Are base station antennas dangerous?

The construction of base station antennas is subject to debate, but is their danger to health proven?

The base station antennas are transmitters and receivers of radio waves used for communication routing in a telephone network. They allow us to keep the thread of a conversation and to be reachable on the whole national territory. In addition to improving communications between people, they allow emergency calls in places not covered by fixed networks.

Many people living near base stations complain of various symptoms: sleep, concentration and vision problems, headaches, tinnitus, dizziness, depression, lack of appetite. Often, they identify themselves as electro-hypersensitive and cannot tolerate electromagnetic waves. Nevertheless, no biological mechanism to explain the epidemiological observations has yet been identified.

Moreover, ANSES has not found a causal link between exposure to low frequency electromagnetic fields in the daily environment and health effects. It seems that the real danger is the prolonged use of cell phones, leading to much higher, potentially carcinogenic, exposures than those detected near base stations. Further scientific studies are needed to better understand the possible health effects of electromagnetic radiation.