RELIABLE AND RESPECTED RESOURCES

American Cancer Society, Cellular Phone Towers:  

"Cellular phone towers ... are a relatively new technology, and we do not yet have full information on health effects. In particular, not enough time has elapsed to permit epidemiological studies."

(Click on this link to access the full webpage.)

LINK TO THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 2011 CONTROLLED STUDY CONCERNING CELL PHONE RADIATION

Balmori, Alfonso, Electromagnetic Pollution from Phone Masts. Effects on Wildlife (2009)

Scientific article, to be published in Pathophysiology journal, concluding:

"pulsed telephony microwave radiation can produce effects especially on nervous,
cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems:
- Damage to the nervous system by altering electroencephalogram,changes in neural response or changes of the blood–brain barrier.
- Disruption of circadian rhythms (sleep–wake) by interfering with the pineal gland and hormonal imbalances.
- Changes in heart rate and blood pressure.
- Impairment of health and immunity towards pathogens, weakness, exhaustion, deterioration of plumage and growth problems.
- Problems in building the nest or impaired fertility, number of eggs, embryonic development, hatching percentage and survival of chickens.
- Genetic and developmental problems: problems of locomotion, partial albinism and melanism or promotion of tumors.

In the light of current knowledge there is enough evidence of serious effects from this technology to wildlife. For this reason precautionary measures should be developed, alongside environmental impact assessments prior to installation, and a ban on installation of phone masts in protected natural areas and in places where endangered species are present. Surveys should take place to objectively assess the severity of effects."

(Click on this link to access the full article.)

BioInitiative Report: A Rationale for a Biologically-based Public Exposure Standard for Electromagnetic Fields (ELF and RF) (2007)

Report documenting the scientific evidence on electromagnetic fields:

"The purpose of this report is to assess scientific evidence on health impacts from
electromagnetic radiation below current public exposure limits and evaluate what changes in these limits are warranted now to reduce possible public health risks in the future.

Not everything is known yet about this subject; but what is clear is that the existing public safety standards limiting these radiation levels in nearly every country of the world look to be thousands of times too lenient. Changes are needed.

New approaches are needed to educate decision-makers and the public about sources of exposure and to find alternatives that do not pose the same level of possible health risks, while there is still time to make changes."

         (Click on this link to access the full report.)

European Parliament Resolution of 2 April 2009 on Health Concerns Associated with Electromagnetic Fields:

"Calls for particular consideration of biological effects when assessing the potential health impact of electromagnetic radiation, especially given that some studies have found the most harmful effects at lowest levels; calls for active research to address potential health problems by developing solutions that negate or reduce the pulsating and amplitude modulation of the frequencies used for transmission;
...

Considers that ... it is in the general interest to encourage solutions ... to ensure at least that schools, crèches, retirement homes, and health care institutions are kept clear, within a specific distance determined by scientific criteria, of [GSM antennae]."

(Click on this link to access the full text of the resolution.)

Flynn, Angela, Cell Towers and Wireless Communications – Living with Radiofrequency Radiation

This is a thorough, dependable report summarizing and referencing many additional reliable and respected resources.  (Click on this link to access the report.)

Hauman, Thomas, et al., HF-Radiation of GSM Cellular Phone Towers in Residential Areas:

"The GSM technology of wireless communication produces constant pulsed microwave radiationSignificant biological effects result from the non-thermal effects of extremely periodic - pulsed - HF-radiation... Official international and national standards and safety guidelines ... are still only taking into account the risk of thermal effects of high energy HF-radiation.  Most of the official HF public exposure measurements are conducted to observe the percentage of the current standard with only broadband – not frequency selective - measurements. Only in very few cases one or more percent of the (thermal) guideline value is reached or exceeded close to antenna sites. Exposure recommendations based on non-thermal effects are by far lower by many magnitudes. Frequency selective measurements are necessary to observe the cellular base station downlink frequencies and differentiate from other radiation sources as FM radio or TV transmitters. Therefore, very limited information is available on the exposure to cellular base station radiation in residential areas at different distances and directions to antenna sites.

...

As long as the only basis for official standards for high frequency radiation are thermal effects and heating of the body tissue (ICNIRP, ANSI, IEEE, NCRP, FCC, SSK, WHO) there is no need for the industry to invest into less emitting and saver products. More and more scientists state that the view of energy absorption only is insufficient to describe the possible effects on human health. Potential biological effects need to be considered due to

1.) Non-thermal or low intensity levels of HF radiation,
2.) Chronic versus acute exposure and,
3.) Pulsed HF radiation, which is reported to be more bioactive than constant wave RF radiation.

