19 MAY 2021, By David O Royal

The Senate has approved the deployment of the 5G network in Nigeria, following the outcome of investigations by a Joint Committee mandated to carry out same.

The approval followed the consideration of the report of the Joint Committee on Communications, Science and Technology, ICT and Cyber Crimes, and Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases.

The report was laid and presented by the Chairman, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC, Lagos Central), during plenary on Wednesday.

The upper chamber during consideration of the report, adopted the Joint Committee’s recommendations which were outcomes of investigation into the Status of 5G Network in Nigeria and its technological impact on Nigerian citizens.

Excerpt:

Though no license has been issued to any Mobile Number Operator on commercial basis, Nigeria should still observe the trend of 5G deployments around the globe and engage in extensive sensitization of the public through all channels before commencement of commercial deployments in the country.

Accordingly, the Upper Chamber urged relevant Government Agencies to embark on preparing the ground by putting the necessary infrastructure and technology in place for its eventual deployment.

It emphasized that, “this period of ground preparation is expected to be utilized to complete feasibility studies for the various broadband projects in order to ascertain actual cost implications for their implementation, complete sustainability plans, provide enabling environment including free Right of Way (ROW); tax waivers, sustainable power supply, improve security of men, materials, and equipment, eliminate multiple regulations and charges, recognize telecommunications infrastructure as public utility infrastructure; and engender public trust and confidence.”

“It is imperative that intense safety standards and precaution, based on available evidence, are put in place for wireless radiation system ahead of wide scale implementation,” the upper chamber advised.

It added that given the infancy of the technology across the globe and claims and counterclaims surrounding the probability of health injury posed to public health by the level of exposure to radio frequency, further attention should be given to testing and researching potential health risk that may arise from the deployment of 5G network Nigeria, considering real-life situation rather than just laboratory conditions.

Read the article at https://allafrica.com/stories/202105200104.html

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Table 1. Data gaps in knowledge related to low frequency electric and magnetic fields and health.

https://www.icnirp.org/cms/upload/publications/ICNIRPlfgaps2020.pdf

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32251081/

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Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (100 kHz to 300 GHz) Health Phys 118(5):483-524; 2020. (This publication was published ahead of print in March 2020). 

Further information on the new ICNIRP RF EMF Guidelines

The ICNIRP Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields are for the protection of humans exposed to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF) in the range 100 kHz to 300 GHz. The guidelines cover many applications such as 5G technologies, WiFi, Bluetooth, mobile phones, and base stations.

This publication replaces and superseeds the 100 kHz to 300 GHz part of the ICNIRP (1998) radiofrequency guidelines, as well as the 100 kHz to 10 MHz part of the ICNIRP (2010) low-frequency guidelines. 

Citation: ICNIRP. Guidelines for limiting exposure to electromagnetic fields (100 kHz to 300 GHz). Health Phys 118(5):483-524; 2020.
(Pre-print published in March 2020 under Health Phys 118(00):000–000; 2020).

Content: Guidelines including two appendices. The Guidelines provide the limits of exposure. Appendix A and B respectively provide further detail concerning the relevant dosimetry, and the biological and health effects reported in the literature.

Additional Information

FAQs on RF 
Differences between 2020 and 1998 Guidelines

Note that the guidelines are the source reference.

Public Consultation – The draft of the RF Guidelines was available for review through a public consultation process opened to everybody from 11 July to 9 October 2018. This process is reported here. 

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ICNIRP Publications 2020

Abstract—In this statement, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) presents its principles for protection against adverse health effects from exposure to non-ionizing radiation. These are based upon the principles for protection against ionizing radiation of the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP) in order to come to a comprehensive and consistent system of protection throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The statement further contains information about ICNIRP and the processes it uses in setting exposure guidelines. Health Phys. 118(5):477–482; 2020

Key words: International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation Protection; health effects; safety standards; radiation, non-ionizing

https://www.icnirp.org/cms/upload/publications/ICNIRPprinciples2020.pdf

Excerpt

Basic Premise

ICNIRP aims to provide advice on protection against adverse health effects from both short- and long-term exposures to non-ionizing radiation and uses the WHO’s definition of health: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” 4 ICNIRP’s advice is based on a detailed evaluation of the scientific evidence. Scientifically substantiated adverse health effects (see the Appendix) are identified and exposure limits are developed to prevent these. For the estimation of exposure limits, ICNIRP generally assumes worst-case situations and takes uncertainties in the scientific evidence into consideration.

