Exposure to Electromagnetic Radiation from Cell Phones, Towers and Base Stations – Safe or Not?
Introduction:
Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) is a form of energy, wavelength, or frequency that travels at the speed of light through free space or through a material medium in the form of the electric and magnetic fields and makes up electromagnetic waves which can be classified as - ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation, based on its capability of ionizing atoms and breaking chemical bonds.
Non-Ionizing Radiation refers to any type of electromagnetic radiation that does not carry enough energy per quantum to ionize atoms or molecules—that is, to completely remove an electron from an atom or molecule, such as near ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwave, radio waves, and low-frequency radio frequency (long-wave) are all examples of non-ionizing radiation including radiation from cell phones.
Ionizing Radiation is radiation composed of particles that individually carry enough kinetic energy to liberate an electron from an atom or molecule, ionizing it, such as far ultraviolet light, X-rays, gamma-rays, and all particle radiation from radioactive decay are regarded as ionizing.
Evolution of Cell Phones
The history of mobile phones charts the development of devices which connect wirelessly to the public switched telephone network. In the 1990s, the 'second generation' mobile phone systems emerged. The European developed GSM standard and the U.S. developed CDMA standard. These differed from the previous generation by using digital instead of analogue transmission, and also fast out-of-band phone-to-network signalling. The rise in mobile phone usage as a result of 2G was explosive and this era also saw the advent of prepaid mobile phones. In 1993, IBM Simon was introduced. This was possibly the world's first smartphone. Coinciding with the introduction of 2G systems was a trend away from the larger "brick" phones toward tiny 100–200g hand-held devices. This change was possible not only through technological improvements such as more advanced batteries and more energy-efficient electronics. The third generation of mobile telecommunications technology or 3G took almost no time to come into operation and 4G, the fourth generation of mobile phone mobile communication technology standards came following as the successor of the third generation (3G) standards. New mobile generations have appeared about every ten years since the first move from 1981 analogue (1G) to digital (2G) transmission in 1992. This was followed, in 2001, by 3G multi-media support, spread spectrum transmission and at least 200 Kbit/s peak bit rate, in 2011/2012 expected to be followed by "real" 4G, which refers to all-Internet Protocol (IP) packet-switched networks giving Ultra Mobile Broadband (gigabit speed) access.[1]
Mobile Phone Radiation
There have been mounting concerns all over the society about cell phone tower radiation. Alarmed by media or reports of cancer and other health hazards around mobile towers and base stations, people in general protest against the installation of tower in residential or other areas of human habitation.
Biological Hazards Pertaining to Electromagnetic Radiation
The effects of electromagnetic radiation upon living cells, including those in humans, depends upon the power and the frequency of the radiation.
Heating Effect: The best understood biological effect of electromagnetic fields is to cause dielectric heating. For example, touching or standing around an antenna while a high-power transmitter is in operation can cause severe burns, in as much as it would be caused inside a microwave oven. The IEEE[2] has established safety limits for exposure to various frequencies of electromagnetic energy mainly based on ICNIRP Guidelines[3] which guard against thermal damage. This heating effect varies with the power and the frequency of the electromagnetic energy. A measure of the heating effect is the specific absorption rate or SAR, which has units of watts per kilogram (W/kg).
DNA Fragmentation: University of Basel in Switzerland released a study in 2009 that found an intermittent 50 Hz Electromagnetic Field (EMF) at a flux density of one Telsa (or 10 Gauss) exposure to a human cell induced a slight but significant increase of DNA fragmentation. One Telsa is a higher level density than what is considered to be a safe exposure limit.[4]
Brain Cancer: Two research groups independently analysed all data from 25 original studies of cell phone users, and identified a 50 to 90 percent increase in risk for two types of brain tumours: glioma and acoustic neuroma.[5]
Salivary Gland Tumors: An Israeli study found an increased risk of 50 to 60 percent for salivary gland tumors among people with highest cell phone use.[6]
Behavioral Problems: A study of 13,159 Danish children showed 80 percent elevated risk for emotional and hyperactivity problems among young children who use cell phones and whose mothers also used cell phones during pregnancy.[7]
Migraines and Vertigo: A study of 420,095 Danish adults showed that long-term cell phone users were 10 to 20 percent more likely to be hospitalized for migraines and vertigo than people who took up cell phones more recently.[8]
Acoustic Neuroma: Cell phone use for 10 years and longer has been also associated with significantly increased risk of acoustic neuroma, a type of benign brain tumour, on the primary side of cell phone use.[9] An extensive review of published studies of acoustic neuroma found that long-term cell phone users had a 60 percent greater risk of being diagnosed with the disease.[10]
Leukaemia: The Canadian Federal-Provincial-Territorial Radiation Protection Committee reported in 2005, “The outcome of a recently conducted pooled analysis of several epidemiological studies shows a two-fold increase in the risk of leukaemia in children living in homes where the average Electromagnetic Field (EMF) levels are greater than 0.4 microtesla (4 milligauss). In 2001, there was a review conducted by Ahlbom et al. on the interrelationship between EMFs and health. The concluded that there was a doubling in childhood leukaemia for Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) of over 0.4 µT. However they added “This is difficult to interpret in the absence of a known mechanism or reproducible experimental support”. [11]
In October 2001, the World Health Organization released a factsheet about the relationship between Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) EMR and cancer. It said, based on early findings that ELF was a “possibly carcinogenic” source for childhood leukaemia.[12]
Children More Susceptible to Radiation: Research by France Telecom scientists showed that under standard conditions of use, twice as much cell phone radiation would penetrate a child's thinner, softer skull than an adults.[13] These results confirm earlier findings that children's heads absorb more radiofrequency radiation than adults.[14]
One recent study of 13,159 Danish children showed that young children who use cell phones and whose mothers also used cell phones during pregnancy are 80 percent more likely to suffer emotional and hyperactivity problems.[15]
However, let’s look at the other side of the story.
