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Study authors hope to calm continued fears that exposure to 5G radiation is harmful to humans
In a nutshell
- German researchers found that 5G radiation, even at ten times the legal exposure limit, caused no harmful changes to human skin cells.
- The study was carefully controlled for temperature, which matters because previous studies often failed to distinguish between heating effects and potential non-thermal effects.
- The results provide strong scientific evidence against conspiracy theories claiming 5G technology harms cellular health.
BREMEN, Germany — Worried about 5G frying your cells? You can probably relax. A new study has found zero evidence that 5G radiofrequency exposure harms human skin cells, even at exposure levels ten times higher than what’s legally permitted.
German scientists blasted skin cells with 5G frequencies for up to two days straight and discovered… nothing happened. The cells showed no meaningful changes in gene expression or DNA methylation patterns, which would be the first signs of cellular damage.
“These data strongly support the assessment that there is no evidence for exposure-induced damage to human skin cells,” wrote the research team, led by Vivian Meyer of Constructor University’s School of Science, in their paper published in PNAS Nexus.
Breaking Down the 5G Health Controversy
This research arrives as 5G networks roll out worldwide and higher frequencies enter use. Public fears about 5G have fueled conspiracy theories and even led to vandalism of cell towers in some places, despite physicists consistently explaining why these frequencies shouldn’t cause biological harm.
The researchers noted that “at the frequencies tested here, the quantum energies are far too low to have photochemical or even ionizing effects.” In other words, basic physics suggests 5G shouldn’t damage cells – and now there’s direct experimental evidence backing this up.
How the Experiment Worked
The team’s approach stands out for its careful design. They used two types of human skin cells (keratinocytes and fibroblasts) and exposed them to 5G electromagnetic fields at 27 GHz and 40.5 GHz — frequencies planned for future 5G networks. They tested both the permitted exposure limit and ten times that amount, for either 2 or 48 hours.
Temperature control was a key feature previous studies have missed. Since heating can damage cells, the researchers maintained constant temperatures to isolate any non-thermal effects. They also conducted “blinded” experiments, meaning the data analysts didn’t know which samples were exposed until after completing their analyses.
After exposure, the researchers examined gene expression and DNA methylation patterns using advanced techniques. They included UV-exposed cells as a comparison (since UV light definitely damages skin cells) to prove their methods could detect damage when it existed.
What the Results Mean for You
The results? Practically nothing. Exposed cells looked virtually identical to unexposed cells. The few tiny differences detected were no greater than would be expected by random chance. Meanwhile, the UV-exposed cells showed dramatic changes, confirming the methods worked correctly.
The researchers developed a novel “combinatorial analysis” to detect any subtle patterns normal analysis might miss. This approach also confirmed there were no meaningful effects from 5G exposure.
Interestingly, when they didn’t control for temperature (letting the 5G exposure heat the cells slightly), they did see some cellular changes. This confirms that thermal effects can trigger responses if temperatures rise, highlighting why proper temperature control matters in these studies.
This research challenges claims that these frequencies might damage DNA or harm cells. The researchers pointed out that the few studies suggesting harmful effects have serious flaws in their methods.
“In spite of assessments from the WHO in 2010 and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), this topic is still prevalent in the media, in public opinion and in the political sphere,” the researchers noted. “This is in part due to a few isolated scientific studies providing opposing evidence.”
As 5G networks expand and higher frequencies are implemented, this research provides much-needed evidence to counter baseless fears. The researchers hope their findings will help “close this debate and in particular cast fundamental doubt on the existence of possible nonthermal biological effects of exposure.”
Bottom line? Your skin cells don’t seem to care about 5G signals – even at exposure levels way beyond what you’d encounter in daily life.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers used two types of human skin cells (HaCaT keratinocytes and human dermal fibroblasts) and exposed them to 5G electromagnetic fields at frequencies of 27 GHz and 40.5 GHz, with power flux densities of 1 mW/cm² and 10 mW/cm², for either 2 or 48 hours. All experiments were conducted in a specially designed exposure facility that allowed for blinded experiments and continuous temperature monitoring. Temperature was carefully compensated for to prevent thermal effects from confounding the results. For comparison, additional cell samples were exposed to UV radiation (known to damage cells) as positive controls. After exposure, the researchers analyzed gene expression using RNA-Seq and DNA methylation patterns using Infinium Methylation EPIC arrays. They also developed a novel “combinatorial analysis” technique to detect subtle patterns that might be missed by standard analyses.
Results
The study found no significant differences in gene expression or DNA methylation patterns between 5G-exposed and sham-exposed (control) cells, even at power levels ten times the permitted limits. The few differences observed were minor and statistically indistinguishable from random variations. Network analysis, which examines the functional relationships between differentially expressed genes, also showed no coherent biological signal from 5G exposure. In contrast, the positive control (UV radiation) produced clear, significant changes in gene expression, confirming the analytical methods could detect cellular damage when present. The researchers concluded there is no evidence for exposure-induced damage to human skin cells from 5G frequencies.
Limitations
While comprehensive, the study only examined effects on two types of skin cells in vitro, not on whole organisms or tissues. The study acknowledges that DNA methylation analysis was challenging due to high variability between samples and limitations in available analysis tools. Additionally, while the researchers used different frequencies, power levels, and exposure durations, they couldn’t test all possible combinations or long-term effects beyond 48 hours. The study specifically focused on 5G frequencies in the millimeter wave range (27 GHz and 40.5 GHz) and results may not generalize to other frequencies.
Funding and Disclosures
The study was funded by the Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (Federal Office for Radiation Protection) in Germany under grant FKZ 3619S82470. The authors declared no competing interests.
Publication Information
The paper titled “5G-exposed human skin cells do not respond with altered gene expression and methylation profiles” was published in PNAS Nexus on May 13, 2025 (Volume 4, pgaf127). The authors are Jyoti Jyoti, Isabel Gronau, Eda Cakir, Marc-Thorsten Hütt, Alexander Lerchl, and Vivian Meyer from Constructor University in Bremen, Germany and Carl von Ossietzky Universität in Oldenburg, Germany.
