Brussels government approves increase in 5G radiation standards

Several EU countries have more stringent exposure standards for radiofrequency radiation than ICNIRP or the FCC allow. The news story below discusses proposed new exposure standards for Brussels which currently has a stringent 6 V/m (volts per meter) exposure standard. The Telecom industry has fought to relax this standard by arguing that it is too stringent to enable the deployment of 5G “small cells.” 

 

“The Brussels government has approved the preliminary draft ordinance at first reading that increases the current exposure standard of 6 V/m (volts per metre) to 14.57 V/m outdoors and 9.19 V/m indoors, including radio and television antennas.”
 
Powerwatch provides an online tool to convert signal strengths (in V/m) to power flux densities (in µW/m² = microwatts per square meter) for continuous wave signals. However, according to Powerwatch it is important to note that …
 
“This conversion is not particularly relevant for exposure from mobile phones, base stations and DECT cordless phones and the results can be extremely misleading.

The problem occurs because PFD is ONLY relevant to heating and it averages the power over time (6 minutes for official RF PFD measurements). Any PFD has to be integrated over time and most hand-held instruments average over at least a few seconds. Some instruments have a “peak-detect” facility that can give the equivalent power as if the pulsing peak levels were continuous. Note this is not the same as a “max hold” facility. This is because the normal max hold function on a meter gives you the maximum RMS value measured over the time you have been using the instrument, whereas peak detect measures the level at the top of any pulses in the signal.”

6  V/m        =   95,491 µW/m² 
9.19  V/m   = 224,021 µW/m²
14.57 V/m =  563,090 µW/m²

 

 
Thus, for a continuous wave signal the proposed outdoor exposure standard in Brussels would allow almost six (= 563,900/95,491) times greater power density than the current standard.
 
The current radio frequency exposure standard in the U.S. and in most EU countries is much too lax. In the U.S. the exposure standard for the general population (for 1,500-100,000 MHz) is a power density of 10 W/m², i.e., 10 watts per square meter or 10 million microwatts per square meter, which is about 105 times (10,000,000/95,491) greater than the 6 V/m standard and about 18 times (10,000,000/563,090) greater than the newly proposed outdoor standard for Brussels. Hence, this article suggests that if the U.S. and most EU countries adopted a considerably more stringent exposure standard, the Telecom industry could still deploy 5G small cells.
 

Brussels government approves increase in 5G radiation standards

Brussels Times, October 8, 2021

The Brussels government has approved the preliminary draft ordinance at first reading that increases the current emission standard of 6 V/m (volts per metre) to 14.57 V/m outdoors and 9.19 V/m indoors, including radio and television antennas.

The text fleshes out the essential recommendations of the Citizens’ Commission on the modalities of rolling out 5G in the Brussels Region, Environment Minister Alain Maron told the Belga news agency.

The limited increase in the emission standard for non-ionising radiation takes into account the precautionary and standstill principles and the protection of the health of all Brussels residents, he added.

Obligations are imposed on operators regarding the environmental impact in terms of energy and waste associated with 5G and limiting the boom in digitalisation.

The current emission standard of 6 V/m (volts per metre) will be increased to 14.57 V/m outdoors and 9.19 V/m indoors, including radio and television antennas.

“That standard remains the strictest in the country, and is far below the recommendations of the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) or the World Health Organisation,” Maron stressed in an announcement.

In order to reduce the negative impact of the digital sector on the environment, telecom operators must implement a “sustainable and responsible digital plan” that will ensure that the energy consumption of mobile networks is reduced and that the public is made aware of how to prevent waste from their activities.

The preliminary draft decree will now be submitted to Brupartners and the Council for the Environment for an opinion, followed by an environmental impact assessment and a public enquiry.

Then, it will be submitted to the government for a second reading, and finally to the Council of State and the Brussels Parliament.

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