The fact that we must all bear in mind is that research is unending! I need to start this way so that I would not be perceived as being hubristic in my quest to dispense knowledge. I would try my best to make this presentation easy to understand to readers, even readers with limited knowledge of physics/science.

The Fifth Generation (5G) technology (tech) is an upgrade to the 4G tech that is being currently operated in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry. Like the current 4G tech, 5G tech is coming with more fantastic benefits than the previous generations of ICT techs.

5G, like other earlier generations of ICT techs will operate within radio frequency (RF) wave band of the EM wave spectrum. EM fields at RF band are not inimical to human health because they are non-ionizing unlike the ionizing x-rays and gamma radiation.

The RF band (low frequency, low energy and high wavelength) occupies the lower part of the EM spectrum, followed by the visible light band (comparatively moderate frequency). These two bands above are non-ionizing. The last band is the ionizing band (high frequency, high energy and low wavelength), where we have the ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays.

It suffices to mention that we live in the world of non-ionizing EM waves. In fact they are all around us! We are also EM wave radiators! Living things have lives because of non-ionizing waves. Biological systems keep going because of EM waves.

For instance, everything about the nervous system is purely electrical. Radiations from human body are purely EM waves, mostly within the infrared region. We see and identify objects and their colours by EM waves. The simple rudiment is that any varying electric field will produce magnetic field and vice versa! Consequently, the two fields (E & B) naturally co-exist as EM fields. As a radiation, it transfers itself without any medium of transfer.

We have natural and artificial (man-made) sources of EM radiations. For instance, at large distances above the earth, natural radiations are known to be very inimical to human health. At this point, lives of astronauts are endangered if they are on missions during inclement space weather conditions but mainly by the ionizing portion of the EM spectrum. The good thing is that, God had arranged different strata of absorbing layers that will not allow these dangerous radiations to get to us on the earth in the ionizing form.

As earlier pointed our, for the man-made EM radiations, they are in the non-ionizing range. The frequencies of operations are usually approved by the regulating national agencies of nations, based on the recommendations of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other relevant international agencies. Furthermore, as control measures, WHO is usually interested in knowing the health implications of these technologies before they are rolled out.

EM fields within RF range are not inimical to human health. Connecting Coronal Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) to 5G tech EM waves (RF waves) has no place in science!

However, to allay the fear of the public based on the hullabaloo being generated by the 5G tech, it is increasingly becoming important, the need for holistic scientific interrogations into the 5G tech, particularly from the standpoint of material analyses of the components and accessories of the technology. Scientists may need to look inward into:

1. What are the materials used/to be used as the radiators on the masts?

2. What are the materials used/to be used in constructing the masts themselves, including coatings and paintings?

3. What are the materials used/to be used for the electronic components of the handheld units?

4. In the case of the use of optical fiber for data transmissions, what are the source or expected sources of the materials?

We need laboratory test of all these to understand this tech to the fullest.

5. What are the materials/expected materials for other accessories?

With zero hazards from the material point of view, we are good to go with the 5G tech. With the tech, many social vices that have so much bedeviled our world would be curbed because there would be no hiding places for criminals anymore.

Thank you all.
Dr. Andrew Akala
Communication/Navigation Scientist.
UNILAG