Study mobiles’ health risks
The government’s concern over high radiation levels from mobile base stations and its plans to bring them down soon emanates from the principle that it’s always better to be safe than sorry when dealing with public health issues.
There is no reason yet to panic over such radiation causing cancer in humans. These fears are articulated more by those opposing building of more such towers as mobile telephone density, already one of the highest in the world, grows by the day in India.
WHO studies linking modern cancer prevalence rates to mobile towers have shown no adverse results: exposure levels in humans to weak radio frequency signals are said to be very low. But conservationists believe such radiation may be causing the disappearance of squirrels, sparrows and bees from large modern urban spaces .
There is no clear scientific evidence linking dwindling numbers of these innocent creatures in big metros to cell tower radiation, but no harm will be done by reducing these levels, which might hopefully reverse the process. At a recent conference in Chennai which was focused on the disappearance of the honey bee, blame was laid squarely on radiation from mobile base stations by eminent conservationists who fear the humble bee may soon become extinct. There are other irritants like these towers using subsidised diesel for uninterrupted power supply, but the need for more studies on possible radiation hazards from mobile phone usage itself is greater as WHO places mobile telephony in the category of “possibly carcinogenic”.
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