://www.oeaw.ac.at/detail/news/mehr-forschung-zu-5g-noetig/
- . (2020). 5G und Gesundheit. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/detail/news/5g-und-gesundheit
- . (2020). 5G-Überblick. Wien. Retrieved from https://epub.oeaw.ac.at/ita/ita-projektberichte/5G_Ueberblick.pdf
Conference Papers/Speeches
Conference Papers/Speeches
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25/11/2022
, Berlin
Karen Kastenhofer:
The role of bodily discomfort in the regulatory discourse on 5G electromagnetic fields
Electromagnetic Waves Matter: Disturbing Air, Bodies, and Infrastructure
Other Invited Lecture
5G will soon be the new mobile network standard, replacing the current LTE network. At 10 gigabits per second, it is about 30 times faster than the current standard, which is of particular interest for the manufacturing industry, internet-of-things or gaming (augmented reality) applications. The electromagnetic fields emitted by 5G mobile radio could also have an impact on our health. This is precisely the topic of this study for the Austrian Parliament, which has been completed with the AIT. It determines whether the current state of knowledge on this new technology can already provide information on possible health consequences.
Fifth generation (5G) mobile radio technology will enable much higher mobile transmission rates than today's mobile radio technologies and is envisaged for countless new fields of application. The new standard is particularly important for industry and the Internet of Things (IoT). 5G can be tailored to specific requirements: In production halls, machines are interconnected, high bandwidths are made available for high-definition video playback, and on the roads, a particularly fast and reliable network with particularly short delay times (latency) might render the control of autonomous vehicles possible. Other possible applications concern, for example, the health sector. In public, 5G is sometimes controversially discussed, especially with regard to possible health risks from radiation.
The ITA prepared the state of the art on the health consequences of high-frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) as they are used in current and next generation mobile radio. In a first step, an inventory of 24 available expert opinions of 14 international aggregators such as the WHO and exemplary national committees is compiled. These appraisals are presented in such a way that the respective areas of validity (which mobile communication generation etc.) are identified. In a second step, the corresponding meta-studies of these internationally recognized and scientifically high-ranking committees on the health consequences of EMF are summarized, taking into account different levels of evidence (evidence, ambiguous findings, gaps of knowledge). In a third step, differences between the expert opinions are put up for discussion. Concludingly, options for responding to the prevailing uncertainty regarding health and 5G are put forward.
Together with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the ITA conducted a study for the Austrian Parliament on the subject of 5G. The focus is on the current state of knowledge on health risks of mobile radio in general and of 5G in particular.
