Public health director Dr Henrietta Ewart has moved to allay fears over 5G telephone masts.

Her response was made to alternative medicine practitioner Stefanie Kerwin, who had sent a letter outlining her concerns about 5G technology.

Ms Kerwin runs Aurora Wellness in Douglas. She was one of many people who sent in objections yp telecommunications company Sure installing a mast capable of emitting 5G in Ramsey.

The planning application for Tower Farm on the Mountain Road (19/00300/B) was approved on May 17.

In the letter, Ms Kerwin suggested that the Department of Health and Social Care should have objected to the plans.

She said: ’5G operates on much higher frequencies than those currently in use, travel far shorter distances and will therefore eventually require a web of antennas installed at very close proximity in order to function. This will mean constant bombardment of these frequencies, causing harm not only to humans but animals, insects and plant life too.’

She added: ’I was very concerned that even though three members of the planning committee voiced their concerns that it appeared that the DHSC’s non-objection to the Sure’s tower was based on the 20-year-old International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) certificate and they did not feel it appropriate to put a condition onto the planning approval - to grant approval for current use only.

’The Sure representative said the current tower was in disrepair and therefore needed to be replaced. I have no issue with this.’

She suggested that the company wanted to test 5G in Ramsey.

’Placing a condition on the planning application such as this would stop it being used for 5G (to allow for further investigation by your department) and for it to be used for current usage.’

Ms Kerwin, who practises naturopathy, which is not recognised as evidence-based medicine, added that considering the DHSC has the ’only Interested Person Status’ she urges it to appeal the application ’on the grounds that 5G is an untested "trial" technology being proposed’.

’As the Public Health Directorate you have a duty of care to protect the health of Manx citizens,’ she said.

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’I urge you to reconsider health matters until it is proven than 5G technology is safe.’

RF-EMF, which is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, is used for radio communications, mobile phone networks, mobile base stations and mobile phones. It delivers 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Dr Ewart replied to Ms Kerwin stating the impact of RF-EMF on health has been monitored by health regulatory agencies around the world over many years.

This includes the World Health Organisation (WHO), which established the WHO EMF Project to ’continually assess’ evidence on health and environmental impacts of EMF and RF exposure,’ she said.

She quoted WHO stating that about 25,000 articles have been published over the past 30 years on biological effects and medical application of non-ionizing radiation.

It states: ’Despite the feeling of some people that more research needs to be done, scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals.

’Based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, the WHO concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields.

’However, some gaps in knowledge about biological effects exist and need further research.’

She confirmed that the current ICNIRP guidelines that the island follows in terms of installations - published in 1998 and fully reviewed in 2009 - are currently undergoing a further review.

In terms of 5G, it looks to improve connectivity between modern technology such as smart homes and integrated data records for hospital patients and use less power than current networks.

Dr Ewart said: ’5G will be regulated to comply with the ICNIRP guidelines. 5G does not mean that we will be exposed to higher or stronger levels of RF-EMF.

’When 5G is first introduced, there may be a small increase in the overall level of radio signals due to the fact that new transmitters are active.

’Based on the transition from previous wireless technologies we can expect that the overall exposure levels will remain relatively constant and will continue to be a small fraction of the ICNIRP exposure guidelines.’