In general, people with medical conditions are included in the general public and the guidelines are protective for them. It should be noted, however, that the exposure guidelines are not meant to be protective for people with certain clinically substantiated diseases or conditions that may make them more susceptible to harm from non-ionizing radiation,  e.g., patients with Xeroderma pigmentosa, or individuals taking photosensitizing medications. 

A biological effect is any biological, physical, or chemical change induced in a biological system. Living organisms have repair and feedback mechanisms that are designed to maintain homeostasis, the balanced situation in which a biological system can properly function. If the capacity of these compensatory mechanisms is overwhelmed or exhausted, this may result in adverse health effects. The ICNIRP guidelines are not intended to protect against biological effects as such, unless there is also an associated adverse health effect.

However, it is not always easy to draw a clear distinction between biological and adverse health effects, and indeed this can vary depending on individual susceptibility to specific situations. An example is sensory effects from nonionizing radiation exposures under certain circumstances, such as a tingling sensation resulting from peripheral nerve stimulation by electric or magnetic fields; magnetophosphenes (light flickering sensations in the periphery of the visual field) resulting from stimulation of the retina by electric fields induced by exposure to low-frequency magnetic fields; and microwave hearing resulting from thermoelastic waves due to expansion of soft tissues in the head which travel via bone conduction to the inner ear. Such perceptions may sometimes lead to discomfort and annoyance. ICNIRP does not consider discomfort and annoyance to be adverse health effects by themselves, but, in some cases, annoyance may lead to adverse health effects by compromising well-being. The exposure circumstances under which discomfort and annoyance occur vary between individuals.

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Hygiene and sanitation->Vol 98, № 11 (2019)->FEATURES OF NATIONAL POLICY IN APPROACHES TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD SAFETY OF RADIO FREQUENCIES RADIATION IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

Abstract

The article contains the analysis of modern approaches to determining the limits of the electromagnetic field of radio frequencies. The international discussion about the safe limits of electromagnetic radiation has been going on for half a century. In the 21st century, the national policy of electromagnetic safety is determined by the socio-economic priorities of countries and national legal principles of evidence of harm to health to a greater extent, than scientific data. There are three main approaches to determining the limits of electromagnetic fields. The Anglo-Saxon approach is based on the principle of passive regulation, i.e. using the recommended values of the permissible level of the electromagnetic field. The Soviet-Russian approach is based on establishing the maximum permissible level of the electromagnetic field, which guarantees no harm to present and future generations. The term of the maximum permissible level is historically associated with the concept of the priority of the nervous system responses to the influence of the electromagnetic factor. The state assumes responsibility for the scientific justification of the limit levels and implements the control functions for their observance, which allows excluding any harm to health. The third approach is based on the precautionary principle, the concept of which was first introduced in German law. It is aimed at preventing harm, in the absence of unambiguous, reliable scientific data and, in fact, it is a socially-oriented approach that takes into account social consensus in the context of the development of new technologies. Respectively, this approach implies strict maximum permissible levels (technically achievable), as well as a system of formal restrictions on placement of the electromagnetic field sources in the “susceptible” territories. Separately from the above approaches, a method of managing the safety of the electromagnetic environment in China has been formed: since 2015, electromagnetism has been fully attributed to environmental factors and is controlled by the Ministry of environmental protection. China has abandoned the hygienic regulation of the anthropogenic electromagnetic field, and the system, for establishing and monitoring the electromagnetic environment indices, combines elements of all three mentioned above approaches.

© 2019 Copyright Hygiene and sanitation.

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• Full Title: Proposed Changes in the Commission’s Rules Regarding Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields; Reassessment of Federal Communications Commission Radiofrequency Exposure Limits and Policies
• Document Type(s): Report and Order, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Memorandum Opinion and Order
• Bureau(s): Engineering & Technology

Description:
The Commission has accordingly promulgated rules that set limits for RF exposure and, through the years, has created a framework to ensure compliance with these limits

• DA/FCC #: FCC-19-126
• Docket/RM: 19-226
• Report and Order: FCC-19-126A1

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-maintains-current-rf-exposure-safety-standards

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Slide credit: Darius Leszczynski

Leszczynski: presentation at the Iona College

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https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8859679/versions#versions

The post New revision of the IEEE EMF safety standard: C95.1-2019 – IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Electric, Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields, 0 Hz to 300 GHz appeared first on EMFSA.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/03/09/mobile-safety-standards-relaxed-ahead-5g-networks/?fbclid=IwAR2GHKykS0HZnhdgSmV9pYHjZuRhpG2HEDzJs58IeZM9PJLYf0UuXaw2E2I

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