In-Situ Measurements of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields Measurements Around 5G Macro Base Stations in the UK

Abstract

Radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic field spot measurements were performed in line-of-sight to 56 active 5G macro base stations across 30 publicly accessible locations in the United Kingdom (UK). Four different exposure scenarios were assessed: background (no traffic instigation), streaming videos, downlink speed test, and extrapolation of SS-RSRP decoder measurements. Power density measurements across the 420 MHz–6 GHz frequency range were also performed at each site to assess the total exposure from various RF sources in the environment. Both total RF and 5G specific power density levels were found to be well within the 1998 ICNIRP public reference levels, even when extrapolating to worst-case scenario (≤ 5%). 4G downlink was the dominant contributor to total RF exposure, with 5G contributing on average less than 10%. No statistically significant difference was observed between beamforming and non-beamforming sites. Streaming did not seem to contribute materially to exposure levels, suggesting that background measurements are a good representation of typical downlink exposure at current urban and suburban 5G sites.