{"id":254,"date":"2006-05-13T10:55:06","date_gmt":"2006-05-13T00:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/machinegunkeyboard.com\/?p=254"},"modified":"2009-10-06T18:51:38","modified_gmt":"2009-10-06T08:51:38","slug":"do-cellular-phone-base-stations-cause-brain-tumours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/machinegunkeyboard.com\/?p=254","title":{"rendered":"Do cellular phone base stations cause brain tumors?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cellularThere’s a widely circulated urban myth that mobile phones cause cancers<\/a>. Reinforcing this myth is a recent news item being reported by the ABC, indicating seven RMIT staff members have been diagnosed with brain tumors<\/a> in the last 7 years. So it happens, there is a cellular telephone base station in the RMIT building where these people worked.<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, I got a particularly panicky email from a friend not long back on the topic, when she noticed a new mobile phone tower being erected in her neighbourhood. I told her not to worry.<\/p>\n

Here’s why.<\/p>\n

I worked as a radio broadcast engineer for quite some years and also have been a licensed Amateur (‘ham’) Radio operator since I was a youngster. Many of the transmitters I worked with were in the 50,000 watt class. If exposure to radio frequency (RF) energy is sure to cause cancerous tumors, I should be a walking lump of cancer cells- and I’m not.<\/p>\n

The single term ‘radiation’ is used both to describe the emission of radio waves and also the emission of gamma rays from radioactive materials like uranium and plutonium, but these types of radiation are quite different. Most people don’t know the differences.<\/p>\n

The main difference between radioactive emissions and radio signals is in the energy<\/a> and frequency levels of the emissions. Cancer causing gamma rays (which are similar to x-rays) from radioactive substances, are high-energy, extremely high frequency emissions, with frequencies much, much higher than that of visible light<\/a>. Gamma and x-rays can disrupt the DNA in living cells by ionisation<\/a>, causing them to replicate improper copies, which are known as cancers. Radio waves as used for communications are much lower energy emissions and of relatively low frequency compared to gamma rays and x-rays.<\/p>\n

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The low frequency and energy levels of radio waves make them unable to damage DNA via ionisation. The human body is fully transparent<\/a> to radio waves below about 1 GHz. Electromagnetic radiation which is lower in frequency than ultraviolet light is incapable of ionisation. The most RF energy can do is vibrate water molecules, causing those molecules and materials nearby or in contact with the water molecules to heat up.<\/p>\n

Most people in developed nations are completely unaware that they constantly live immersed in very strong radio frequency energy fields, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Anyone born past about 1947 has lived their entire life in strong RF energy fields, usually without their knowledge.<\/p>\n

TV stations emit multi-megawatt level (1,000,000+ watt) radio signals at frequencies up to around 900MHz.<\/p>\n

Microwave ovens are actually small radio transmitters which operate at 2450MHz (or 2.45GHz; 1 Gigahertz = 1000MHz) and emit up to 1000 watts of power, though that energy is contained within a shield in the oven so that power may be used to vibrate water molecules in foods, causing them to heat up.<\/p>\n

Cordless telephones for home use operate at several frequencies, but 1.8GHz and 2.4GHz are becoming popular. The higher frequencies are preferred as their usable range is shorter, meaning one cordless phone system is less likely to interfere with others in nearby homes. Cordless phones also emit very weak signals, on the order of 100 milliwatts (1\/10 of 1 watt), also to minimise interference with cordless phones in neighbouring homes.<\/p>\n