Authors : Boukar M.; Shalom Boukar M.; Govondandi Lakreo Y.; Mbozo'o Mvondo S.; Mangsou Y.; Goultonga Gapili F.; Moifo B.

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 9 - September

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/4rn685bx

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26sep1341

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : The accelerated deployment of mobile networks, 4G today and 5G tomorrow, in developing countries is accompanied by public health concern that local authorities are poorly equipped to address. This article reviews the evidence: a purely thermal interaction mechanism demonstrated at public exposure levels, the 2011 IARC classification of radiofrequencies as possibly carcinogenic (group 2B), the contrasted results of the Interphone study, the 2018 US National Toxicology Program experimental signals in rats at exposures far above human ones, the 2021 ANSES collective expertise concluding that no established risk arises from 5G at deployed frequencies, but also landmark social episodes, the 2020 Italian ruling recognising an acoustic neuroma as an occupational disease, the Brussels moratorium and the 2020 mast fires. Exposure quantities, power density, specific absorption rate and tissue heating, are formalised and applied to the safety perimeter of a typical base station. A five-measure reasoned-precaution doctrine is proposed for regulators in developing countries, combining compliance with international limits, public measurements, local consultation and monitoring of the actual exposure burden, which is dominated by the handset at contact far more than by the neighbourhood mast.

Keywords : Electromagnetic Fields; Radiofrequency; 5G; Mobile Telephony; IARC; SAR; Base Stations; Risk Perception; Developing Countries.

References :

1. World Health Organization. Immunizing the Public against Misinformation; communications on 5G rumours, 2020.
2. Boukar Michel, Govondandi Lakreo Y., Boukar Michel S. Public Health, Artificial Intelligence and Radiological and Industrial Risks: A Practical Manual of Assessment, Prevention and Surveillance. N’Djamena, 2026 edition (in French).
3. International Agency for Research on Cancer. Non-ionizing Radiation, Part 2: Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields, Monograph Volume 102. Lyon: IARC, 2013.
4. The Interphone Study Group. Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 2010, 39(3), 675-694.
5. National Toxicology Program. Technical Reports 595 and 596 on Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation. Research Triangle Park: NTP, 2018.
6. Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail (ANSES). Déploiement de la 5G et effets sanitaires : expertise collective. Maisons-Alfort: ANSES, 2021.
7. International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (100 kHz to 300 GHz). Health Physics, 2020, 118(5), 483-524.
8. World Health Organization. Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health: Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, Fact Sheet 296. Geneva: WHO, 2005.