How Much Exposure from 5G Towers is Radiated over Children, Teenagers, Schools and Hospitals?

Abstract

How Much Exposure from 5G Towers is Radiated over Children, Teenagers, Schools and Hospitals? L. Chiaraviglio et al., "How Much Exposure from 5G Towers is Radiated over Children, Teenagers, Schools and Hospitals?," in IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, 2022, doi: 10.1109/OJCOMS.2022.3208938. Abstract The rolling-out of 5G antennas over the territory is a fundamental step to provide 5G connectivity. However, little efforts have been done so far on the exposure assessment from 5G cellular towers over young people and “sensitive” buildings, like schools and medical centers. To face such issues, we provide a sound methodology for the numerical evaluation of 5G (and pre-5G) downlink exposure over children, teenagers, schools and medical centers. We then apply the proposed methodology over two real scenarios. Results reveal that the exposure from 5G cellular towers will increase in the forthcoming years, in parallel with the growth of the 5G adoption levels. However, the exposure levels are well below the maximum ones defined by international regulations. Moreover, the exposure over children and teenagers is similar to the one of the whole population, while the exposure over schools and medical centers can be lower than the one of the whole set of buildings. Finally, the exposure from 5G is strongly lower than the pre-5G one when the building attenuation is introduced and a maturity adoption level for 5G is assumed. Summary We have assessed the impact of 5G towers on the EMF exposure over children/teenagers, school buildings and medical buildings. After introducing a novel methodology for the analysis of exposure over population and buildings, we have applied it in two meaningful scenarios that are subject to different urbanization levels as well as tower deployments. Our results reveal that, although 5G exposure radiated by towers is initially lower than the pre-5G one, 5G will become the dominant source of exposure from cellular towers when a maturity level will be reached. However, the scaling factors applied to the maximum power radiated by mid-band/mm-Wave antennas, the tower distribution and the positioning of the buildings are important aspects heavily influencing the exposure levels over young people and “sensitive” places. Eventually, the actual level of exposure over children and teenagers is largely impacted by the building attenuation level, which has a stronger effect over mid-band and mm-Wave 5G frequencies compared to pre-5G ones. Overall, our results indicate that the total exposure levels are always lower than the EMF limits reported in international regulations. Moreover, children and teenagers receive similar amount of exposure compared to the whole population. Eventually, the positioning of the “sensitive” building has an impact on the exposure level, but, however, the observed exposure trends are similar compared to the ones of the whole set of buildings. As future work, we plan to extend our assessment to entire municipalities/cities, including zones covered by 5G small cells. In addition, as propagation has a strong effect over the exposure received by children and teenagers, massive campaigns of EMF measurements from 5G towers should be performed, especially inside the buildings. Finally, the investigation of joint uplink and downlink 5G exposure is another avenue of research. ieeexplore.ieee.org

AI evidence extraction

Main findings

Using a numerical methodology applied to two real scenarios, the authors report that exposure from 5G cellular towers is expected to increase with higher 5G adoption, but estimated exposure levels remain well below international regulatory limits. Reported exposure over children and teenagers is similar to that of the whole population; exposure over schools and medical centers can be lower than that over the full set of buildings. With building attenuation and assuming mature 5G adoption, 5G exposure is reported as strongly lower than pre-5G exposure.

Outcomes measured

• Numerical evaluation/assessment of downlink EMF exposure from 5G (and pre-5G) cellular towers over children and teenagers
• Numerical evaluation/assessment of downlink EMF exposure from 5G (and pre-5G) cellular towers over schools and medical centers/hospitals
• Comparison of exposure levels to international regulatory limits
• Comparison of 5G vs pre-5G exposure under building attenuation and adoption/maturity assumptions

Limitations

• Numerical evaluation/modeling study; no measurement campaign results reported in the abstract
• Only two real scenarios are mentioned; generalizability to other municipalities/cities is not established in the abstract
• Results depend on assumptions such as scaling factors for maximum radiated power, tower distribution, building positioning, and building attenuation
• Focus is on downlink exposure; joint uplink and downlink exposure is suggested as future work
• Small-cell coverage is not included (noted as future work)

Suggested hubs

• 5g-policy (0.74)
  Assesses exposure from 5G towers and compares estimates to international regulatory limits, with emphasis on sensitive locations (schools/hospitals) and youth.
• school-wi-fi (0.22)
  Includes exposure assessment over schools (though source is 5G towers, not Wi‑Fi).

{
    "study_type": "exposure_assessment",
    "exposure": {
        "band": "RF",
        "source": "5G cellular towers (downlink)",
        "frequency_mhz": null,
        "sar_wkg": null,
        "duration": null
    },
    "population": "Children, teenagers, whole population; schools and medical centers/hospitals (buildings)",
    "sample_size": null,
    "outcomes": [
        "Numerical evaluation/assessment of downlink EMF exposure from 5G (and pre-5G) cellular towers over children and teenagers",
        "Numerical evaluation/assessment of downlink EMF exposure from 5G (and pre-5G) cellular towers over schools and medical centers/hospitals",
        "Comparison of exposure levels to international regulatory limits",
        "Comparison of 5G vs pre-5G exposure under building attenuation and adoption/maturity assumptions"
    ],
    "main_findings": "Using a numerical methodology applied to two real scenarios, the authors report that exposure from 5G cellular towers is expected to increase with higher 5G adoption, but estimated exposure levels remain well below international regulatory limits. Reported exposure over children and teenagers is similar to that of the whole population; exposure over schools and medical centers can be lower than that over the full set of buildings. With building attenuation and assuming mature 5G adoption, 5G exposure is reported as strongly lower than pre-5G exposure.",
    "effect_direction": "no_effect",
    "limitations": [
        "Numerical evaluation/modeling study; no measurement campaign results reported in the abstract",
        "Only two real scenarios are mentioned; generalizability to other municipalities/cities is not established in the abstract",
        "Results depend on assumptions such as scaling factors for maximum radiated power, tower distribution, building positioning, and building attenuation",
        "Focus is on downlink exposure; joint uplink and downlink exposure is suggested as future work",
        "Small-cell coverage is not included (noted as future work)"
    ],
    "evidence_strength": "low",
    "confidence": 0.7800000000000000266453525910037569701671600341796875,
    "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
    "keywords": [
        "5G",
        "cellular towers",
        "downlink exposure",
        "EMF exposure assessment",
        "children",
        "teenagers",
        "schools",
        "hospitals",
        "medical centers",
        "building attenuation",
        "mid-band",
        "mmWave",
        "international regulations",
        "numerical methodology"
    ],
    "suggested_hubs": [
        {
            "slug": "5g-policy",
            "weight": 0.7399999999999999911182158029987476766109466552734375,
            "reason": "Assesses exposure from 5G towers and compares estimates to international regulatory limits, with emphasis on sensitive locations (schools/hospitals) and youth."
        },
        {
            "slug": "school-wi-fi",
            "weight": 0.2200000000000000011102230246251565404236316680908203125,
            "reason": "Includes exposure assessment over schools (though source is 5G towers, not Wi‑Fi)."
        }
    ]
}

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