CELL TOWER RADIATION HEALTH EFFECTS

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The International Association of Fire Fighters’ position on locating cell towers commercial wireless infrastructure on fire department facilities, as adopted by its membership in August 2004 (1), is that the IAFF oppose the use of fire stations as base stations for towers and/or antennas for the conduction of cell phone transmissions until a study with the highest scientific merit and integrity on health effects of exposure to low-intensity RF/MW radiation is conducted and it is proven that such sitings are not hazardous to the health of our members.

Further, the IAFF is investigating funding for a U.S. and Canadian study that would characterize exposures from RF/MW radiation in fire houses with and without cellular antennae, and examine the health status of the fire fighters as a function of their assignment in exposed or unexposed fire houses. Specifically, there is concern for the effects of radio frequency radiation on the central nervous system (CNS) and the immune system, as well as other metabolic effects observed in preliminary studies.

Internationally acknowledged experts in the field of RF/MW radiation research have shown that RF/MW transmissions of the type used in digital cellular antennas and phones can have critical effects on cell cultures, animals, and people in laboratories and have also found epidemiological evidence (studies of communities, not in the laboratory) of serious health effects at “non-thermal levels,” where the intensity of the RF/MW radiation was too low to cause heating. They have found:

• Increased cell growth of brain cancer cells (5)

• A doubling of the rate of lymphoma in mice (6)

• Changes in tumor growth in rats (7)

• An increased number of tumors in rats (8)

• Increased single- and double-strand breaks in DNA, our genetic material (9)

• 2 to 4 times as many cancers in Polish soldiers exposed to RF (10)

• More childhood leukemia in children exposed to RF (11)

• Changes in sleep patterns and REM type sleep (12)

• Headaches caused by RF/MW radiation exposure (13)

• Neurologic changes (14) including: Changes in the blood-brain-barrier (15),Changes in cellular morphology (including cell death) (16),

• Changes in neural electrophysiology (EEG) (17), Changes in neurotransmitters (which affect motivation and pain perception) (18),

• Metabolic changes (of calcium ions, for instance) (19) and Cytogenetic effects (which can affect cancer, Alzheimer’s, neurodegenerative diseases) (20)

• Decreased memory, attention, and slower reaction time in school children (21)

• Retarded learning in rats indicating a deficit in spatial “working memory” (22)

• Increased blood pressure in healthy men (23)

• Damage to eye cells when combined with commonly used glaucoma medications (24)

Many national and international organizations have recognized the need to define the true risk of low intensity, non-thermal RF/MW radiation exposure, calling for intensive scientific investigation to answer the open questions. These include:

• The World Health Organization, noting reports of “cancer, reduced fertility, memory loss, and adverse changes in the behavior and development of children.” (25)

• The U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (26)

• The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (27)

• The Swedish Work Environmental Fund (28)

• The National Cancer Institute (NCI) (29)

• The European Commission (EC) (30)

• New Zealand’s Ministry of Health (31)

• National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (32)

• Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization of Australia (CSIRO) (33)

• The Royal Society of Canada expert group report prepared for Health Canada (34)

• European Union’s REFLEX Project (Risk Evaluation of Potential Environmental Hazards from Low Frequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure Using Sensitive in vitro Methods) (35)

• The Independent Group on Electromagnetic Fields of the Swedish Radiation Protection Board (SSI) (36)

• The United Kingdom’s National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) (37)

• The EMF-Team Finland’s Helsinki Appeal 2005 (38)

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