Cellular Phone Towers: Cause of ill-Health

These days a lot of concern looming around us about the effect of cell towers on human health. So, keeping in mind, I have tried to brought the issue through this article.

Cellular phone towers have two kinds of effects thermal and non-thermal. Thermal effect of radiation certainly has ill effect on the health, while there is debate over the non-thermal effect.  According to Raman K R, “A person will fall prey to a thermal effect due to radiation only if he is close to the tower. Being exposed to the thermal effect could cause fatigue, cataracts and reduced mental concentration. This largely occurs to the amount of heat that is generated due to radiation.”

The non-thermal effect is a little debated topic and scientist community says, “ill-effects of a non-thermal effect include cell membrane permeability.” While there is little research done in the field on human but there is evidences from research on animal, one of such study into the effects of a cell tower on a herd of dairy cattle was conducted by the Bavarian state government in Germany and published in 1998. The erection of the tower caused adverse health effects resulting in a measurable drop in milk yield. Relocating the cattle restored the milk yield. Moving them back to the original pasture recreated the problem.

A study performed by doctors from the German city of Naila monitored 1000 residents who had lived in an area around two cell phone towers for 10 years. During the last 5 years of the study they found that those living within 400 meters of either tower had a newly-diagnosed cancer rate three times higher than those who lived further away. Breast cancer topped the list, but cancers of the prostate, pancreas, bowel, skin melanoma, lung and blood cancer were all increased.

How much cell tower radiation is too much for your long-term health? No one is exactly sure. There is different permissible standard for cell site radiation set by different countries. The reason for the disparity is that no one really knows what level of cell tower radiation is safe; also different cell sites emit different amounts of radiation. Radiation levels from a single cell site vary, depending on usage. Even maintenance issues can affect how much radiation a cell site is currently producing. Radiation around a single cell tower may not be uniform - there can be hot and cold spots.

For some people, short term effects from cell tower radiation exposure may include headaches, sleep disorders, poor memory, mental excitation, confusion, anxiety, depression, appetite disturbance and listlessness.

Radioactive signals from mobile phone towers do not cause health problems, Ex-Telecom Minister A. Raja informed the Rajya Sabha. "No medical inference has been drawn that this radioactivity (from telecom towers) is injurious to health," he said during Question Hour. He said the World Health Organization has reported no harmful symptoms from signals emitting from telecom towers.

I will just quote, “Our federal government also once told us that asbestos, cigarettes, thalidomide, and the blood supply were "safe", but which were later found to be harmful. You can bet that their studies are going to show whatever they want them to show.” – Cathy Bergman-Veniza, at Vermont Law School Environmental Law Center Conference, 1996

Dr. Neil Cherry, Ph.D. biophysicist from New Zealand, reports that “There is no safe level of EMR radiation.” He said the standards are based on thermal effects, but important non-thermal effects also take place, such as cell death and DNA breakdown. Dr. Cherry wrote a 120-page review of 188 scientific studies. “The electromagnetic radiation causes cells to change in a way that makes them cancer forming.” It can increase the risk of cancer two to five times, he said. “To claim there is no adverse effect from phone towers flies in the face of a large body of evidence.”

Senior advocate, P N Rao says that cell phone companies will be failing in their duty if they do not tell the general public about the ill-effects of setting up towers. Every citizen under the Constitution of India has the right to life and hence he ought to know what is right and what is wrong for him.

This is the high time we should be more cautious and careful about our health and environment at large, which is not just affecting us but also can effect our coming generation by its impact on human genes. It’s not just the matter of mere infringement of  legal rights but a violation of fundamental rights which is envisaged in our Constitution.

Dhananjay Modgalya