New major study of whether or not cellphone base stations are dangerous
By Peter Rojas 
posted Nov 29th 2004 12:20PM
posted Nov 29th 2004 12:20PM
Kind of scary if this really is the first major study of this as the BBC says it is, but the University of Essex is
about to start doing some serious first of its kind research into the the health effects of electromagentic radiation
from cellphone base stations, towers, and masts. The FCC says that ground-level exposure levels from cellphone base
stations are "thousands of times less than the exposure levels recommended as safe by expert organizations", but that
doesn't mean you'd necessarily want one mounted on the roof of your house or apartment building or anything like that
since from a few feet away they definitely can be dangerous.
[Via textually.org]
Ok, I'd rather live right underneath one than next to one, since there is much less radiation or whatever you want to call it going straight down from a tower than what goes out sideways from it, since radio waves are sort of circular. So living right underneath one should be the "safest" spot.
Ok, I'd rather live right underneath one than next to one, since there is much less radiation or whatever you want to call it going straight down from a tower than what goes out sideways from it, since radio waves are sort of circular. So living right underneath one should be the "safest" spot.
Just remember, that this kind of "radiation" is just heat. Think about all the damage you're doing to yourself next time you stand in front of a fire. (or not) ;)
or the type of damage one does to oneself by opening the door on the microwave the instant the counter hits 0:00.. . contrary to popular belief you really should wait a few seconds before opening the microwave door. i am imagine that is more damaging than a cell tower.
If you lived in NYC you would see these antenna located at the top of every building at every major intersection. 1 for every carrier. I'm sorry, not to be an alarmist, but if you live right under one of those suckers; it couldn't be a good thing; other than some incredible reception and no dropped calls.
Sorry, but magazines like Louis Slesin's Microwave News (www.microwavenews.com) has been covering these sort of studies - mainly in Scandinavia - for years. Indeed it is better to live under such a mast than next to it...levels are much lower underneath due to the antenna pattern. Also remember than putting a 2 watt transmitter next to your brain (the mobile) is a MUCH higher level than living several hundred metres away from a mast.
I'm glad the comments here are staying at a "sane" level. Yes, there are known (and certainly unknown) effects caused by electromagnetic fields in general, and microwaves in particular. No one disputes the danger of high-power microwave emissions (like microwave ovens, satellite uplinks, ECM pods on a fighter jet, or other applications ranging way above 100 Watts)
No, there certainly have been extensive studies, with tens of thousands of test subjects. It's a known fact that, for example, while using a GSM cellphone can double the chance of individual cell mutations, breathing pure oxygen multiplies the chance by a factor of 8 (!).
It may well be that the Essex University is conducting some never-before-done examinations in their study, but that's the whole point of new studies. Remember that a study is worthless if it's results cannot be reproduced by others.
"breathing pure oxygen multiplies the chance by a factor of 8 (!)"
And what are the odds that you will be breathing pure oxygen more than a few seconds in your entire life ? Since the immense majority of us live on a planet where pure oxygen is only available in very rare and disseminated points, chemical labs and industries mainly, you can eliminate pure oxygen as a risk factor of any kind to your health. Earth atmosphere is only 20% oxygen you know, the rest being mostly nitrogen.
So your maths about risk factor are quite moot, we spend much time using GSMs and none breathing pure oxygen.
Did you know that there was a 100% death risk if you happen to be within a 2 meters radius of a fusion bomb when it explodes ?
Cellphone radiation is far less dangerous so clearly we should not worry about it, sure :)