Cell Phone Towers, No Risks?

Experts: Cell towers don't pose health risks
JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
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BELLINGHAM - Some Columbia neighborhood residents are concerned about the health risks of a proposed 100-foot cell phone tower, which would go in close to houses near Kulshan and North streets.

There's no conclusive evidence about the health impacts of the towers and whether they cause cancer, but the American Cancer Society thinks they probably don't.

"Cellular phone towers, like cellular phones themselves, are a relatively new technology, and we do not yet have full information on health effects," according to the society. "There are some theoretical reasons why cellular phone towers would not be expected to increase cancer risk, and animal studies of (radiofrequencies) have not suggested a risk of cancer."

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related story Bellingham residents up in arms again over proposed cell tower

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wrote that radiofrequency exposure is much less on the ground than if you were near the tower at the height of the antenna. "In fact, ground-level exposure from such antennas is typically thousands of times less than the exposure levels recommended as safe by expert organizations," it wrote. "So exposure to nearby residents would be well within safety margins."

For more information, go to www.cancer.org. From there, click on "Environmental & Occupational Cancer Risk," then "Radiation" and "Cellular Phone Towers." The article has links to other sources of information.

Cell Phone Tower Risks

It is hard to tell who these "experts" are and what company they actually represent sometimes.