Study of Adverse Health Effects Due to Mobile Tower Radiation situated in Densely Populated Residential Areas

Abstract

Use of mobiles is increased tremendously in recent years; therefore to cover these mobile subscribers it is essential to increase the number of base stations. Nowadays these base stations are located in intensely populated areas. People around these base stations will get exposed to electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure which is radiated from base stations. This EMF exposure is called as non-ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation has some adverse health effects. People are not aware of it in India. Power density is measured in nearby areas of mobile tower base stations which are located in densely populated areas. The places selected are Pachgaon, Kandalgaon, Kasba bawada, Tarabai Park, Mahalaxmi Nagar, RK Nagar, and Jarag Nagar in Kolhapur. The EMF exposure is measured in terms of power densities and electric field which were well below the international standard ICNIRP and national standard DoT. A questionnaire was prepared to find the different adverse health effects faced by the people living around the base stations. Different health symptoms of electromagnetic field exposure faced by the people within 20m, 50m and 150m are analyzed. Symptoms such as a headache and sleep disorder, daytime sleepiness, depression and memory changes were found in the study.