City Pulse

There has been an ongoing debate about whether the radiation being emitted from the mobile phone towers can be a cause of cancer. The answer to this question is a tricky one as the scientific data available to date doesn’t clearly state whether or not radiation emitted from the mobile phone towers can cause cancer.  Even the WHO report terms it a probable factor.

However, government officials as well as the operators are using the lack of proper scientific evidence as a defensive shield to fend off critics. 

Even with the absence of scientific data to determine their role, there are many who are convinced that these towers are indeed death traps.

N S Muthukumaran, a resident of 2nd stage Indiranagar was worried about the radiation emitted from a mobile phone tower near his house. Hence, he got his house audited by Livesafe radiation protection services in January 2016.

The readings showed that Cell Tower Radiation (CTR) Readings in the first floor bedroom of his house was very high as it exceeded 1000 μW/m2.

Muthukumaran was advised to install Anti Radiation Window Film in the room where the radiation was high and was recommended to repeat the audit the next year.

In April 2017, when Muthukumaran repeated the audit to check the radiation, he was shocked to find the Cell Tower Radiation Readings high in almost every room of his house.

The readings showed that the CTR was almost 7 times higher than the prescribed limit.

Muthukumaran tells IChangeMyCity that he plans to file a formal complaint with the Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring as well as he is currently painting is house with Radiation Shielding paint and sticking radiation protective film on the windows, hoping to bring down the radiation levels in his house.

He has also posted a formal complaint on IChangeMyCity.

It was noticed that multiple towers with multiple antennas at a distance of 200m from the building, as the main reason for the sudden increase in CTR Readings.

Speaking to Team IChangeMyCity, Neehar S Rao, MD of LiveSafe Radiation Protection Services explains that while new mobile towers need no objection certificates from the people living in the neighbourhood, adding another transmitter to the existing tower does not require permission. Hence, at present, many Cellular companies add multiple antennas to the existing towers.

India has adopted radiation norms given by International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines of 1998 for safe power density of f/200, where frequency (f) is in MHz. The ICNIRP guidelines clearly state that for simultaneous exposure to multiple frequency fields, the sum of all the radiation must be taken into consideration. However, in India, we have applied this limit to individual carrier, so the radiation level exceeds by several times than even prescribed by ICNIRP guidelines, depending upon the total number of transmitters in that area. Some people, especially older people, house wives, small children living near towers are exposed to high radiation from cell towers 24 hours a day, which is something one needs to be concerned about, he adds.

Neehar also points out that Autism Spectrum Disorders (including Attention Deficit Disorder, ADD and Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD) have been linked to exposure to Microwave Radiation, as per many published, International studies from reputed Institutions.  

The judgment by the Supreme Court of India, which ordered the shutting down of a mobile phone tower in Gwalior, on the grounds that its electromagnetic radiation caused a 42-year-old man to be afflicted by cancer is a landmark one, says Neehar and hopes that it can bring about a wave of change with governments taking Cell Tower Radiation and its effects seriously.

Meanwhile, Muthukumaran says that the Supreme Court judgment is a landmark one. “There is a hearing coming up on the Rajasthan mobile tower issue on July 11^th. In addition to the main complainant, many people who have issues because of mobile towers have joined the fight. I am contemplating to do the same by submitting the evidence based on the audit readings in our apartment,” he adds.

Health Effects

Professor Girish Kumar from IIT Mumbai has shared his presentation on Cell Phone Tower Radiation and Hazards with Team IChangeMyCity. In the presentation, the Professor points out that sleep disruption, headache, lack of concentration, forgetful memory, depression, fatigue, dizziness, palpitations of the heart, visual disorders, cardiovascular problems, buzzing in the head, altered reflexes are some of the most common health issues people may experience because of the radio frequency radiation from cell phone towers. Most of these issues are related to the changes in electrical activity in the brain.

However, prolonged exposure to radiation can also lead to Neurodegenerative Disorders such as Alzheimer, Parkinson's, Immune System Degradation, Irreversible Infertility, DNA Damage, and Increase in Cancer risk etc.

In December 2013, Hardell group from Sweden showed that the evidence available suggests that RF-EMF exposure from mobile (and cordless) phones should be regarded as Class 1 "human carcinogen".

The most probable solution to reduce Electric and Magnetic Field Radiation will be to  convince Department of Telecommunications to reduce the norm immediately to <10mW/m2 and Cellular Operators should reduce transmitted power from 20W/carrier to maximum 1 -2 W in densely populated area.

Tarang Sanchar

In May 2017, Department of Telecommunications launched Tarang Sanchar, a portal that will allow people to track radiation emitted from mobile towers within a locality and check their compliance with the stipulated norms.

Populated with data from 12.5 lakh base transceiver stations (BTS), Tarang Sanchar allows users to view tower-specific details such as the operator, the supporting technology (2G/3G/4G) and most importantly if it meets electro-magnetic frequency (EMF) compliance norms.