Information: Safety: Radiation: Base Station

Base Station : is it safe?

Base Station : is it safe?

Mobile phone base stations are radio transmitters with antennas mounted on either free-standing masts or on buildings. Radio signals are fed through cables to the antennas and then launched as radio waves into the area, or cell, around the base station. A typical larger base station installation would consist of a plant room containing the electronic equipment as well as the mast with the antennas.

Mobile phone base stations are basically low-power multi-channel two-way radios. A mobile phone (cell phone) is a low-power, single-channel, two-way radio. Whenever, you talk on a mobile phone, you (and perhaps most of the other people around you) are talking to a nearby base station. From that base station your phone call goes into the regular land-line phone system.

Due to the fact that mobile phones and their base stations are two-way radios, they produce radio-frequency (RF) radiation (that is how they communicate), and they expose people near them to RF radiation. However, because both the phones and the base stations are low power (short range), the RF radiation exposure levels from them are generally very low.

Mobile Phones and Health

Radio waves emitted above a certain level can cause heating effects in the body. There are international guidelines which indicate the limits of exposure to avoid this. All mobile phones in the UK fall within these guidelines. Research shows that for the general population radio waves within these guidelines do not present health problems. However, there is evidence of changes in brain activity.

Base Stations and Health

It is seen that people who live or work near base stations are quite concerned. The Stewart Group's conclusion was that "The balance of evidence is that there is no general risk to the health of people living near base stations, on the basis that exposures are expected to be small fractions of the guidelines."

Again because there are gaps in knowledge further work has been set up by the Government to ensure that our research keeps pace with advancing technology.

The Stewart Group did not recommend that base stations should not be located on or near schools. It did, however, recommend that the beam of greatest intensity should not be permitted to fall on any part of the school grounds without the agreement of the school or parents. This part of the beam will generally fall between 50 to 200m from the base of a mast.

Known effects

Scientists have known for a long time about the ability of radiofrequency (RF) radiation to cause heating, which can lead to severe health effects on the body such as fatigue, reduced mental concentration and cataracts, if exposed to very high levels. These effects are known as thermal effects, some of which can be created by subjecting a person to a warm environment. The Radiation Protection Standard for Maximum Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency Fields - 3 kHz to 300 GHz (2002) specifies limits on public exposure to RF radiation from various sources, including mobile phone base stations. The level at which these limits are set is much lower than the levels at which any thermal (heating) effects can occur. All base stations must comply with this Standard. Only at a distance closer than a few metres directly in front of an antenna would the limit be exceeded. Of course, these antennae are located high up on towers and buildings, which have restricted access. At ground level, RF radiation levels are very much lower than the limit specified in the Standard (typically less than one ten thousandth of this limit).

Conclusion

Although more research into the effects of RF radiation is being undertaken to answer unresolved questions, there is no convincing evidence that prolonged exposure to very low levels of RF radiation causes any adverse health effects.

by:Antonycool

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