Femtocells: Pay Extra for Wireless Reception,
Potential Home Health Hazard,
As New Study Shows Reasons for Concern


Wireless carriers are now offering “femtocells” for impatient consumers with poor home reception. A recent Wall Street Journal feature says, “Think of it as a personal cell phone tower,” and notes that there are no marketing efforts, possibly because “big carriers are reluctant to highlight a product that calls attention to the problem of spotty network coverage.”

Could the reluctance also stem from concerns about long-term effects of constant low-level radiation emitted from cell towers? The article continues:

As for the devices’ potential health risks, some experts say they are probably no worse—and may be less—than the still-unproven risks posed by regular cellphone signals. Industry observers note femtocells are no more harmful than the typical Wi-Fi hotspot, and may be less harmful than a cellphone because they aren’t held close to the body.

From Connecticut to New Mexico and throughout California (with too many links on this and other sites to choose from), citizens are objecting to cell towers near homes and schools. The FCC’s current standards for radiofrequency emission limits are widely distrusted as inadequate. Most of the country now has some form of wireless phone coverage, so the new building push for towers and sites is motivated by several carriers’ rush to provide wireless broadband service. Back to the Journal article:

“At this point, there’s no conclusive evidence showing all these radio signals are hurting people,” says Harry Wong, analyst at research firm Parks Associates.

If there is as yet no conclusive evidence, there is certainly plenty of accumulating evidence. Epidemiological Evidence for a Health Risk from Mobile Phone Base Stations was just released in the Summer 2010 International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, its authors declare their results as follows:

We found epidemiological studies pertaining to the health effects of mobile phone base station RF emissions to be quite consistent in pointing to a possible adverse health impact. Eight of the 10 studies reported increased prevalence of adverse neurobehavioral symptoms or cancer in populations living at distances <500 meters from base stations.