Survey study of people living in the vicinity of cellular phone base stations.
Santini R, Santini P, Le Ruz P, Danze JM, Seigne M · 2003
View Original AbstractPeople living within 300 meters of cell towers reported significantly more health symptoms, with effects varying by distance and gender.
Plain English Summary
French researchers surveyed 530 people living at various distances from cell phone towers to assess their health symptoms. They found that people living closer to towers reported more health problems, with some symptoms appearing within 10 meters (nausea, appetite loss) and others extending up to 300 meters away (fatigue, headaches, sleep problems). Women reported symptoms significantly more often than men across seven different health complaints.
Why This Matters
This study provides important real-world evidence that cell tower emissions may affect human health at distances far beyond what regulators typically consider. The fact that symptoms appeared in a clear distance-related pattern-with different health effects manifesting at different ranges from towers-suggests a genuine exposure-response relationship rather than random complaints. What makes this particularly concerning is that these effects occurred at everyday exposure levels that millions of people experience simply by living in modern communities. The research demonstrates that regulatory agencies may need to expand their safety zones around cell towers, especially considering that women showed significantly higher rates of symptoms. While more research is needed to establish causation definitively, this study adds to a growing body of evidence that current safety standards may not adequately protect public health.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
A survey study was conducted, using a questionnaire, on 530 people (270 men, 260 women) living or not in proximity to cellular phone base stations.
Eighteen different symptoms (Non Specific Health Symptoms–NSHS), described as radiofrequency sicknes...
The results that were obtained underline that certain complaints are experienced only in the immedia...
Show BibTeX
@article{r_2003_survey_study_of_people_2566,
author = {Santini R and Santini P and Le Ruz P and Danze JM and Seigne M},
title = {Survey study of people living in the vicinity of cellular phone base stations.},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1081/jbc-120020353},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1081/jbc-120020353},
}