Radiation According to the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, radiation from 5g base stations does not cause any health problems, but not everyone agrees

To base stations 5g network installation work has increased people’s contacts with the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Stuk).

Stuk receives a couple of hundred surveys a year on the radiation safety of base stations.

“Today, base stations are what worries me the most. Over the years, things have changed. In the past, the concerns were more related to mobile phones, ”says Stuk’s specialist researcher Sami Kännälä.

Base station concerns have clearly increased with the installation of the new 5g network.

“Every time a new mobile network is introduced, there has been a spike in surveys. People are worried about whether the new technology is definitely safe, ”Kännälä describes.

Last in Anja Haparanda, 74, looked in amazement as the transformer next to his detached house began to happen.

“The foundation was cast, antennas were installed and boxes were brought. Nothing had been communicated to me in advance, ”says Haparanda.

His detached house is 20 meters from the transformer. The installation work was related to the improvement of the telecommunication network, which is why several operators built base stations for the transformer.

According to Haparanda, the symptoms started soon after the installation work.

“The heart symptomed with extra beats, and the doctor found no clear cause. There was also a headache that I had never had, ”Haparanda says.

The call to the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Stuk) was not reassuring. According to Stuk, the proximity of the base stations could not cause harm to health, but Haparanda wanted to know more.

Safe that is, assures Stami’s specialist researcher Sami Kännälä.

He is familiar with the situation in Haparanda in a lakeside detached area in Uusimaa. The base stations are mounted on masts, and the only radiating elements, i.e. antennas, are in the mast to provide a larger coverage area for the base station.

“Based on all the prevailing information and based on scientifically researched information, our view is that there is no cause for concern,” says Stuk’s specialist researcher.

Both in the Haparanda yard and everywhere else where people live and move, the most important thing, according to Kännälä, is that the base stations are installed in such a way that the population does not have direct access to the antenna.

“

Every year, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority receives a couple of hundred inquiries about the radiation safety of base stations.

For radio frequency In Finland, limit values ​​have been set for radiation in Finland by a decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (STM). The limit values ​​protect against possible health hazards and must not be exceeded in the places where the population resides.

Radio frequency radiation is an electromagnetic wave motion that arises from the accelerating motion of electric charges. Among other things, the communication between the mobile phone and the base station has been implemented by means of radio frequency radiation.

Radio frequency radiation is non-ionizing, ie its energy is not enough to detach electrons from the atoms of the target substance. At frequencies in mobile technologies, action levels are 4 to 10 watts per square meter. When the measurement result is below the action level, it is known that the limit value is not exceeded either.

“The limits can be exceeded in front of the antenna by a maximum of a few meters. Exposure decreases rapidly as the distance increases, ”Kännälä describes.

In sparsely populated areas base stations are typically mounted on masts. In cities, they are brought to the roofs or exterior walls of apartment buildings.

Even in apartment buildings, the antennas are not a concern when the antennas are installed properly. “The mobile operator is obliged to install base stations so that the exposure of the population remains within the limit values,” he recalls.

According to Kännälä, Stuk has instructed operators a lot in this matter – made measurements and studies. “In all situations, the exposure has been significantly below the limit values,” says Kännälä.

Although the base station would be located on the roof of an apartment building, those living directly below the antenna are not exposed to a significant electromagnetic field in any way, according to Kännälä.

“With all the techniques, be it 4g or 5g, the radiation directly down from the antenna is very weak. You don’t have to worry about that, ”says Kännälä.

When the antennas are on the masts, the population cannot get close to them. According to Kännälä, the exposure in the Haparanda situation is significantly below the limit values. “We’re talking about quite a fraction of these prevailing limit values,” he says.

Stucco has not been visited at Haparanda to take measurements or check the height of the mast. Kännälä estimates the exposure level computationally based on images and distance data.

Haparanda according to him, his symptoms did not go away, and he wanted an on-site radiation measurement to his home. Since the measurement made by Stuk would have cost too much, he turned to the Electrical Sensitivity Foundation.

The Electrical Sensitivity Foundation was established in 2016. Its purpose is to support people who are concerned about their symptoms. In addition, it supports research in the field with grants.

“Measuring the Electrical Sensitivity Foundation cost nothing. The foundation’s graduate engineer took the measurement and said that the bedrooms on the base station side have such high readings that he no longer recommends them for use, ”says Haparanda.

