CELLULAR PHONE TOWER RADIATION

In the Borough of Chaguanas, the mayor intervened forcing the company to abandon the site. More recently the residents of a community in Jamaica won a court case against a well-known telecommunications company, and the battles fought extend beyond the boundaries of the region into countries such as the USA, UK and India.

Such reaction arises mainly from the growing concern about possible health effects from cell phone tower radiation. There are, of course, other minor issues such as property values, development rights, the rights of a community and aesthetics.

Cell phone towers emit radio frequencies which are essentially the same frequency radiation as microwaves in a microwave oven. While it may take up to ten years before the impact of such 24 hr a day radiation exposure on individuals living in the vicinity of a tower, there is a growing body of scientific evidence, including experiments on rats, that shows even at low levels, radiation has been linked to, among other things, brain tumours, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Dr N Cherry biophysicist from New Zealand says, "There is no safe level of radiation and to claim there is no adverse effect of phone towers flies in the face of a large body of evidence."

According to a USA Bioregional Ecology Centre Newsletter, "over 100 physicians and scientists at Harvard and Boston University Schools of Public Health have called cellular towers a radiation hazard" and some have declared cell phone towers a, "public health emergency". Children are the most vulnerable due to their thinner skulls and rapid rate of growth.

This is why the State of California and New Zealand, among others, have prohibited the erection of towers near schools. The question is what is an acceptable level of radiation?

At the 2000 International Conference on Cell Tower Siting, it was recommended that any cell site should be prohibited from emanating more then .1 microwatt per square centimetre. The standard set in the USA is 580-1000, Russia, Italy and Canada ten, China six, and New Zealand is proposing .02 which is 50,000 times more protective than the US.

What is the figure for TT? And if there is one, do we have the mechanism to monitor violations and whose responsibility is it? The Government’s Planning Policy Paper of 2005 is rather vague here — it gives the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago responsibility for testing and certifying equipment to ensure compliance with international health and safety standards. Admittedly there is an absence of hard scientific evidence and this is so because it will take years before the suspected adverse effects of long term and cumulative exposure to cell tower radiation are felt.

However, if we are to err, we should do so on the side of caution. In the case of asbestos and cigarettes, it was too late for too many. In the case of climatic change it may be already too late. Should we risk having a major heath crisis in our country in about ten years time?

To alleviate the fears and protect the rights of individuals and communities in our country, I would like to make the following suggestions:

A moratorium be imposed for a period of two months to allow all stakeholders to meet and address various concerns and the inadequacies of the Policy Paper.

Failing this, a ban be imposed immediately on the construction of all cell towers near schools, hospitals and in residential areas. In fact construction of such towers in purely residential areas is implicitly prohibited in the 2005 Policy Paper.

While we all welcome the liberalisation of the telecommunication services, we still need to control the number, size and placement of cell towers encouraging collocation and ensuring that the industry responds to the wishes of the communities. The industry must always consider the human factor and not be associated with a culture of greed. Profit cannot and must not be the bottom line. In the final analysis though it is the responsibility of governments to protect the health and property rights of its citizens.

Prof H Ramkissoon

UWI St Augustine

Former President of The Caribbean Academy of Sciences