Answer to Question #5164 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Q

My house is situated about 75 feet from a water tower. On top the tower there are 12 cell phone antennas and four cell phone transmission dishes. I am concerned about the effects of radiation. Both my husband and I have lived here for almost two years and in that time have experienced frequent severe headaches. I also had a miscarriage last year and am now pregnant again and very concerned as to the risks.

A

Cell phone antennas transmit and receive radiofrequency (RF) signals to communicate with cell phone users in the area. This energy is technically called "radiation" in the sense that it travels through space, but it is very different in its biological effects from ionizing radiation such as x rays.
At some level of exposure, RF energy is clearly hazardous. Exposure limits, in the United States those of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), are designed protect the public and workers against all known hazards of exposures to such energy.

Strictly speaking, an engineering analysis or measurements would be needed to determine the levels of exposure to RF energy that you receive from the antennas. However, I am quite sure that your exposure levels are very far below government safety limits. Cell base stations invariably operate at low power levels, and fields at any distance more than 5-10 feet from the antennas are invariably far below FCC exposure limits. Also, the antennas used by most cell base stations transmit their energy in beams that are narrow in the vertical direction, and nearly all of the energy from the antennas would pass far above your house.

The company that put up the antennas most likely performed an analysis of RF exposure levels for submission to local government to obtain approval to site the antennas. Perhaps the company might share a copy of this analysis with you.

For more information, see the technical information sheet of the Committee on Man and Radiation of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

The FCC also has an informative fact sheet that says ". . . there is no reason to believe that [cell phone or radio] towers could constitute a potential health hazard to nearby residents."

I am not a physician and I do not offer an opinion about the cause of the health problems you mention. There is, however, no scientific basis to connect such problems to the presence of a nearby cell phone antennas, and the health problems you describe could have many causes. A person who experiences health problems of any sort should consult a physician and receive a professional diagnosis and treatment, without presuming any particular cause of the problems.

Kenneth R. Foster