Haparanda is particularly surprised that the immediate neighbors did not need to be consulted before the base stations were installed. When he himself decided to acquire summer chickens a few years ago and commissioned a booth for them, the project had to obtain a permit, consult neighbors, and let the health inspector assess the suitability of the place for keeping chickens.

When Haparanda asked the city’s building inspectorate, the answer was that the installation of the base stations was so small as a construction project that the neighbors did not need to be consulted on the permit.

Haparanda now lives on the walls covered with fabrics he borrowed from the Electrical Sensitivity Foundation.

Sami Kännälä, a specialist researcher at Stuk, does not consider the use of protective fabrics as an inhibitor of base station radiation necessary.

“It’s not the right path but rather it leads to avoiding all environments,” he says.

“Good judgment – this is the most important feature in my work, ”says the Specialist of the Electrical Sensitivity Foundation Marjukka Hagström.

The foundation sees itself as a body that seeks to help people who feel they are getting symptoms from electromagnetic radiation.

Its board includes, for example, the chairman of the board of the Kone Foundation Hanna Nurminen, who has spoken of his electrical sensitivity in public.

According to Hagström, there are a lot of confusing contacts and requests for help from the Electrical Sensitivity Foundation. Judgment is needed to be able to pick up people who are harmed by electromagnetic radiation from their contacts.

“You have to ask questions carefully and take measurements on site. After all, we have a wide range of symptoms in middle-aged people, and there are fields around every person around us. We need to know what is an unusual radiation finding and what is a typical symptom picture, ”Hagström describes.

According to him, counselors are also advised to see a doctor if necessary.

Things are not small for those in need. Hagström says that a person can make even big decisions, such as selling their home and moving aside, drifting to work and being excluded.

According to Hagström, health care often does not take symptoms seriously. Problems are often thought to be in mental health.

“People with electrical sensitivity do not have a mental health diagnosis,” emphasizes Hagström. “Often, however, there are certain types of unifying factors behind them, such as a long history with homeopathy and subsequent sensitization to chemicals. The last step is electrical sensitivity, ”Hagström describes.

According to Sami Kännälä, the symptoms of those who are worried about electromagnetic fields are especially caused by worry.

“The biggest culprit is the concern about base stations and other devices. It causes even healthy symptoms if you worry every day. On the other hand, no scientific evidence has been obtained on the connection between electromagnetic fields and electrically sensitive symptoms, ”emphasizes Kännälä.

“

“You need to know what is an unusual radiation finding and what is a typical symptom picture.”

Skin burning and tingling, tinnitus, cardiac arrhythmias, shortness of breath and many other symptoms, the association of electrosensitive Sähköherkät ry lists the symptoms of electrosensitive on its website.

The association has been operating for more than 20 years and receives its chairman Erja Tamminen according to hundreds of contacts each year.

“Recently, the number of contacts has increased,” says Tamminen.

Indoor air Professor of the University of Turku who has studied hypersensitivity diseases caused by exposure Tuula Putus says the pattern of symptoms in electrical radiation varies as with other environmental medical exposures.

“In our own measurements, higher levels of radiation have been found in the homes of symptomatic individuals than in the comparison homes. We don’t have any evidence yet either, but the matter is being investigated, ”says Putus.

Putt does not consider the effects of electromagnetic radiation on health to be excluded.

“More research is needed,” he stresses, however.

In 2019, Putus has received a three-year research grant from the Electrical Sensitivity Foundation.

Hagström hopes that the EU will set lower limit values ​​for electromagnetic radio frequency radiation than in Finland. A stricter limit value is currently used in some European countries, such as France.

Kännälä assures that the limit values ​​used in Finland and most of Europe are based on researched data.

“The limit values ​​are based on a large number of scientific studies that have examined the health effects of electromagnetic fields. In addition, they contain a significant safety margin against proven adverse effects, ”says Kännälä.

According to Kännälä, a lot of research has been done on the topic – both from base stations and mobile phones and other devices – during 20 years.

“Of course, there are still gaps, and research is worth continuing,” he adds.

The only one Kännälä considers people performing maintenance work on base stations to be potential risk groups.

“It’s an outfit that can be momentarily exposed to harmful radio frequency radiation. If necessary, the power is cut off during maintenance work, ”says Kännälä.

Haparanda says it is still doing poorly. “No one takes responsibility for base stations appearing in my yard. I am afraid that the value of the house has fallen and I will remain a prisoner of my own home. ”