From street-level measurements to long-term health studies, researchers are building a clearer picture of how daily exposure to 5G signals affects human health.
As 5G antennas increase across Europe, delivering faster downloads, better connectivity, and more reliable streaming, public concern about the potential health effects is also growing.
To address these concerns, EU-funded researchers are investigating what everyday exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from 5G actually looks like and what it means for our health.
Their findings so far are encouraging.
Measuring exposure in real life
One of the scientists leading the study is Professor Monica Guxens, a physician and public health researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).
“We need to understand the current exposure levels of the European population,” said Guksen, who is coordinating the five-year EU-funded international research initiative GOLIAT, which runs until June 2027.
GOLIAT is part of CLUE-H, a cluster of EU-funded projects on electromagnetic fields and health that share methods and data to strengthen the overall evidence on health effects.
Guxens’ team includes researchers from 25 institutions in 10 European countries, as well as partners from the United States, Japan, and South Korea. They consider exposure levels in different settings, potential physical and psychological health effects, and how to communicate risk information clearly and effectively.
“Conducting large-scale measurements in different countries will help us understand where and how people are most exposed to 5G RF-EMFs now that these networks are widely deployed,” Guxens added.
Mapping 5G exposure across Europe
One of the first challenges was to measure the amount of RF-EMF that people encounter in their daily lives.
To understand what real-world exposure is, researchers in Belgium and Switzerland conducted the most detailed 5G exposure assessment to date. They used portable “exposure meters” to measure radio waves in the environment, as well as new sensors attached to smartphones to track emissions.
More than 800 measurements were taken at urban and rural sites in eight EU countries plus Switzerland and the UK. The team considered scenarios ranging from phones in airplane mode to data-intensive activities such as sharing attachments and watching live streaming videos.
Results show that exposure to RF-EMF in everyday environments is significantly below international safety standards in all measured settings.
These limits are set by independent scientific agencies and define the maximum exposure levels that are considered safe for the general public and include large safety margins.
However, exposure levels vary depending on how and where the device is used.
In dense urban areas, the signal from cell towers tends to be higher. In rural areas, where coverage is weak and devices have to transmit at higher power, short exposure peaks can occur when mobile phones upload large amounts of data.
Testing the health effects of 5G
Measuring exposure is only part of the picture. To investigate whether 5G signals have a direct impact on the human body, French researchers conducted the first collaborative human laboratory study focused on the main 5G frequency band, 3.5 gigahertz.
At the French National Institute for Industrial and Environmental Risk Research, INERIS, near Paris, 31 healthy volunteers were exposed to 5G signals for 26 minutes under controlled conditions designed to reflect real-world environmental exposures.
“We observed no measurable effects on heart function, stress levels, skin temperature, or brain activity in healthy young people,” said Dr. Brahim Selmaoui, one of the researchers involved in the study.
“While further research is needed on repeated exposure over long periods of time, our results provide encouraging evidence for this new 5G band under realistic exposure conditions,” he said. “They will also contribute to the ongoing international safety assessment.”
Allow people to check their own exposure
Beyond the experimental results, the researchers believe there is clear value in helping people better understand their own exposure and reduce unnecessary anxiety.
Professor Martin Roosli, head of the Environmental Exposure and Health Unit at the Swiss Institute of Tropical Public Health, is leading the development of a freely accessible online “dose database” that will allow users to investigate how their daily actions affect exposure levels.
“It’s important for society that people are informed and feel safe,” Roosli said. “People often ask very real questions: Is it safe to sleep with your phone on your bedside table? Is it better to leave it at a distance?”
The tool, scheduled to be released in spring 2026, will allow users to input how they use their cell phones and other devices and where they live to get a clearer picture of typical exposure levels.
Early research results suggest that if you leave your phone 30 to 40 cm away overnight with minimal activity, your exposure is effectively zero, much less than the exposure that occurs during very short phone calls.
Researchers suggest that human behavior may be more important. For example, notifications and late-night scrolling can disrupt your sleep.
action and happiness
This distinction is at the heart of ongoing long-term health research. Scientists are investigating the association between digital communication devices and neuropsychological outcomes in children and young people, such as cognitive function, sleep quality, and mental health.
“Phones are not only exposed to high-frequency electromagnetic fields,” Guksen explained. “It also causes screen light exposure, mental arousal, or device dependence. It is difficult to separate the effects of different factors related to device use.”
Unlike many previous studies that captured only a snapshot in time, the current study followed participants over a long period of time, helping scientists distinguish between causes and correlations.
“If someone has trouble sleeping, is it because of radiation or because they’re scrolling late at night?” Guksen said. “You can’t answer that without long-term data.”
fill the information gap
For the researchers involved, clear communication is just as important as measurement and analysis. They argue that persistent misinformation about 5G is pervasive due to the gap between rapid technological change and public understanding.
Throughout their research, scientists are interacting directly with the public to understand concerns and misconceptions, and adjusting the way they share their findings, including short, accessible social media-style videos designed to explain results simply and transparently.
“Giving people the tools to understand their exposure can reduce anxiety even when the risk is low,” Guksen says.
With the EU investing heavily in digital infrastructure through initiatives such as the Connecting Europe Facility, and with 6G networks expected around 2030, continued monitoring will remain essential, the researchers said.
“Technology is changing rapidly, so exposure assessments need to keep up,” Rosli said. “We need to understand what these developments mean for our people now and in the future.”
The research for this article was funded by the EU’s Horizon program. The views of the interviewees do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
This article was originally published in Horizon, EU Research and Innovation Magazine.
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