...


From the scientific point of view, adverse human heath effects of non-thermal radiation levels cannot be exactly quantified, verified, or excluded at this time. Only limited toxicological information is available in respect to the widespread use and the economical impact of the cellular phone systems in industrial nations. On one side, there is always a demand for scientific proof for human adverse health effects and dose response when establishing official economically reasonable guideline exposure threshold values. On the other side, insufficient limit of detection, insufficient dosimetry and exposure control, and industry friendly research bias the risk assessment for long-term adverse health effects, especially in the field of the cellular phone industry. That makes it clear - that by definition - official guideline standard values can only limit the consequences of adverse health effects in the frame of the economical impact.
...

We recommend to follow the principle of prevention. This includes implementation of residential exposure minimization and prevention procedures in the frame of the technical feasibility as long as the non-thermal effects are not considered in any official standard and guideline. These will include especially sensitive locations as preschools, schools, hospitals, and residential areas. So far, no other technical aspects than interferences,system coverage and system performance are taken into account. By official definition, the cellular phone system covers an area when the signal strength of about 0.001 μW/m2 is reached. We expect that with little effort, cities, communities, and the providers will be able to significantly reduce the long term radiation exposures to cellular phone towers in residential areas."

(Click on this link to access the full report.)

International Association of Firefighters, Division of Occupational Health, Safety and Medicine, Position on the Health Effects from Radio Frequency/Microwave (RF/MW) Radiation in Fire Department Facilities from Base Stations for Antennas and Towers for the Conduction of Cell Phone Transmissions (2005)

Notes that current RF exposure guidelines "are based on non-continuous exposure;" and expresses concern about the non-thermal biological effects on firefighters "of living directly under ... antenna base stations for a considerable stationary period of time and on a daily basis;" and "oppose[s] the use of fire stations as base stations for towers and/or antennas ... until a study with the highest scientific merit and integrity on health effects of exposure to low-intensity RF/MW radiation is conducted and it is proven that such sitings are not hazardous to the health of [its] members."

(Click on this link to access the full paper.)

International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), Exposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields, biological effects and health consequences (100 kHz-300 GHz) (2009)

"Although the likelihood is low that fields emanating from base stations would create a health hazard, because of their weakness, this possibility is nevertheless a concern for many people.  To date, no acceptable study on any outcome has been published on this.  ...

Another gap in the research is children.  No study population to date has included children, with the exception of studies of people living near radio and TV antennas.  Children ... might be particularly susceptible to harmful effects (although there is no evidence of this), and they are likely to accumulate many years of exposure during their lives."

(Click on this link to access the full report.)

National Academies of Sciences: Identification of Research Needs Relating to Potential Biological or Adverse Health Effects of Wireless Communication Devices (2008)

Report concluded that important additional research needs to be done concerning “exposure to juveniles [and] children from … base station antennas” and the effects of radio frequency exposures.

(Click on this link to access the full report.)

University of Munich, Ongoing RF Research Studies and Latest Findings Where Available: Children and Adolescents (2009)

Overview of ongoing studies on health effects on children and adolescents.

(Click on this link to access the full paper.)

University of Ottawa, McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment:

"base stations give rise to whole body exposure 24 hours a day, for those who remain in the neighborhood. More studies of health effects need to be done …."

(Click on this link to access the full webpage.)

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC): OET Bulletin 56: Questions and Answers about Biological Effects and Potential Hazards of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (1999):

"the possibility of 'non-thermal' biological effects may exist, whether or not such effects might indicate a human health hazard is not presently known. Further research is needed to determine the generality of such effects and their possible relevance, if any, to human health."

(Click on this link to access the full Bulletin.)

U.S. FCC: OET Bulletin 65: Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to

Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (1997): explains FCC guidelines

(Click on this link to access the full Bulletin.)

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Cellular Communication & Internet Association (CTIA)

FDA web page pointing to the fact that a large number of studies conducted in the U.S. have been funded by the cell phone industry:

"FDA’s cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the Cellular Communication & Internet Association (CTIA) has resulted in research projects focused on two topics- mechanistic studies related to genotoxicity and exposure assessment studies. All studies funded through the CRADA have been completed, and no association was found between exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation from cell phones and adverse health effects."

(Click on this link for access to the full webpage.)

World Health Organization: International Electromagnetic Fields Project: 

"there are gaps in knowledge still needing to be filled before better health risk assessments can be made on the possible health effects of exposure to many parts of the frequency spectrum."

(Click on this link for access to the full webpage.)

LINK TO UPDATED POSITION OF THE W.H.O. CONCERNING CELL PHONE RADIATION