A study from #ProjectGOLIAT shows that environmental exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) in Europe remains below international safety limits but varies by urbanicity, network quality and how the phone is used
A new study led by researchers from the Swiss TPH under the umbrella of Project GOLIAT provides the most comprehensive assessment up to date of environmental and personal exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from 5G networks across ten European countries. The results have been published in Environment International.
The study assessed exposure levels in over 800 different microenvironments — including schools, transport hubs, and residential areas — in both urban and rural settings across Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK.
Using backpack-mounted RF exposimeters and mobile phones configured for different usage scenarios (non-use, maximum download, and maximum upload), researchers measured exposure across 35 frequency bands, including key 5G frequencies like 3.5 GHz. Measurements were taken between 2023 and 2024 under real-world conditions.
Environmental levels well below the limits
The first of the scenarios assessed was the non-user mode, in which the researchers’ phones were set in flight mode. With this method, the team assessed environmental exposure to RF-EMF, which in line with previous research, was found to be generally low and remained well below international guidelines.
“We observed that in the non-use scenario exposure was lower in rural areas and tended to increase with urbanisation, something that can be attributed to a higher density of base stations in urban areas”, says Adriana Fernandes Veludo, first author of the study.
The lowest environmental levels of exposure were registered in those countries with more stringent precautionary levels of RF-EMF, such as Switzerland, Belgium or Italy.
Higher levels when mobile phones are actively used
The data revealed that exposure to RF-EMF increased substantially when mobile phones were actively used. In the scenario where mobile phones were set to download large files, exposure was -depending on the country- from 2 to to 20 times higher than in the non-use scenario, due to emissions from the phone interacting with the base station. Interestingly, the new 5G bands have been used only in some countries, reflecting country differences in the state of 5G implementation.
Lastly, the highest levels of exposure were registered in the maximum uplink scenario, where phones were set to upload large amounts of data and emitted about 30 cm away from the measurement device. Compared to the non-use scenario, exposure levels were between 9 and 53 times higher, depending on the country. Those with the highest mean levels of exposure were the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.
“Unlike in the non-use scenario, in the maximum data upload scenario the highest exposure levels were measured in rural areas, where the network signal quality is poorer and the phones need to emit at higher power to send the data”, says Martin Röösli, researcher at the Swiss TPH and last author of the study.
It is important to note that in the Netherlands and in Poland 5G services in the 3.5 GHz frequency band were not yet in use at the time of the measurements, in 2023, and have only been launched in 2024. In 2025, the teams are busy collecting new data and it will be possible to evaluate the evolution of 5G exposure levels in Europe, with particular interest in these two countries that now have 5G services available.
Reference Adriana Fernandes Veludo, Bram Stroobandt, Han Van Bladel, Nekane Sandoval-Diez, Kenneth Deprez, Sam Aerts, Wassim Ben Chikha, Joe Wiart, Zsuzsanna Vecsei, Péter Pál Necz, György Thuróczy, Martina Benini, Marta Bonato, Silvia Gallucci, Gabriella Tognola, Marta Parazzini, Lea Beláčková, Nina Vaupotič, Pawel Mamrot, Magda Marianska, Piotr Politanski, Kinga Polanska, Matthew Stamets, Patricia de Llobet, Gemma Castaño-Vinyals, Mònica Guxens, Paige M. Hulls, Frank de Vocht, Wout Joseph, Martin Röösli, Assessing radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure in multiple microenvironments across ten European countries with a focus on 5G, Environment International, Volume 200, 2025, 109540, ISSN 0160-4120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109540.
Proudly representing CLUE-H at the 4th Annual Meeting at BioEM 2025
CLUE-H 4th Annual Meeting at BioEM 2025
The 4th Annual Meeting of the European Cluster of EMF and Health (CLUE-H) took place on 25 June 2025 during BioEM 2025 in Rennes, France, at the historic Couvent des Jacobins. This annual event brought together key stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy to review progress, address challenges, and plan future directions in EMF and health research. Remote access enabled broader participation, ensuring that researchers from across Europe could join the discussions.
Like last year, the meeting featured updates from the cluster projects—NextGEM, SEAWave, GOLIAT, and ETAIN—which together aim to fill knowledge gaps regarding the impact of wireless technologies on health and the environment. The agenda included dedicated sessions on communication, data management, experimental studies, exposure assessment, and policy development, with project coordinators and working group leaders presenting the latest findings.
At the special CLUE-H cluster session, Anke Huss, ETAIN project coordinator from Utrecht University, shared the latest project developments. The session offered a valuable opportunity to exchange insights, align methodologies, and deepen collaboration, particularly on experimental studies and exposure assessment. Over 40 participants attended, reflecting the shared commitment across projects to advancing EMF and health research.
