Siting of GSM Base Station Antenna and Its Health Consequences

In Nigeria 98% of Global System for Mobile (GSM) base stations (cell sites) are sited within 20 meters from residential, offices, schools, business buildings, petrol stations and public arenas. 97.1% of these mobile base station antennas have their far field zone, which ranges between 110 m to 270 m, and are centred on densely populated areas. Cell phone antennas emit microwave frequencies, which are non-ionising radiation. This paper presents an overview of evidence supporting public health risks from gsm radiations that are documented in published scientific studies in respected, peer-reviewed journals. Also, this paper presents some field measured data of radiation from GSM antennas in Nigeria. The analyses of the measured data showed that the radiation power densities are lower than 10 μW/cm2. Comparing these power densities to those found in documented evidence of health effects showed that the health effects of these radiations are non-thermal in nature. Exposure to gsm radiations are linked to fatigue, headache, decreased concentration, dizziness, local irritation, burning, tumour induction, sperm motility, morphology and viability, and a reduction in male fertilizing potential. The most common associated health effect due to radiation from GSM antennas is headache. Therefore, it is advisable that mobile base stations should not be sited within 300 m from residential, offices, school buildings, petrol stations and public arenas.