Alki Beach residents irresponsible with their anger over cell towers

Alki Beach residents are very upset with the possibility of more cell phone towers being placed in their backyards (including one on the roof of an apartment building). Their big complaint? That their health is on the line.

“Basically cancer rates are three times higher within one quarter mile of a cell tower,” Alki Beach resident Eric Sico told KING 5.

“RF [radiofrequency] radiation is dangerous and poisonous,” said Christie, an area mom who I assume doesn’t own a cell phone.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Toxicology Program, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, and the American Cancer Society disagree with the fear mongering.

I suspect the purported danger of these cell phone towers isn’t really what this is all about.

“We’ve got 69 cell towers within one square mile of Alki,” Sico KING 5. “This is actually the highest concentration of cell towers in Seattle.”

Now that is more like it. That these towers are eye-sores is a valid concern, I suppose, and one that can get the neighbors on your side. But don’t fear monger to get your way. It’s irresponsible and dishonest.

And, for the record, it’s safe to live near cell phone towers, no matter what the “alternative health news sites” want you to believe (while selling you products they say will mitigate the dangers). I’m going to trust the American Cancer Society and the science on this one. They write of the many studies on the topic:

One study looked for signs of DNA and cell damage in blood cells as a possible indicator of cancer-causing potential. They found that the damage was no worse in people who lived near a cell phone tower as compared with those who didn’t.

They continue:

In one large study, British researchers compared a group of more than 1,000 families of young children with cancer against a similar group of families of children without cancer. They found no link between a mother’s exposure to the towers during pregnancy (based on the distance from the home to the nearest tower and on the amount of energy given off by nearby towers) and the risk of early childhood cancer.

They write of three reasons you should feel safe living near these towers:

First, the energy level of radiofrequency (RF) waves is relatively low, especially when compared with the types of radiation that are known to increase cancer risk, such as gamma rays, x-rays, and ultraviolet (UV) light. The energy of RF waves given off by cell phone towers is not enough to break chemical bonds in DNA molecules, which is how these stronger forms of radiation may lead to cancer.

A second issue has to do with wavelength. RF waves have long wavelengths, which can only be concentrated to about an inch or two in size. This makes it unlikely that the energy from RF waves could be concentrated enough to affect individual cells in the body.

Third, even if RF waves were somehow able to affect cells in the body at higher doses, the level of RF waves present at ground level is very low – well below the recommended limits. Levels of energy from RF waves near cell phone towers are not significantly different from the background levels of RF radiation in urban areas from other sources, such as radio and television broadcast stations.”

The good news is there is a lot of data out there from reputable sources. So relax.