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Letter: No proof of base station harm

Contrary to claims made in your article ("Groups protest `hazardous' cables," Nov. 26, p. 2), there is no credible scientific evidence of health effects from living or working near a mobile-phone base station.

We believe that the article confuses magnetic fields emitted by powered appliances and electrical wiring, which are very different to the radio waves used for communication. The potential impacts of radio frequency energy on human health have been studied in great detail over the past 50 years.

Comprehensive reviews of over 2,200 research publications, including 410 studies specifically on mobile phones and base stations continue to find no substantiated scientific evidence of adverse health effects.

Only recently the World Health Organization (WHO) said that despite the feelings of some people that more research needs to be done, scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals. The WHO's fact sheet on radio frequency (RF) emissions states: "None of the recent reviews have concluded that exposure to RF fields from mobile phones and their base stations cause any adverse health consequences."

Also, exclusion zones around residential areas and schools do not reduce public exposure to radio waves and the argument for such zones is scientifically flawed. In fact, a base station sited further from a residential area or school may need to run at a higher power level in order to operate effectively, and this could result in higher exposures at the school.

Michael Milligan
Secretary-general of Mobile

Manufacturers Forum

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