The lawsuit filed by Juhi Chawla was the talk of the town last week. So, what happened in the end and is 5G actually harmful?
Lawsuit & Penalty
Juhi Chawla, renowned Bollywood actress and environmental activist, filed a lawsuit against 5G rollout, saying that the radiation it will emit will be “extremely harmful and injurious to the health and safety of the people”. She wanted the concerned department to certify that 5G technology is safe for humans and also animals and birds.
However, last Friday, the Delhi High Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by her and imposed a fine of ₹20 lakh on her and two other appellants. Justice Jag Jivan Ram Midha said, as quoted by The Indian Express, “The plaintiffs have abused and misused the process of law which has resulted in waste of judicial time”.
Is It Actually Bad?
When the COVID-19 infection began to spread around the world, there were rumours that the 5G towers were the reason behind the pandemic. Although debunked by scientists, there were many incidents in some places of the world where people were knocking down 5G towers. Now, statements such as 5G towers causing harm to people due to high radiation is taking rounds.
But is 5G all that bad? Two large reviews published by scientists in Australia said they could find no confirmed evidence that low-level radio frequency (RF) fields over 6GHz similar to those used by 5G are harmful to human health.
Simon Rockman reported for Forbes, saying that there are 4,500 people in the UK who work in close proximity to RF radiation. The RF exposure they are allowed to receive is five times that of the general population, and there is no evidence that they have higher rates of cancer or any other health problems that could possibly be attributable to Wi-Fi radiation than any other population of humans.
Zooming Out
We have shown you researches that suggest that 5G or any other Wi-Fi radiation is causing harm in humans. But there is a slight problem here. Even though there are studies that say that 5G is not harmful, there aren’t many studies specifically about 5G’s impact on humans. But why not? Because the technology is not more than two years old, and it has been launched only in few countries.
Ken Karipidis, assistant director of assessment and advice at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency said, as quoted by Indiatimes, “We recommend that future experimental studies improve their design with particular attention to dosimetry and temperature control and that future epidemiological studies continue to monitor long-term health effects in the population related to wireless telecommunications.”
At the end of the day, more research is definitely needed on 5G’s effects on humans, but that doesn’t mean false statements should be spread without any scientific evidence.
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