Exposure Limits for Cellphone Tower EMFs

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EMF exposure

Sunday, 22 May 2011 21:22

By Caribarena

This article was written to summarize and explain several existing standards for Cellphone tower exposure limits. The units used to describe these limits are milliwatts per centimeter squared [mW/cm2]. The FCC limit states that the maximum exposure any person should be exposed to is approximately 1 milliwatt per centimeter squared. The FCC guidelines can be read here.   This limit was also adopted by the ICNIRP, whose limits are used in many European countries. However, new studies and leading life scientists are claiming that these limits are simply inadequate.

The FCC/ICNIRP limit is based on tissue heating. This means that devices and towers cannot cause the human body’s temperature to rise, or for parts of your body to become physically hotter. Scientists, like Olle Johansson, PhD of the Karolinska Institute, say that this is ignoring most of the problem. There are many biological effects, such as DNA strand-breaks, that are caused without tissue heating. In addition to DNA strand-breaks, Leukemia, brain tumors, Alzheimer’s, ALS, and sperm damage are other effects that Johansson and his scientific panel claim are caused by exposure to cell phone towers within the FCC/ICNIRP guidelines. To address this issue, they gathered in Norway, and set a standard that they feel is currently safe.

The IEMFA’s Seletun Scientific Panel concurred that a safe limit of 0.000017 milliwatts per centimeter squared is a reasonable safe limit. However, in the official statement, it was noted that even this limit, despite being almost 60,000 times lower than the FCC/ICNIRP limit, may have to be lowered in the future. This statement is the culmination of years of research into the long-term effects of cellphone and cellphone tower safety standards. The official statement can be read here.

These limits are ultimately based on the SAR. The Specific Absorption Rate is the amount of energy that the human body absorbs. The SAR is dependent on many values, including the frequency of the absorbed wave of energy, the strength of the wave, the mass of the human body, and other variables. To learn more about the SAR, see here.

Is the FCC/ICNIRP limit safe? Should we listen to small independent groups like the IEMFA, or should we simply take the side of caution? There are hundreds of online documents, studies, websites and blogs arguing both sides.  One thing is certain, we all have to educate ourselves, be aware of the risks, and take action if it is necessary.

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