Survey of RF exposure levels from mobile telephone base stations in Australia.
Henderson SI, Bangay MJ. · 2006
View Original AbstractCell tower radiation measured at 0.2% of safety limits still represents continuous RF exposure not evaluated for long-term health effects.
Plain English Summary
Australian researchers measured radiofrequency radiation levels around 60 cell phone towers across five cities, testing distances from 50 to 500 meters away. They found that all measured exposure levels were well below government safety limits, with the highest reading reaching only 0.2% of the allowed public exposure threshold. This study provides baseline data on how much RF radiation people actually encounter from cell towers in everyday environments.
Why This Matters
This study represents important real-world exposure data, but it highlights a critical gap in our regulatory approach. While the measured levels were indeed below current safety limits, those limits are based on preventing only heating effects from short-term exposure. The reality is that these 'low' levels still represent continuous, long-term exposure that wasn't considered when safety standards were established decades ago. What this means for you is that even though authorities consider these exposures 'safe,' the science on biological effects from chronic low-level RF exposure continues to evolve. The fact that researchers found measurable RF radiation at distances up to 500 meters from towers demonstrates the pervasive nature of this exposure in our daily lives.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.00078 W/kg
- Source/Device
- CDMA800, GSM900, GSM1800, and 3G(UMTS)
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate Survey of RF exposure levels from mobile telephone base stations in Australia.
Measurements of CDMA800, GSM900, GSM1800, and 3G(UMTS) signals were performed at distances ranging o...
The exposure levels from these mobile telecommunications base stations were found to be well below t...
Show BibTeX
@article{si_2006_survey_of_rf_exposure_1022,
author = {Henderson SI and Bangay MJ.},
title = {Survey of RF exposure levels from mobile telephone base stations in Australia.},
year = {2006},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16283652/},
}