OUR MOBILE PHONE EXPERTISE » MOBILES AND RADIATION

ASK THE EXPERTS
In this section our Link Telecom experts are at hand to give you the best possible information on using your mobile and all the latest relevant news. Simply click on the subject links on the right.



DIFFERENT TYPES OF RADIATION
All parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are described as 'radiation', but not all radiation is the same. At the top of the scale, ionizing radiation (as in radioactive decay or X-rays) has the ability to alter matter, including human cells. It has very high energy which can change a molecule's structure. By contrast radio waves, such as in mobile phones are at the other end of the spectrum. They have very low energies, and do not have the ability to alter matter, so they are classed as non-ionizing radiation.



WHAT ABOUT BASE STATIONS?
There are no clear answers on mobile phones. But what about mobile phone base stations? Is there any clearer evidence that they cause health problems? Forty percent of people surveyed believed that masts can cause health problems.

Again there is conflicting information. According to the Stewart report, there is no evidence that there are any adverse health effects. However, many people up and down the country disagree. Base stations are radio transmitters and receivers which form an essential link in mobile phone communications.

The exposure from base stations will be many times lower than using a mobile phone within the overall distribution of radio waves from a base station across its cell, there is a zone where the concentration is higher than elsewhere.

At ground level, this zone is usually some distance from the base station. The radio waves within it are still far below the levels for safety specified in international guidelines.



MOBILE PHONE NETWORKS
Mobile phone networks use the same principle that cartographers have used since Victorian times to colour maps so no adjoining countries are the same colour.

A mobile phone network is made up of interlocking hexagonal areas known as cells, the smaller these cells the clearer the signal. With small cells you are likely to be closer to the base station at the centre of a cell. Also this means that both the base station and handset do not need powerful emissions to communicate with each other. This also means that as the handset needs less power the battery will last for longer.

These guidelines are based solely on adverse effects caused by the heating of tissues. Although mobile phones do get warm when in use, it is accepted that this heating is not powerful enough to cause damage to the user.

An experiment was carried out to test how dangerous base stations were. Ten students were put in a house for ten days and a mobile mast was erected in the garden. The students were not aware that the mast was on at the start of the experiment and off at the end. In fact it was off at the start and on at the end. What's interesting is that the only time any of the students felt ill was when the mast was OFF but they thought it was ON.



IN CONCLUSION
The experiment showed that people's fear of phone masts can be a factor in making them feel unwell. One thing we do know is that it helps if operators involve the public when erecting masts. In practice this doesn't always happen. However, operators have a duty to keep local communities informed, so if you see a mast appear suddenly in your area you have a right to know about it and be properly informed.



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