Mobile phone masts – are they safe to live near?

Had a heated debate with some friends the other night over a planning proposal to site a telephone mast in an urban area near their house, nearest would be 25m away, and loads within 100m. The whole community were up in arms.

Seems there’s no evidence that they’re either harmful or not harmful so the presumption is that they’re OK in planning terms, which seems daft to me – surely we should be sure stuff is safe before it’s put to widespread use (like drugs?).

Anyway, would you buy a house near one?

Probably. There are lots hidden in petrol station signs etc. that you’d never spot.

I suspect that the inverse square law means you get much higher doses from calling people regularly or using Bluetooth headphones than you do from living near a mast.

I’d probably worry more about a wind turbine to be honest. House in the wrong spot, low sun and you get a lovely shadow strobe effect…

surely we should be sure stuff is safe before it’s put to widespread use (like drugs?).

I presume none of those protesting own mobile phones if they’re worried about radiation from them?

They same people will whinge when they can’t use there mobile as the signal is crap nae doot

<edit> yes I would and do live near a mobile mast, great signal now.

The person at 25 meters is safest as the radio goes out the way not directly down.

As aracer says, best way to prevent it is to get everyone complaining to turn off their mobile phone. Masts are not cheap to run and theres obviously an identified demand for more capacity in the area 🙂

They same people will whinge when they can’t use there mobile as the signal is crap nae doot

Oh it’s even better than that. Mobile phones do adaptive power – so if the signal is bad they will increase the transmitted power. Far more harmful for your health not to live near a mobile phone tower if you use one (IIRC there have been proven health issues due to using mobile phones, unlike living near towers).

Seems there’s no evidence that they’re either harmful or not harmful so the presumption is that they’re OK in planning terms

Is also being disingenuous. People have looked pretty hard to find evidence of any health issues. The fact they haven’t found any evidence is in itself pretty good evidence that it is very unlikely there is any health risk.

my dad’s done a fair bit of research (professionally) on this – its safe.

aracer – Member. IIRC there have been proven health issues due to using mobile phones

any chance of a link etc

IIRC

you think the drugs they give you are safe ?

twitch. 😀

If there was any danger from these masts – which I very much doubt – surely the safest place to live would be directly underneath one?

Does you father work for a telecoms company, Hungry Monkey, or one of the organisations financed by the telecoms companies to produce biased research stating there is no risk?

Le Monde has been publishing more objective research for the last five years or so and in France at least it’s recocnised microwave transmissions increase the risk of brain cancer. Regular mobile phone users have double the incidence of brain cancer according to a Le Monde article a few years back. We frogs are told not to let children use mobile phones without a hands-free kit. The dangers of the transmitters on buildings are recognised and people have won court cases to get them removed on health grounds.

Good old Google. Here’s the Le Monde article quoting the Swedish research showing a 2.4 increase in brain cancer that started the saga in France.

I think the greatest danger is from catching your head on some nimby’s placard protesting against it.

Educakor – but the question was about being near a mast, rather than using a mobile. If there is any health risk associated with using a mobile, that’s the radiation from the phone, not the mast.

If people are fearful of being near a mast they should stop using their mobiles – the radiation from them is much greater than from the mast. If they stopped using their mobiles, the company wouldn’t need to build a mast.

We frogs are told not to let children use mobile phones without a hands-free kit.

I recall an article on TV about this a bit back; something to do with kids’ skulls not being fully formed or some such, so not benefiting from the same protection as thick-headed adults.

(I also vaguely remember it saying that a Bluetooth hands-free kit is as bad or worse, as you’re putting a small transmitter directly into your head. Could be misremembering though.)

Anyway. Here’s a scientist on the OP’s friends’ estate, yesterday.

<tries and fails to find the A.R.S.E.W.I.P.E advert>

What does the Daily Mail say about telephone masts?

What does the Daily Mail say about telephone masts?

It says that Cheryl Cole has gone shopping! 😕

I have a theory that the current Cancer epidemic is due to increased mobile phone use, never have I known so many folk that either have it or have lost someone near to them, I bet everyone reading this knows somebody in similar circumstance.

So yes, like electricity pylons that definitely produce clusters of cancerous disease, I believe them to be dangerous. I was also concerned at the effect they found Wifi had had on some plant in one of the Scandinavian countries, I don’t like even knowing to be really honest, nothing any of us can do about it now.

Nothing written here has any basis in fact, jus pure anecdotal evidence and speculation, but then if it were fact would we be told and if we were, would there not be some equal and opposite case put before us by some high priced scientific lobbyist.

Am I a conspiracy theorist? Hmm I do wonder sometimes..

Nothing written here has any basis in fact

The vast majority of the radiation you are exposed to when using a mobile phone comes from the handset not the mast (inverse square law and all that).

The further a phone is from a mast the stronger a signal it needs to transmit to connect a call. Therefore the closer to a mast you are the less radiation you are exposed to.

Cell phone masts are usually only dangerous to you if they fall on you when walking past.

In Chester theres loads built into the lamp posts, you can see the samll access pannel on the front with a small air vent for the fan, that usually buzes.

Of course the majority who protest use a mobile. But the question wasn’t about personal mobile use – which perhaps is the question they should be asking themselves. It was about living near a phone mast operating 24/7. Regardless of real risk, it’s the perceived risk and subsequent impact on house prices that’s the real issue for them.

http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/

To find one near you,power,and height etc.

Unless it’s Orange or T-Mobile, as they don’t supply data.

IME, orange and Tmobile actually have no masts

Have a look on the HPA’s website.

If I step out into the road outside my house I could practically hit an O2 mast with a stone. Does it worry me? Not in the slightest. Neither does my wifi, the microwave, the boombox in my bedroom I use as an alarm, or any of the other electrical devises that the Daily Mail’s regular scare-mongering rails against.
High voltage power cables on the other hand I would not like to live near, as much because of induced electromagnet effects. I’ve stood underneath 250,000v cables holding an aluminium bike, my old SuperVee, and I couldn’t touch any metal part of it without getting shocks from it, so I’m damned if if I’d want to live in close proximity, the buzzing alone would drive me nuts.

I’ve stood underneath 250,000v cables

That’s quite an achievement in this country, either 11,000, 33,000, 132,000, 275,000 or 400,000 but no 250,000 😉
And you must have long arms if that’s the case to have got witin the distance you would get such an effect (7.3m even on a wet day)
I’ve worked on mobile masts, tv transmitters (much higher power) and electricity pylons for the last 15 years have been a volunteer for research and to my knowledge have suffered no ill effects