The document discusses the ill effects of radiation from mobile towers, including:
1) It can damage the brain blood barrier, DNA, and increase cancer and infertility risks, especially for children and pregnant women.
2) Exposure near mobile towers is linked to neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
3) Studies show mobile tower radiation may negatively impact trees, bees, and birds and their ability to navigate and breed properly.
4) The government has initiated monitoring of mobile tower radiation levels and imposing penalties for exceeding limits but there are still concerns about long term low-level exposure risks.
3. Introduction
• India is the second largest mobile phone user
in the world
• 554.8 million mobile users
• More than 54% of the total mobile users are in
rural areas
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4. Technological Insights
• Pollution created by electromagnetic fields (EMF) is
called ‘electro-smog’ and is a silent killer
• India is the second largest subscriber of mobile
communication.
• There are 16 companies providing mobile services to the
Indian market
• There are around 890 million wireless connections and
more than 5 lakh mobile towers across the country to
meet the communication demand.
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5. • A mobile phone transmits around 2 Watts of power in the
frequency range of 824 - 849 MHz
• The transmission frequency range of cell tower antennas are
generally 869 - 894 MHz
• In case of a 3G technology, the base station antenna transmits
in the rage of 2000-2160 MHz.
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6. • Majority of these towers are mounted near the
residential properties and office buildings to provide
good coverage.
• These towers transmit signal throughout the day and
hence the people living around a few meters of the tower
gets stronger signals than actually required for
communication, which can be harmful
• News : HC notice to Centre on 70 year-old woman's plea
on mobile tower seeking Rs.50 lakh as compensation
from authorities for allowing a cellular operator to install
a mobile tower on the terrace of her house which caused
health hazards to her young daughter
Zeenews April 22, 2013
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7. Biological effects on Human Being
• Opening of Brain Blood Barrier and leakage of albumin from blood
vessels in inappropriate location of the brain
• Neuro-degenerative diseases - Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease
• DNA damage - When DNA damaged is greater than DNA repaired,
there is possibility of retaining mutations and initiating cancer
• Irreversible infertility
• Risk to children
– Increased radiation absorption because the skull is thin and small
– More susceptible to cell damage due to increased rate of multiplication
– Less effective against fighting growth as the immune system is not well
developed
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8. • Risk to pregnant woman for spontaneous abortion, congenital
malformation in fetus and depression and degeneration of nervous system
in children
• Calcium ion release from cell membrane leading to pain and neurological
symptoms
• Effect on skin – Rashes, redness of skin, crawling ,biting and stinging
sensation
• Interference with life line electronic gadgets
like pacemakers
• Damage of visual system
• Increase in cancer risk
• Sleep disorders
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10. “Being exposed to a mobile tower located within 50m of your home or
workplace is like being in a microwave oven for 24 hours and carries the
same cancer risk as living surrounded by lead, DDT, chloroform and
petrol exhaust”
Hindustan Times, July 15 2012
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11. Due to exponential loss of intensity during propagation of EMR, the radiation
from your cell phone is immensely higher in intensity, as far as you are
concerned, than the radiation from the tower. In fact, the farther away the
tower and the weaker the signal, the harder your cell phone works to put
out the signal, thereby increasing your exposure to radiation. Having a cell
phone tower nearer to you is a good thing!
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12. Effects on Bees
• Studies show that there has been a sharp
decline in bee population leading to damage
to apiculture industry and also increase in
global warming
• Bees have been getting sick and disoriented,
and whole hives are being deserted
• Colony Collapse Disorder or Vanishing Bee
Syndrome.
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13. Effects on Birds
• Birds, when exposed to low frequency EM radiations, they disorient
and fly in different directions
•
Microwaves can interfere with their sensors and misguide them
while navigating and preying
•
A large number of birds like pigeons, sparrows, swans are getting
lost due to interference from the mobile phone towers
• Birds near mobile phone base stations do not breed well
•
A few scientists claim that radiations can be responsible for the
persistence of Bird Flu that has been killing chickens and other fowl
and is officially attributed to a common virus with the designation
H5N1
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14. Effects on Trees
• When trees are exposed to radiation emitted by mobile
base station antennas, the leaves discolor and gradually
die
• Leaves initially develop a metallic luster appearance
• Discoloration of the leaves resulted in the
disappearance of the outer cell layer of the leaves
• Metallic luster was then followed by desiccation and
death of a portion of the leaf.
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15. Experiment
The researchers discovered that the tree seedlings growing inside the radio frequencyshielded cages were much larger and healthier than those in both the mock-shielded
cages and in the unshielded controls. The authors report that the background levels of
radio frequency radiation may be adversely affecting leaf and shoot growth and
inhibiting fall production of anthocyanin (these are the pigments associated with leaf
senescence in trembling aspen seedlings). These results suggest that exposure to the RF
radiation generated by our wireless technology may be an underlying factor in the
recent rapid decline of aspen populations.
Source: International Journal of Forestry Research, February 2010
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17. Government Initiatives
• Government plans to install devices for round-the-clock monitoring of
radiation levels emanating from telecom towers
• Area monitoring devices measures EMF radiation and sends the measured
radiation value to the display board for displaying the radiation level for
people to see the readings
• At present there are around 7.4 lakh mobile antenna system and 6 lakh
mobile towers installed across country
• Radiation norms have provision to impose penalty of up to Rs.5 lakh in case
any mobile antenna is found emitting radiation beyond permissible limits.
• The government had made it mandatory for telcos to reduce the power of
the radio frequency in towers to a tenth of what was required under the
global standards set by WHO
Zeebiz.com, Sept 3 2013; Business Standard, Dec 14 2013
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18. Preventive Measures
• By using a cell phone with a lower SAR (specific absorption rate)
i.e., how much radiation is absorbed by the human body when the
handset is being used at maximum power
• SAR values are useful, but they are bound to increase as cell phones
become more powerful and add new features and applications
• Keep distance from cell phone
• Try to text more and talk less
• When your cell phone has a weak signal, it has to work harder to
transmit and receive, and that equals higher bursts of radiation. So
find a strong signal and stay put
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