SHC asks if 5G harmful to health: PTA served with notice

KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued a notice to the Pakistan Telecommunication Technology (PTA), asking whether 5G technology is harmful to health. The court's notice came during a hearing on a petition seeking a ban on the 5G technology. During the hearing, the court asked the petitioner to explain how the 5G technology could be harmful to health and whether anyone had been licensed to roll it out. "Will the PTA be able to explain whether 5G has adverse effects on health or not ... the world is advancing in information and technology, why should we ban it?"

The court, sending a notice to the PTA, said it would move forward with the proceedings once it receives a response from the telecommunication regulator. It is pertinent to mention here that the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), after 7 years of research, released 2020 guidelines on limiting exposure to electromagnetic fields. They include information about 5G.

The commission said the main effect that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields have on the human body is the increased temperature of exposed tissue. The body can handle small increases to body temperature, such as through exercising, but radiofrequency exposure and increased temperature can be dangerous above a certain threshold.

"Another general characteristic of RF EMFs is that the higher the frequency, the lower the depth of penetration of the EMFs into the body. As 5G technologies can utilise higher EMF frequencies (>24 GHz) in addition to those currently used