Cellular radiation: dangerous?

Illustration: Abe V. Rotor

Every day, our brain is exposed to radiation from cell phones, base stations, routers, satellites, alarms, motion sensors, radio and television. Power lines, wiring in the walls, relic radiation, crushed granite - all this can have an impact on the cells of our body. Before closing in a Faraday cage and sewing a foil suit, let's see what the laws of physics and the results of scientific research tell us.

Of all the above, the greatest concern for many is precisely cellular communication. Everybody has telephones, and in the media after articles about harm to GMOs, research is most often published (or research-based speculation) about the radiation of mobile phones and base stations.

Let's start with the main thing: scientists at the University of Sydney analyzed data for 29 years and concluded that the use of mobile phones does not increase the risk of brain cancer. Does this mean that the phone (and after it the base station) is harmless? Formally, no, but everything is good in moderation. We will talk about this measure today.
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Basic standards: PES and SAR

Illustration: Telenor Group

According to the sanitary rules and regulations of SanPiN 2.2.4 / 2.1.8.055 96 “Electromagnetic Radiations of the Radio Frequency Range (EMI RF)” in force in Russia, the permissible electromagnetic field strength is 10 μW / cm2 (or 0.1 W / m2). For comparison:

• Scandinavian countries - 100 µW / cm2;
• United States - 100 µW / cm2.

This parameter describes the density of energy flow (PES) passing through the human body. This standard applies to all non-professional exposure conditions, including for the population living in areas adjacent to base stations.

The norm was defined even in the USSR times for working with microwave equipment throughout the entire working day. The same standard has been established for microwave ovens by the USSR Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance Service (Standard No. 2666-83 “Maximum Permissible Levels of the Density of the Energy Flow Generated by Microwave Ovens”).

But in addition to the parameters of the energy flux density, there is also SAR (Specific Adsorption Rate), which characterizes the degree of impact on the body. SAR is the specific absorbed power expressed in units of body mass or tissue (W / kg). The parameter determines how many degrees body tissue is heated under the influence of radio emission. In international practice, the maximum SAR level is determined from 1.6 or 2.0 W / kg. The standard was developed in the West in the 1990s.

Many phone manufacturers indicate SAR in standard specifications. It is often used for marketing purposes, in the hope of success with technophobes. For example, the SAR coefficient of “children's” phone models may be equal to 0.568 W / kg. Such a decision, according to manufacturers, "reduces the harmful effects of cellular communication on the emerging children's organism."

It is possible to check the adequacy of the existing norms now only in one way - by significantly exceeding them and fixing the result.

How does radiation

Illustration: VOCATIV

If you do not trust scientific research and fanatically believe that cellular communication is harmful, then you can stop reading. As is known, supporters of the Theory of Conspiracies believe only in those facts that can at least indirectly confirm their correctness. The rest will recall that today the number of serious scientific publications on the effects of mobile phone radiation on biological organisms already exceeds 10,000. Cancer (brain tumors) is considered the main possible effect of prolonged exposure to radio frequency fields. Among other possible side effects, effects on the cognitive abilities of the brain, sleep, heart work, and blood pressure were considered.

A study conducted under the auspices of the US Toxicology Program (NTP) showed that under the influence of radio emission at high frequencies in mice , the development of brain and heart cancer is possible . Mice were exposed to waves up to 6 W per kilogram of mass - several times higher than the maximum permissible rate . In terms of an adult, we get 400 W (of course, no cell phone and doesn’t have such a radiation power).

In the control group of glioma mice (the most common primary brain tumor) occurred in 2-3% of the population, neuromas (benign tumors that can occur in any nerve tissue of the human body) - in 1-6%. With such statistics, in terms of the risks to humans, it becomes clear that shawarma bought from the station is much more dangerous.

But the phone is just a small device that is not used for 24 hours without taking it from the head. And what about base stations that are located near houses and operate around the clock?

Around base station

Illustration: All about Wireless Technologies

According to the standards, the sanitary protection zone around the base station (BS) is 25 meters - this is an area where you definitely do not need to have a picnic. The exclusion zone, which cannot be entered, is 2–3 m. Direct work on the BS can be performed only after it is turned off, or after reducing the radiation power to 10 microvolts.

Already from these rules it is clear that the BS should be handled with care. Therefore, the station rarely placed on homes and almost never - in schools, kindergartens and hospitals. To install the base station, the operator must conclude a contract with the owner of the object and receive permission from Rospotrebnadzor and Roskomnadzor. Usually, stations are installed on administrative buildings, on non-residential facilities, but the freestanding lighting poles of a new generation (higher and capable of withstanding numerous equipment) are much more common.

The more often the stations are located, the less often it works at maximum power and the less radiation from the BS and the phone itself. It turns out that base stations that are several tens of meters away from a person do not lead to adverse health effects. In addition, base stations do not radiate in all directions. Their antennas have a specific radiation pattern with a pronounced main beam. Outside the zone of the main beam, as well as at the foot of the antenna, the level of electromagnetic radiation will be small.


Illustration: Elektrosmoginfo

With increasing distance from the antenna, the flux density decreases. At a distance of over 100 meters, even if the antenna is directed directly into your head, with this radiation you can fall asleep and wake up without harm to health. And the phone adjusts the power of its transmitter to the signal level of the station - the weaker it is, the stronger the phone's radiation.

There are usually some obstacles between the base station and you. If the station is installed in the house opposite, then there will be glass between you, due to which the signal intensity will decrease a couple of times. If the station is located on the roof, then between you there will be a reinforced concrete ceiling, reducing the signal by 32 times.

According to the World Health Organization, the levels of exposure to radio frequency signals from base stations and wireless networks on SAR-indicators are so low that the body temperature rises very little, and it does not affect human health. The person absorbs five times more signals from the radio and TV. This is due to the fact that the frequencies used in broadcasting (about 100 MHz) and television broadcasting (about 300-400 MHz) are lower than the frequencies used in mobile telephony (900 MHz and 1800 MHz), and also because of their height is an efficient receiving antenna.

Conclusion

According to the Government of Moscow, more than 15,000 base stations have been installed in the capital (in any other Russian city there are considerably fewer of them), the power of which usually does not exceed 5–10 W. During all control measurements in the territories adjacent to the base stations, there was not a single case of exceeding the permissible electromagnetic field strength. In 91% of cases, this indicator was several times less than the maximum permissible value.

If you still have doubts about the security of the installed base station, you can request an inspection of the object from the Office of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communication. Or independently purchase a broadband electromagnetic field strength meter, which allows to obtain highly accurate measurement results of non-ionizing radiation. The meter covers all frequencies - from longwave to microwave - and allows you to determine any level of EMF.