Powerwatch - Mobile Phone Masts

There are over 60 million phones in use in the UK. Phones are being used more and more as the phone companies offer lots of free time deals. The existing mobile phone masts cannot cope with the demand, so more are being erected all over the country. Most network operators boast that they cover more than 99% of the UK population, covering the country in a blanket of electrosmog.

People living near masts are experiencing increasing health problems, especially sleep disruption, headaches, tiredness, behaviour changes in children, epilepsy, nosebleeds, skin complaints (See published research on humans - non-cancer, below).

The government received 22.6 billion pounds from selling the 3rd generation licences in 2000, and mobile phone related revenue now exceeds 20 billion pounds per year.

It is also important to remember that by the end of 2007 all Operators were required to install, maintain and provide 3G service where at least 80% of the population live, under the terms of their licenses granted to them by Central Government in 2000. All Operators managed this except O2 who hope to be the end of the summer 2008 (they were up to about 75% at the end of 2007).

Many people do not know how many masts there are near them. There is a government website which has a reasonably accurate map of the masts currently integrated into the national network. Details are only put up when the mast is up and running. OFCOM, which maintains the site, depends on the phone operators to give them accurate information about the base station. They update the site every 3 months (or so). We have found some inaccuracies with respect to the existence, siting and information included on the database - and we have not looked at many places. Do not accept the information as definitive or accurate. The powers are given in dBW - you may need to read our Mobile Phones and Masts book to understand what these units mean in practice.

There is a dispute between the UK Information Commissioner, Ofcom and T-Mobile about whether the full Sitefinder database should be downloadable. Ofcom went to the High Court to stop the British public getting access to a list of every mobile phone mast in the UK. The Regulator is appealing the Information Commissioner's decision that the public has the right to know where all cellphone masts are located.

In September 2007, an Information Tribunal upheld a Freedom of Information request ruled that the public should have access to a full list of every base station in the UK. Though Ofcom argued that this is an unreasonable intrusion into the privacy of the network operators, it was told the information must be made available, in addition to allowing people to search small areas as they can now. The information behind Sitefinder is supplied voluntarily, but reluctantly, by the network operators.

T-Mobile hasn't provided any cell information since August 2005, and generally joins Ofcom in court as a representative of the rest of the mobile industry. In the meantime, Ofcom has been holding discussions with operators, which have now resulted in a resumption of voluntary provision of this data. 3, O2, Orange, Vodafone, Airwave and Network Rail all supply data to Ofcom at approximately three month intervals (T-Mobile has refused to do so since 2005). Ofcom will also appeal the decision of the Information Tribunal, and a further hearing in the High Court is anticipated.

Many masts have more than one operator; the antennas have different degrees of uptilt or downtilt; the geography of the area is different; the distance the antennas need to cover is different. Microwaves are reflected off surfaces (especially metal ones) as well as absorbed. The amount of microwaves in an area will depend on things like metal roofs, lamp posts and other structures, building materials and structural additions, cars and lorries, etc. The only way to know for certain how a particular place, such as a house, flat, school or workplace, is affected by environmental microwave radiation is to measure the exposure.

If you live near a phone mast and are concerned about risks to your health, please read our section on reducing your exposure.

Planning Laws

Equipment on masts over 15 metres high, and other limited, special circumstances, need full planning permission. Small additional changes do not need permission. Several companies can share a mast or site. Lower height antennas do not need full planning permission.

When an application for a new mast is made, people have only 56 days to respond. This time limit is very strict and many applications have gone through because the time has expired. It is important to find out as much as you can, as quickly as possible, if you wish to lodge an objection. See our book "Mobile Phones and Masts, the Health Risks".

Published research into mobile phone base station health effects

The following are links into recent research finding strong evidence that phone mast emissions may well be having detrimental effects on the exposed population:

Research involving humans - cancer

P Wolf R, Wolf D, (April 2004) Increased incidence of cancer near a cell-phone transmitter station, International Journal of Cancer Prevention, 1(2) April 2004 [View Comments and Links]

P Eger H et al, (November 2004) The Influence of Being Physically Near to a Cell Phone Transmission Mast on the Incidence of Cancer, Umwelt Medizin Gesellschaft 17,4 2004 [View Comments and Links]

Research involving humans - non-cancer

P Abdel-Rassoul G et al, (March 2007) Neurobehavioral effects among inhabitants around mobile phone base stations, Neurotoxicology. 2007 Mar;28(2):434-40 [View Comments and Links]

P Preece AW et al, (June 2007) Health response of two communities to military antennae in Cyprus, Occup Environ Med. 2007 Jun;64(6):402-8 [View Comments and Links]

P Yurekli A et al, (2006) GSM base station electromagnetic radiation and oxidative stress in rats, Electromagn Biol Med 25(3):177-88 [View Comments and Links]

P Bortkiewicz A et al, (2004) Subjective symptoms reported by people living in the vicinity of cellular phone base stations: review, Med Pr. 2004;55(4):345-51 [View Comments and Links]

P Nikolova T et al, (October 2005) Electromagnetic fields affect transcript levels of apoptosis-related genes in embryonic stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells, FASEB J. 2005 Oct;19(12):1686-8 [View Comments and Links]

P Santini R et al, (September 2003) Symptoms experienced by people in vicinity of base stations: II/ Incidences of age, duration of exposure, location of subjects in relation to the antennas and other electromagnetic factors, Pathol Biol (Paris). 2003 Sep;51(7):412-5 [View Comments and Links]

P Navarro EA et al, (December 2003) The Microwave Syndrome: A Preliminary Study in Spain, Electromagn Biol Med 22(2-3): 161-169 [View Comments and Links]

P Santini R et al, (July 2002) Investigation on the health of people living near mobile telephone relay stations: I/Incidence according to distance and sex, Pathol Biol (Paris) 2002 Jul;50(6):369-73 [View Comments and Links]

REFLEX Report - Risk Evaluation of Potential Environmental Hazards From Low Frequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure Using Sensitive in vitro Methods. A project funded by the European Union under the programme "Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources"

- Ross Adey's foreword on this site

- Download the whole 291 page scientific report (10.8MB)*

Research involving animals

P Everaert J, Bauwens D, (2007) A possible effect of electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone base stations on the number of breeding house sparrows (Passer domesticus), Electromagn Biol Med. 2007;26(1):63-72 [View Comments and Links]

P Balmori A, (October 2005) Possible Effects of Electromagnetic Fields from Phone Masts on a Population of White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Electromagn Biol Med 24: 109-119, 2005 [View Comments and Links]

Mobile Phone Masts (Base Stations)

Planning Laws

Published research into mobile phone base station health effects

Research involving humans - cancer

Research involving humans - non-cancer

Research involving animals

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