The World Health Organisation explicitly indicated in its Factsheet N’304 dated May 2006 that “given the widespread presence of base stations in the environment, it is expected that possible cancer clusters will occur near base stations merely by chance”[16]
The latest scientific review by the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) in its report titled “Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields - RCE 20" published in April 2012 stated thus "In summary, although a substantial amount of research has been conducted in this area, there is no convincing evidence that RF field exposure below guideline levels causes health effects in adults or children." The report can be accessed from the web site of the HPA.[17]
The two U.S. federal agencies that regulate cell phones, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), have all but ignored evidence that long term cell phone use may be risky.
The FCC adopted radiation standards developed by the cell phone industry 17 years ago. These standards, still in use, allow 20 times more radiation to reach the head than the rest of the body. They do not account for risks to children.
Current FCC regulations permit Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) levels of up to 1.6 W/kg for partial body (head) exposure, 0.08 W/kg for whole-body exposure, and 4 W/kg for exposure to the hands, wrists, feet and ankles (FCC 1997, 1999). You can usually find the SAR value of a cellular phone through the FCC database if you can get the FCC ID number from the instrument.[18]
According to CTIA – The Wireless Association guidelines, a mobile phone SAR value must be listed in the user manual or on a separate sheet. The trade association does not require listing the SAR value on the box or the phone itself.
San Francisco updated its cell phone safety recommendations on the city’s web site following the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the CTIA—The Wireless Association that blocked implementation of the cell phone “right to know” law adopted by the city in 2010.
Cell Phone Warning Label Requirement Revoked by San Francisco
The Right to Know law, as it was dubbed, was passed in June of 2010 and again upheld in July of 2011. It required 11-point type size text to be posted next to phones at stores, listing each phone’s specific absorption rate (SAR) level. After a 3 year court battle with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), city leaders of San Francisco have agreed to revoke an ordinance that would have required retailers to warn consumers about potentially dangerous radiation levels following a key loss in court against the cell phone industry. CTIA had alleged the law violated its free-speech rights, and the settlement marked a victory for the industry as the Federal Communications Commission considers a reassessment of safe radiation exposure limits adopted in 1996.[19]
The greatest debate is whether the current methods for SAR measurement is adequate for assessing radiation absorption in children's brains.[20]
The FCC is particularly concerned about children’s exposure. When the FCC adopted exposure limits in 1996, there were far fewer mobile devices in use than there are today. The FCC based the regulations on “guidance from federal safety, health, and environmental agencies,” including recommendations from the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) announced that it is seeking comment from other agencies and health experts on whether it should update standards for exposure to radio waves from cell phones and other wireless devices.[21]
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) published its long-awaited monograph on the cancer risk to humans from exposure to cell phone radiation and other radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. The primary focus of the review is on the microwave radiation emitted by cell phones.
According to the monograph, “Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields are possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B).” Children are particularly vulnerable to this carcinogenic effect as “the average exposure from use of the same mobile phone is higher by a factor of 2 in a child’s brain and higher by a factor of 10 in the bone marrow of the skull.” Also, the child’s brain is developing at a greater rate than the adult brain.[22]
Conclusion:
To conclude that cell phones are safe or unsafe misreads the science and misleads the consumers. The truth is, there is no conclusive evidence one way or the other, but here are few facts about levels of radiation transmission from mobile phone, towers and antennas. Whilst there's no evidence that mobiles produce sufficient levels of radiation to cause any lasting ill effects, there's no harm in taking simple precautions to reduce the levels of radiation you absorb from using your phone:
· moving your phone 20cm away from your head reduces radiation doses by about 98%. So instead of placing it under your pillow when going to bed, leave the phone at a bedside table.
· hands free headsets dramatically reduce radiation emissions into the brain
· try not to chat for hours on end or, if you must, get a hands free kit
· there are a few devices on the market that you can fit to your phone that reduce the emissions of radiation or allow the body to neutralise the effects, but beware of over-hyped promotions by these manufacturers using scare tactics to market their products.
· It is always sensible to take precautions where children are concerned as their developing brains and bodies are far more susceptible to radiation effects than adults, absorbing radiation at three times an adult's rate.
[2] Standard for Safety Level with Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 3KHz to 300GHz". IEEE Std (IEEE). C95.1. Oct 2005
[4] Focke F, Schuermann D, Kuster N, Schär P (November 2009). "DNA fragmentation in human fibroblasts under extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure". Mutation Research 683 (1–2): 74–83. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19896957
[5] (Hardell 2009, Kundi 2009)
[6] (Sadetzki 2008)
[7] (Divan 2008)
[8] (Schuz 2009)
[9] (IARC 2008; Schoemaker 2005)
[10] (Hardell 2009; Kundi 2009)
[13] (Wiart 2008)
[14] (Gandhi 1996; Kang 2002; Wang 2003)
[20] (Gandhi 1996; Wang 2003).
[22] http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol102/mono102.pdfhttp://sayoni-acharya.newsvine.com/_news/2013/06/05/18763841-exposure-to-electromagnetic-radiation-from-cell-phones-towers-and-base-stations-safe-or-not
