The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER Democratic National Alliance candidate yesterday raised concern about the proliferation of cell phone towers in urban communities insisting that the health risk associated with the structures is being overlooked.

Celi Moss, the DNA’s 2012 candidate for Centreville, said in the wake of recent “environmental catastrophes,” the Bahamas needs to become proactive, “working to solve problems prior to them becoming major issues.”

Mr Moss expressed concern over the number of cellular towers being constructed around New Providence, particularly in communities “near schools, homes and parks.”

“We are a developing nation and there needs to be a national conversation on the pros and cons of these towers,” he said.

“It seems as if everyday, more and more of these things are springing up, but there is no one speaking out on this issue. All it takes is a quick Internet search, a quick look at Google to understand the issues surrounding these towers.

“We are faced with a number of environmental matters after the Rubis matter, we can’t sit back and wait and see what happens. It would be stupid to wait and what happens when the information is right there for us to go through.”

However, according to the American Cancer Society, while some people have expressed concern about health risks from these structures, “most scientists agree that cell phone antennas or towers are unlikely to cause cancer”.

Last November, officials of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) announced that they had installed five new cellular towers around New Providence in a bid to improve service quality for mobile phone users in high traffic areas.

Bay Street, West Ridge, East Street South, Palmdale and Collins Avenue were identified as key target areas.

Last year, The Tribune reported that an additional 24 mobile cell sites were being developed throughout the Bahamas.

The Tribune spoke with two Englerston residents who live adjacent to a tower located at the eastern end of the Englerston community park on Lincoln Boulevard. Both voiced concern with the location of the tower.

“They should take all them down, they are ... very dangerous,” one resident said.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, added: “What people forget is that we have rights, our lives should be respected.”

According to the American Cancer Society, there is no imperial data that shows a direct correlation between cancer and prolonged exposure to radio-frequency signals transmitted by the towers.

“Some people have expressed concern that living, working, or going to school near a cell phone tower might increase the risk of cancer or other health problems,” the organisation’s website says.

“At this time, there is very little evidence to support this idea. In theory, there are some important points that would argue against cellular phone towers being able to cause cancer.”

The organisation said the level of radiofrequency waves from these towers are “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.”

“A second issue has to do with wavelength,” the American Cancer Society says. “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.”