There is no credible scientific evidence to suggest mobile phones or base stations damage the environment.

Concern has been raised that the low levels of radio frequency energy emitted by mobile phones and base stations may adversely impact environmental ecosystems, such as animals, vegetation and aquatic life.

However, mobile phones and base stations operate at very low power levels and are designed, built and tested to comply with strict science based guidelines.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) investigated the effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on the environment in their 2005 information sheet. The WHO concluded:

The limited number of published studies addressing the risk of EMF to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems show little or no evidence of a significant environmental impact, except for some effects near very strong sources. From current information the exposure limits in the ICNIRP guidelines for protection of human health are also protective of the environment.

Dr Mike Repacholi, Director of the WHO’s International EMF project, and Dr Ken Foster, of the University of Pennsylvania, conducted a comprehensive review of the research on environmental impacts of EMF. Their report concluded:

Overall, it appears that the human EMF exposure limits recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP, 1998) would also be protective of the environment.

Levels of EME in the environment

 It is important to note that electromagnetic fields have been present in the environment long before mobile phones and base stations appeared. Apart from the naturally occurring EME sources such as the sun and atmosphere, the environment has been subjected to high levels of EME for more than 50 years from radio, television, high voltage power lines and radar systems.

The Australian Radiation Protection & Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) found that AM radio was by far the most significant contributor of radio frequency emissions to the overall environmental exposure (91.2%). The sum of both digital and analogue mobile phone base stations contributed only a small part of environmental levels (1.4%), with the sum of TV (VHF and UHF) frequency emissions contributing a slightly higher level than mobile base stations (2.0%).

A 2003 study conducted by ARPANSA confirmed the safety of base stations in research conducted on 60 towers across Australia. The researchers found that on average the exposure level was 5000 times below the Australian safety limit in locations where the levels were expected to be at their highest. The researchers concluded:

It is clear from this survey that RF[Radio Frequency] EME exposure levels from mobile telecommunications base stations are well within the mandated exposure limits of the ARPANSA Standard for the general public in Australia.

A study published in November 2006 confirmed the results of the ARPANSA study. Dr Peter Valberg, a former member of the Harvard School of Public Health, along with current Director of the WHO’s International EMF project Dr Emilie Van Deventer and Former Director Dr Michael Repacholi, found base station emissions contributed only a small part of EME:.

In fact, for similar RF exposure intensities (W/m2), the body absorbs about 5 times more of the RF energy from FM radio and TV frequencies (around 100 MHz) than from base station frequencies (around 1-2 GHz). It is reassuring to note that radio and TV broadcast stations have been in operation for more that 50 years, and health statistics have not demonstrated adverse health consequences.

The environment has been subjected to the far higher environmental exposure from radio and television broadcasts for many decades with no substantiated scientific evidence of adverse effects.