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INDEPENDENT NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF EAST MALAYSIAEstablished since 1963

No proof of cancer link, but don't talk too longPublished on: Sunday, November 16, 2008

Kota Kinabalu: It is not scientifically proven that radiation from the use of mobile telephones or cellular handphones

can lead to the growth of brain tumours.

However, there is one piece of advice is - don't talk too long on the phone, especially children, who may be sensitive.

That was the answer from Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Sandakan Branch

Office Deputy Director, Aaron Tan, during a question and answer session following his presentation on "Radiation

from Mobile Telephone Base Stations" at the ICT Hi-T Public Talk at Wisma Bandaraya, Saturday.

The event was jointly organised by the Sabah Computer Society and State IT Advancement Unit in conjunction with

ICT Month (November).

"So far, we don't have to worry about radiation from the mobile phone base station. Based on the survey done, the

maximum radiation from the mobile phone tower (close to antenna) is only 0.01 miliWatt per centimetre square.

"Radiation from a mobile phone tower (on the ground outside buildings) is 0.004 miliWatt per centimetre square. All

the base stations that have been installed on the tower or on the rooftop are very safe. There is nothing to worry

about radiation from the base station," Tan said.

According to him, in most accessible places around mobile telephone systems, the radio frequency (RF) and micro-

wave (MW) radiation levels are very low (


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Mobile telephone users were also told to try to avoid going near mobile telephone base stations, which are all over

the place. Such base station may be on a tower on the ground (outside buildings), on the rooftop of a building or

indoors.

Indoor base stations are mostly installed in shopping complexes to cover indoor areas. "Talking of exposure from a

mobile phone tower, if the measurement is 100 miliwatt per centimetre square, this is a very clear hazard. We don't

allow this to happen."

He said the field strength or radiation will decrease exponentially (or 1/Distance2). "That is, if you are nearer or one

metre from the antennas in the base station, you will get around 900 microWatt per centimetre square.

This means the radiation level is approaching the Exposure Limit (EL) for the public. But as you go farther (a 3-metre

distance), you will only get around 100 microWatt per centimetre square.

"To be safe, it would be a good idea to stay in a building because it is 10 to 100 times lower compared with outside

the building. This is what we mean by building attenuation."

Based on a radio frequency (RF) survey done on radiation from a directional antenna (base station), he said if you

are 50 to 200 metres from the station, you will be getting around 1/1000 from the exposure limit (EL).

"It means the signal or exposure you are getting is very low compared with the EL. Furthermore, you will get it from

certain directions only, so it is safe to be on the left and right-hand sides of the antenna."

On radiation from a rod antenna (handphone), he said the handphone transmits in all directions but its signal is very

low.

Responding to the Sabah Computer Society President Taitim Tulas who wanted to know the potential danger of a

mobile telephone's proximity to the body (when placed in a pocket or around the waist) for a long period, Tan said no

survey has been done on this and neither was there any complaint of negative effects on health as a result of doing

so.

To another question, he said any telecommunication equipment brought into the country will be checked by the

Malaysian authorities to ensure it is safe for use, unless it is brought in illegally.

"It has to be tested accordingly before the public are allowed to use it."

Furthermore, he said there are several guidelines for compliance if the service provider wants to put up a mobile

telephone base station.

"The consideration is where and how far the base station would be from the public."

Also present were the Director of State IT Advancement Unit, Bruno Vun, Organising Chairperson Karen Wong, avid

blogger Mark Mojitoh from the Sabah Credit Corporation who gave a talk on Blogging and Alex Ku from the

Malaysian Open Source Training Centre who spoke on Wireless Networking & Ethical Hacking.

TAN said measurement of mobile phone radiation is important for two reasons. Firstly, RF radiation is not detectable

by human senses.

Secondly, RF radiation at close distance is suspected to be hazardous to human health.

He said RF radiation is measured by using a special survey instrument that can measure the field strengths.

According to Tan, the Malaysian Institute of Nuclear Technology (MINT) has carried out radiation safety assessment

at more than 16 mobile telephone base stations and more than 15 TV and Radio Broadcast Stations throughout the

country.

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"This is how they assess the radiation hazard. A complete radiation survey during commissioning (onsite and offsite);

regular and special workplace radiation surveys during operation and maintenance (onsite); and personnel exposure

measurements (onsite)."

With the aid of graphs showing radiation from mobile telephone base stations (rooftop), Tan noted that the

measurement is slightly higher (around 0.025 miliwatt per centimetre square).

MINT had also come to Sabah to measure mobile phone radiation at the site of several base stations (on the ground,

inside building and rooftop).

"Results show that you will be getting higher radiation from a base station on the ground (that is the tower). There is

more signal or radiation from the ground (outside buildings) compared with a base station that is inside buildings and

also on the rooftop. Radiation from a base station on the rooftop is low, only a small signal."

On the results of a RF survey around TV and Radio Stations, Tan said the radiation level is 0.9-8 microwatt per

centimetre square for a 300-foot tower.

"But if the tower is lower, you will get more radiation actually because it is nearer to you."

Copyright 2009 Sabah Publishing House Sdn. Bhd.

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