Social media users are sharing a recent warning from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about 5G and aviation safety and saying it means 5G has negative effects on human health.
You can see examples (here) and (here).
The text of a message reads: “Hmm…I’ll just leave this one here…if you get it, great! If you don’t, I’ll make a video later Think about the impact on our body…. #health #agenda #fitness”
The FAA has warned that new 5G technology could interfere with instruments such as altimeters, which measure how far above the ground an aircraft is traveling. Altimeters operate in the 4.2-4.4 GHz range, and the problem is that the auctioned frequencies are too close to this range (here), (here).
In addition to altitude, altimeter readings are also used to facilitate automated landings and to help detect dangerous currents called wind shear (here).
In the short term, AT&T and Verizon have agreed to temporarily delay the activation of certain wireless towers near major airports to avoid significant disruption to US flights. Learn more (here).
Longer term, the FAA needs to allow the vast majority of the U.S. commercial aircraft fleet to perform low-visibility landings at many of the airports where C-band 5G will be deployed. This means certifying altimeters to work near 5G base stations (here).
However, there is no evidence that the FAA warning is linked to 5G causing human health issues. The FAA warning and guidelines suggest nothing similar (here).
Reuters previously verified the claim that 5G is dangerous to humans (here).
Eric van Rongen, chairman of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), said in a video that there is no evidence that electromagnetic fields cause health effects such as cancer, hypersensitivity, infertility or whatever. The only two recognized health effects are nerve stimulation that can occur up to 10 MHz and heating from frequencies above 100 kHz (here).
The World Health Organization says no research has linked exposure to wireless technology to negative health effects. “Provided that overall exposure remains below international recommendations, no public health consequences are anticipated,” the WHO said (here).
VERDICT
Misleading. The Federal Aviation Administration’s recent 5G and aviation safety warning does not mean that 5G has negative effects on human health. The warning was about a possible interaction of 5G with aviation technology.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Learn more about our fact-checking work here.