For readers interested in more detailed information, updates about the BioEM meeting can also be found on the ETAIN website and the NextGEM website.
Next steps and follow-up:
Continued dissemination of policy briefs and scientific findings.
Further harmonisation of experimental protocols and data management practices across projects.
A Project GOLIAT study in seven EU countries found that more base stations mean lower RF-EMF exposure from phones, and that 5G needs less transmit power than 4G, reducing user exposure when sending data
A study from the GOLIAT project, led by Ghent University, has assessed 4G and 5G uplink exposure in seven European countries. The results, published in Environmental Research, suggest that the density of base stations is a predictor of personal exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) when using a mobile phone: the more base stations there are, the lower the exposure from the users’ own phone when sending data. The researchers also found that 5G requires less transmit power than 4G.
The study used a new methodology to assess exposure to 4G and 5G in 282 microenvironments from Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and the UK. The aim was to find out what a person’s exposure is when using the phone at maximum data upload capacity and in different everyday locations – or microenvironments – and city sizes. To simulate personal exposure from one’s own phone, the researchers designed a backpack containing a phone equipped with an application that measures transmission power.
Between February and October 2023, trained researchers walked with the backpack in parks, on public transport, in city centres, in industrial areas and in other specific areas of five city types with different levels of urbanisation and population density: a large city with more than 500,000 inhabitants (usually the capital), a medium-sized city with between 100,000 and 500,000 inhabitants, and three villages with less than 100,000 inhabitants.
As they travelled through the different micro-environments, they carried a mobile phone configured to upload large files to a remote server, so that it would operate at maximum load and they could measure the energy transmitted (or transmission power).
The results
In general, the results showed that in areas with a higher density of base stations – also known informally as mobile phone antennas or towers – the phones used less power to transmit the data, resulting in lower exposure for the user. For example, in almost all countries, the energy emitted by phones in villages was higher than in big cities. Similarly, transmitting power was generally higher in parks or in villages, where there are usually fewer base stations and they tend to be further apart. Conversely, the microenvironments where the phones emitted less energy were mainly in big cities or industrial areas.
“Our results are in line with previous studies analysing 4G. Basically, the idea is that the stronger the signal from the base station, the less effort the phone has to make to send data. We need more research to fully understand the differences between different microenvironments,” says Bram Stroobandt, researcher at Ghent University and first author of the study.
The Netherlands was the country where phones emitted more energy to transmit data, followed by Belgium, Hungary and Italy, while the medians in Switzerland and Poland were lower. “The fact that the median is lower in Switzerland and Poland can be attributed to better network connections. Switzerland has Europe’s first commercial 5G network and is therefore ahead of other countries.” says Bram Stroobandt.
5G vs. 4G
In addition, the data analysis showed that the 5G bands require lower transmit power on average than 4G, suggesting that the exposure to RF-EMF when using a phone is lower with 5G than with its predecessor. However, as 5G is not yet fully deployed, the authors found that 4G is still the main contributor to exposure.
“Our study paves the way for the personal exposure assessment of European citizens and provides important measurement data for epidemiologists and governments,” says Wout Joseph, researcher at Ghent University and lead author of the study.
Reference
Bram Stroobandt, Han Van Bladel, Adriana Fernandes Veludo, Kenneth Deprez, Sam Aerts, Leen Verloock, György Thuróczy, Piotr Politanski, Kinga Polanska, Gabriella Tognola, Marta Parazzini, Joe Wiart, Mònica Guxens, Martin Röösli, Wout Joseph, Auto-induced uplink 4G and 5G RF-EMF exposure assessment using a network monitoring application in different microenvironments across seven European countries, Environmental Research, Volume 270, 2025, 121029, ISSN 0013-9351, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.121029
The international consensus workshop “Societal and ethical impacts of 5G technology” will be held on the afternoon of Monday 26th May 2025 in a hybrid format: online and at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Barcelona (Spain).
The seminar is a joint activity of the Cluster on Electromagnetic fields Exposure and Health (CLUE-H) and is being organized by researchers of the EU funded GOLIAT Project. An important aim of GOLIAT is to foster broad interdisciplinary discourse on the societal and ethical implications of 5G technology. This workshop will focus on some wider challenges to risk perception, communication, and trust, uncertainty management, and other ethical issues such as collective and individual responsibility. Participation is open to anyone interested in this topics and diverse perspectives and reflections will be much valued. All workshop participants will receive a certificate of attendance documenting their involvement, as well as the report from the meeting.
Any practical questions can be directed towards Project Manager Gabriela P. Peralta gabriela.peralta@isglobal.org, ISGlobal. For questions about the program, contact the workshop organizer Rani Lill Anjum rani.anjum@nmbu.no, Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
