How Radiation from Mobile Phone Towers is dangerous: Lies v/s Truth

Last updated on March 12th, 2023 at 01:02 am

It is a debatable and controversial issue whether radiation from Mobile towers is dangerous or not for which, we have a very well-written article written by a senior telecom officer Sh Balbir Singh Chaudhary.

• A lie is that the power radiated from the tower is more than the handset but Truth is that both are equal
• A lie is that other countries have put a limit on the power radiated from towers and handsets while Truth is that there are only on the recommendation stage in a few countries and still not accepted by any country

Lies versus truth: Dangers from Cell Phone Towers

In the last 2-3 years a systematic campaign has been launched in the media about the dangerous “radiation” from cell phone towers. It was called “radiation” intentionally to scare the public. The common man links the word “radiation” with the dangerous products of nuclear accidents. The telecommunication equipment is the same all around the globe and India-specific equipment is not manufactured. Other than India, this is not an issue.

Campaigners concealed the fact that the power radiated from the tower is always slightly less than the power radiated from the mobile handset. For two-way communication, the minimum power received by the mobile handset from the tower and, received by the tower from the handset has to be the same. So there is no use in transmitting higher power from the tower than the handset when the radio path is the same to and fro. A single tower caters to thousands of handsets in the service area. It can be understood that radiation from the mobile phone tower is no issue.

This radiation should have been called electromagnetic waves instead. Electromagnetic waves are identified by their frequency bands. In ascending order of frequency, these are named medium and short wave radio, Very high, Ultra-high, microwave, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays. The frequencies above visible light are capable of ionizing the matter and so, are dangerous to the DNA of living cells. Visible light and frequencies lower than it does not ionize the cells and cause damage to the cell DNA. The cell phone towers emit a UHF range that is much below the heat and visible light frequencies.

Aakashwani, Doordarshan, the Department of telecommunication, police wirelesses, and Radars are using VHF, UHF, and microwaves for the last 30 years. The tentative level of emitted radiation powers of their existing systems are as follows;-

• DoorDarshan= 10-20 KiloWatts (UHF)
• AakashWani= 10-20 Kilo Watts (VHF)
• Satellite transmitters= 5-10 KiloWatts (Micro-Waves)
• Microwave kitchen oven= 1 Kilowatt
• RADARS, Narrow pulses in MegaWatts
• Police wireless= 20-50 watts (VHF)
• First Generation Mobile system in New York= 250-500 Watts (UHF)
• Mobile telephony= 10 Watts (UHF) per antenna

There are thousands of maintenance officials working in the above departments. They are on duty for eight hours a day and are residing in the colonies hosting these sources of UHF/VHF for the last thirty years. But there is no evidence of any higher incidence of brain cancer or any other specific health problems in these departments due to radiation from these towers. It can be appreciated that the radiation power level of cell phone transmitters is negligible compared to the other services.

High-power electric transmission lines, electric motors, railway engines, and lines, spark plugs of vehicles, TV remotes, Computers, and kitchens all emit mu UHF power. All matter at a nonzero temperature, like living animals, vegetables, electric bulbs, heaters, and the outer universe continuously emits a spectrum of these rays. The radiation level in the frequency ranges of cell phones from other sources in our homes was measured by field officers.

The results are produced below to draw meaningful conclusions;- ( All measurements are in milliwatts)

• Cell phone while ringing =877
• Power near the tower in open ground (Naya Pura Kota)=2.52
• Power near tube light= 1.378
• Mixie= 4.175
• Sunlight = 1.67
• 100 Watt bulb=1.6
• Hot TAWA (plate on a stove) =0.793
• Fire in lighted CHULHA (wood stove)=0.450
• Mobile phone radiation power in room=0.320

How Radiation from Mobile Phone Towers is dangerous: Lies v/s Truth

It can be understood from the above measurements that mobile telephony radiation is of no significance as compared to other radiations in the same band. Media has reported measured power density in mobile telephony bands between 5 to 10 watts per square meter at many congested places. Just by transmitting 10 watts or 100 watts (assuming there are ten mobile towers in the area), a radiation power density of 5 to 10 watts per square meter in a radius of 5 Km area cannot be created. It violates the principles of conservation of energy.

So where from this power come from?  And that is the catch. In a marketplace, hundreds of mobile handsets are on. The total power density in an area due to the handsets will be thousands of times more than the power received from the radiation from the towers.

