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You should not be putting an 8 watt amp on a mesh node. Maybe in a very few specialized situations, it might be appropriate, but in general, no. You'll be unnecessarily interfering with other legitimate users of the frequency without really gaining that much increased usage yourself. You need to use the minimum amount of power necessary and minimize interference to other users of the frequency.
With any amateur radio, you need to understand and evaluate the radiation exposure considerations. It's part of the FCC licensing requirements. One important point is that even if you have "6 kW" ERP, you still only have 8 watts. You can't dump more than 8 watts into anything. However you can dump 8 watts into something a further distance away. No matter where you are, even with a high gain antenna, you won't be receiving any more radiation than you would standing right next to an omnidirectional antenna with 8 watts. Also, with a high gain antenna, the signal strength is only higher when you're in the beam of the antenna. Off axis, the signal strength will be lower than with an omni antenna. If you're not pointing the beam near the neighbor's house, the signal strength there will be lower, not higher. As to whether 8 watts is enough to cause harm, that's questionable, but it's your responsibility. Personally, I would take some care to not get my eyes right next to the antenna. The cornea has poor cooling and is near the right length to receive energy at microwave frequencies. I also would probably limit close exposure to a pacemaker, too. As for worries about cancer and such, in theory, microwaves can harm by generating heat or electric shock, but don't cause cancer or other biological effects. We should be overly cautious on this, and the FCC lists exposure limits to give us guidelines.
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