Research shows signals emitted from mobile masts are not dangerous

The emergence of mobile telephone networks brought with it an increasing number of base stations near residential areas, schools, hospitals, and other public locations.

Along with the introduction of modern wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX, which have become part of daily life, there have been questions raised about the impact of the electromagnetic radiation from the antennas used by these technologies on human health.

Some media articles and reports, expressing conflicting views on the possibility of adverse health effects and not always based on reliable sources, have led to concern among the public.

In response to these concerns and questions, TRA recently organized a seminar on this subject where representatives from the Municipalities, BDF, Ministry of Interior, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Telecommunications companies and the Commission responsible for the environment gathered to hear from three professors on the important issue of signals emitted from masts of mobile and other telecommunications technologies.

The Professors explained that, after more than $300m has been spent on research and more than 10,000 papers published, there is no credible evidence that signals from mobile masts adhering to the internationally agreed standards, adopted by more than 40 countries in the world, damage the health of people.

Reference was made to a statement made by the World Health Organization (WHO), "Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak radio frequency signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects."

Professor Michael Repacholi from the University of Rome, Honorary President of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection which is derived from the United Nations and its recommendations are approved by the World Health Organization, said, "The limit for radio frequency signal levels adopted by the World Health Organisation has been set 50 times lower than a level at which there is no evidence of any danger to human health."

And further, "Every international and national major research has provided no convincing evidence that radio frequencies exposure increases the risk of cancer, even at levels much higher than emitted from mobile base stations and wireless technologies."

In his presentation, Dr. Professor Waheeb Al Nasser, Professor of Physics at the University of Bahrain, President of the Arabic Section of the World Association for Solar Energy (Germany), and the President of the World Energy Organization of the Middle East, said, "How is it that people can believe unqualified individuals and rumours rather than the hard evidence of science and research? The more masts used by any one operator the lower the power levels required to reach the mobile handsets and the lower power needed by the handsets them selves. More masts only decrease radiation levels."

Mr. Mirza Khalaf, Head of Pollution Control section at the Commission responsible for environment rest the public concerns and said, "Bahrain is the first country in the region to issue a standard for radiation emitted from electromagnetic fields which is in line with the ICNIRP standard and WHO recommendations. All the measurements we have conducted have revealed that radiation levels from mobile base stations are well below the standards."

Mr. Alan Horne, TRA's General Director, said:

"TRA has procured equipment for monitoring signal levels and in association with the Commission has and will continue to monitor the signal levels from all sources covering the radio communications spectrum. The reports will be regularly updated on the TRA web site. TRA in cooperation with the Commission will closely monitor signal levels to ensure that mobile masts stay well below the maximum level specified in the published standard. Further we are working with the Municipalities, the Commission and the telecommunications companies to ensure that our Regulation on Mast Sharing shows positive results in terms of visual impact on the general public. We wish to see that masts on roof tops and free standing masts should progressively better blend into their surroundings."

Mr. Philip Harris, the Licensing and Operations Manager at TRA, presented an overview of signal level measurements taken by TRA. So far 13 sites have been measured and all signals is telecommunications frequencies have been significantly below the limit.

On the same subject, the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones from UK in their report (The Stewart Report) concluded by saying, "We conclude that there is one substantial established risk to health from mobile phone technology, namely through the increased incidence of motor vehicle accidents when drivers use mobile phones. The evidence indicates that there is no general risk to the health of people living near to base stations where the exposures are only small fractions of the guidelines."

Participants in the workshop concluded by agreeing on a set of recommendations, among these are; TRA in cooperation with Commission responsible for environment will continue monitoring signal levels and publish results, TRA with the Municipalities and the Commission to encourage operators to benefit from the mast sharing regulation to alleviate the concerns of the public from unsightly masts, the operators to progressively use more environment friendly design to minimize their visual impact and the Municipalities to process the outstanding orders for wireless base stations instillation. Finally it was agreed that a continuous awareness campaign is needed to ensure the general public are properly informed of the facts concerning signals from telecommunications masts in order that they may recognise unsubstantiated rumours.