Some Ph.D. aspirants have concluded that mobile radiations affect crops ( Moong especially), honey bees, and birds to lose their sense of direction and path. A lady from Bombay and a gentleman from Jaipur claim to have developed brain tumors due to the cell phone tower. Some studies in a busy mall near mobile towers report irritable behavior, loss of sleep, and depression in the employees. There may be some others claiming the same from other cities. But large-scale observations over the last thirty years do not validate such ideas. Consider the followings;-

1)   If these cell phone towers had any adverse impact on living cells, then all bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and plants near the towers would have died. Mosquitoes and flies would die or run away. The lifetime of these organisms and insects is a few hours or a few days. Millions of their generations have passed and been exposed for the last 15-30 years. We would have come across many new mutated species by now. But this is not observed.

2)    In good conductors, the depth of penetration of UHF waves is micrometers. Reaching these frequencies up to the brain penetrating the skin and electrolytic fluids around the brain is not possible. Skin cancer, ear cancer, nose cancer, or teeth cancer will precede brain cancer. There are nearly 10 lakh cell phone towers in India. If we assume that each tower creates cancer in three families living nearest to them then there must be at least thirty lakh families with brain cancer. Fortunately, there is no such evidence.

3)    Observe the nearby telecom or a TV tower in the evening. It is the preferred place of resting for birds, peacocks, and eagles. The crows lay their eggs in the microwave dish antennas. So shrouds were historically used. The employees engaged in TV or telecom tower maintenance are scared of the honey bee colonies and the nests of crows on these towers. VAN- VAASIs is engaged to remove these before they climb on them.

4) Mobile phones have penetrated every place in the country during the last 15 years. There is no downfall in the total production of any crop or Moong in particular. There is no observed downfall in the production of honey or in the population of birds during this period in India or around the globe. So the claims of this adverse effect are against the observations.

5)     In busy malls there is a heavy flux of customers. Every new face causes secretions of adrenaline in the attendants. Irritability or sleeplessness or mild depressions are the well-known consequences of adrenaline. Some people answer 400 calls daily. This will affect their health irrespective of a mobile or landline phone.

Will the radiation intensity reduce by reducing the transmission power from mobile phone towers?

Mobile telephony is communication from the tower to the handset and vice-versa. The handset power is dynamically balanced. Less is the received signal, more is the power transmitted by the handset. The handset typically transmits one lakh times (60 decibels) more power than what it receives. Removing the towers or reducing the transmission power to 1/10  will increase the trans power of every handset by 10 times.

If there are (say) 100 mobile phones connected to a BTS at a given time then the total increase in the radiated power in the environment due to the reduction of BTS power will be 100X10 = 1000 times. If it is desirable to reduce the mobile radiation in the environment then we should increase the number and the Trans power of BTS ten times instead of reducing it by the same.

Now let us mathematically calculate the level of power received from a mobile tower. A cell phone tower transmits a radio power of 10 watts. (Two watts now since the handset power is now limited to 2 watts and there is no point in transmitting more power than the handset). The antennas are used to focus this power in the desired direction. That is insignificant. Now let us mathematically calculate the maximum power which can be received by a person from the cell phone tower.

The antennas are hoisted on mobile towers at a height of 40 meters and have 13 Db (20 times) directional gains. Meaning, the emitted power is increased by 20 times in the desired direction. A person on the ground will be approximately 50 meters away from these antennas. If we focus this antenna on this person, then he can receive a maximum power equal to 10 X (Antenna gain=20) /(4 X pi X 50 X 50) = almost 6.4 mill watts per square meter (by spherical geometry). 

If we assume a worst-case of 6 different operators working on a single tower or 6 towers standing in a row near each other, then also more than  6.4mili watt per sq meter X 6= 0.04 watt cannot be thrown on him.

In practice, the antennas are oriented to focus the power at around 5 kilometers away from a tower for optimum coverage. In such case the maximum received power will be 10000 times lesser than the above worst case calculation i.e. microwatts.

There is no direct line of sight between the receiver and the tower in mobile communication. The signal is received after multiple reflections. In every reflection, only one-tenth of the signal survives. The signal inside a building is further 10 times less than outside it. Here we have ignored the power loss due to Rayleigh scattering and absorption by the atmosphere.

The most likely received signal will be in Peco- Watts per sq meter. 10-watt red aviation lights are installed on radio transmission towers. The red light you receive in your home due to these lights is the same amount you receive from the mobile signal. It is of no significance.

It is the right time for creating a proper public understanding of the issue before unfounded panic is spread.

By  Balbir Singh Chaudhary (chaudharybalbir@gmail.com)

The writer is a senior officer of Indian Telecommunication Services. He has experience of nearly 25 years of in dealing with radio communications.

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