Canadian RF and EMR Standards

The word “radiation” conjures up images of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima or the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. Our society has a strong, and not unreasonable, fear […]
Published on November 7, 2020

The word “radiation” conjures up images of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima or the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. Our society has a strong, and not unreasonable, fear of nuclear radiation, that has been built up over years of stories. Starting with Marie Curie, the scientist who discovered the property of radioactivity, and who subsequently died of cancer caused by exposure to radioactive materials, all the way to nuclear explosions and power plant accidents, these fears are founded on a bedrock of experience. However, the word radiation simply refers to energy or particles that “radiate” from a source. In the context of EMR (Electromagnetic Radiation), this covers everything from Radio Waves, on the low end of the frequency, to Gamma Rays, on the highest end of the spectrum. Within this spectrum of radiation, we find things like x-rays, UV light, visible light, infrared light, microwaves, cell phones, and radio waves (as in the FM and AM band). Yes, that means that the walls all around you right now are reflecting a form of radiation at you. 

The frequency spectrum is divided into 2 main groupings, Ionizing Radiation and non-Ionizing Radiation. Ionizing Radiation has a high enough frequency, and therefore energy transfer, to actually knock electrons away from their atoms (the term ionizing refers to the ability to create an ion from an atom by removing an electron). This is the type of radiation that can cause serious health issues, such as cancer. 

Electromagnetic radiation is essentially all the same, whether it is a lethal gamma-ray or it is the AM band of your local radio station; the difference between these, and what makes one lethal and the other not, is the amount of energy and the wave frequency. All of this radiation is simply a stream of photons that travel in a wave, the wave can have different frequencies and this is what gives us the different forms that we label as different types of EMR. Our radio stations typically broadcast in the 500-Kilohertz range to the 108-Megahertz range. The different wireless technologies; 3G, 4G, and 5G, refer to different bandwidths that are used to broadcast in. Each one uses progressively higher frequency ranges, which allow for more data to be transferred. 3G operates in the 800-2100 MHz band range, while 4G operates in the 2000-8000 MHz band range. 5G, the new standard that carriers are moving to in the future, includes frequencies ranging from the 1 GHz to 300GHz spectrum. 

The higher the frequency, the more energy the wave contains, and thus, the more risk it might have for human health. This is part of the reason that some people have expressed concerns regarding the new 5G cell phones: they will use higher frequencies. However, those frequencies are still below even the frequency of visible light.

If the frequencies used by electronic devices have lower frequencies than even visible light, and therefore have lower energy transmissions, why does the federal government have regulations governing RF and EMR standards, and why are they updating them now? Well, as it turns out, there are other possible concerns, beyond Ionizing Radiation. Any level of radiation will transfer energy to an object that it strikes, including to humans. This energy transfer will inevitably warm the object up (this is how your microwave cooks your food), and might even cause damage to any cells that it encounters. Any device that potentially emits EMR needs to be tested and we maintain exposure limits, based on research and studies that investigate possible dangers from such exposure. There are lethal levels of almost anything (people have even died from consuming too much water); likewise too much exposure to EMR can be hazardous. The federal government revisits the exposure levels in their regulations on a regular basis, to ensure that their regulations match the most recent recommendations made by international organizations and in line with the best current research in the field. 

The fact that these regulations have changed over time indicates that we have refined our knowledge through study and is not something to be concerned about. Currently, it is highly unlikely that an average individual would ever exceed the exposure limits to EMR via use of regular consumer electronics. If, however, you are concerned about EMR and RF exposure from use of cell phones, a simple strategy of using a hands-free earpiece which connects via Bluetooth (or by cable) to your phone, allowing you to keep your phone away from close proximity to your skin, would be effective. The strength of an EMR field decreases dramatically by distance and as such even a small distance from the low-watt transmitter in your average smartphone would radically lower any exposure you might receive.

 

Éamonn Brosnan is a research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash.

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