Can microwave radiation penetrates building materials?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the penetration of microwave radiation through building materials, particularly in the context of health concerns related to proximity to mobile phone base stations. Participants explore the implications of microwave radiation on human health, the effectiveness of various shielding methods, and the comparative risks of cellphone use versus other potential hazards.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that microwave radiation can penetrate building materials effectively, allowing mobile phone and Wi-Fi signals to function indoors.
  • Others argue that concerns about health effects from cellphone radiation are overstated, suggesting that there are more pressing issues to worry about.
  • A participant mentions the concept of a Faraday cage as a potential shielding method, but notes the impracticality and high cost of implementing it in an existing home.
  • Another participant proposes using chicken wire as a simpler and less expensive alternative for shielding, though its effectiveness specifically against cellphone radiation is questioned.
  • There is a discussion about the relative power of cellphone signals compared to those from cell towers, with some suggesting that cellphone users receive more radiation from their devices than from nearby towers.
  • Some participants express skepticism about the negative health effects of microwaves, citing a lack of reliable scientific evidence to support such claims.
  • Humorous remarks are made regarding the absurdity of worrying about neutrinos in the context of radiation concerns.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the health effects of microwave radiation or the necessity of shielding against it. Multiple competing views are presented, with some advocating for concern and others dismissing it as unnecessary.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference various assumptions about the effectiveness of shielding materials and the comparative risks of different radiation sources. The discussion includes speculative claims about health effects and the practicality of proposed solutions without definitive conclusions.

scottbekerham
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Can Microwave radiation penetrates building materials? I'm living within 120 meters from a mobile phone base station and I'm concerned with possible health effects from it .
 
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Sure, otherwise you wouldn't be able to use your mobile phones or have wifi networks inside.
 
There are many things you should be more concerned with than the idle speculation being thrown around about the possibility cell phones cause cancer.
 
If you're REALLY really concerned (and I don't think there's reason to be, like Russ said, there's lots of other things you should be worried about before radiation from cellphones), you could build yourself a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage" around your house. A Faraday cage is the reason you can see through the window on your microwave, instead of it being a solid sheet of metal.

BUT, enclosing the walls of your house with a Faraday cage would be obscenely expensive after the house has already been built, having to remove drywall, install the cage, re-install the drywall, paint, etc...

For the incredibly low possibility of someone being adversely affected by a cellphone tower, the cost/benefit ratio is very low. You and your family are much more likely to be the victim of a crime in your house than to be affected by the cell tower. You'd be much better off spending $1000 to buy a pistol and a touchpad safe to help prevent the unlikely event of a home invasion, than you are to help prevent the absurdly unlikely event of being adversely affected by a nearby cellphone tower.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The microwave radiation penetrates building materials effectively, unless you have aluminum foil as an insulator in your house or on your head. A tin foil hat will protect you. An antenna for a microwave measurement could be useful too.

The signal power from a cell phone mast is approximately at the wavelength as of a mobile phone.
There has been research showing that mobile phone microwave radiation can place users users at risk of brain conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and cognitive effects.

For the cellphone mast to have the same effect on the brain as a mobile phone, while being 120 meters away. The signal power of the mast has to be at least 5.7 million times stronger than the signal power of a mobile phone held to the ear, assuming the phone is held 5 cm from the brain. (120m)^2/(0.05m)^2=5.76*10^6 . Since the power from a 2G mast is max. 100W, and a cellphone 2W. Then the effective signal power of the mast 120m away on the brain is less than 0.0009% of the signal power from a mobile phone held to the ear.

According to Wikipedia. Reported symptoms of living close to a cell mast are. Fatigue, headache, sleep disruption and loss of memory.

But if you hear voices, then perhaps you have evolved some reception circuits in your brain.
 
Barwick said:
If you're REALLY really concerned (and I don't think there's reason to be, like Russ said, there's lots of other things you should be worried about before radiation from cellphones), you could build yourself a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage" around your house. A Faraday cage is the reason you can see through the window on your microwave, instead of it being a solid sheet of metal.

BUT, enclosing the walls of your house with a Faraday cage would be obscenely expensive after the house has already been built, having to remove drywall, install the cage, re-install the drywall, paint, etc...
Meh - a simpler and less expensive solution would be to encase the entire house in chicken wire. I'd be very interested in seeing how well this works.
 
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russ_watters said:
Meh - a simpler and less expensive solution would be to encase the entire house in chicken wire. I'd be very interested in seeing how well this works.

That's what I was thinking, chicken wire. I haven't looked at it for shielding from cellphone radiation (not that I think that would be necessary), but IIRC, chicken wire is sufficiently sized such that it would effectively shield everything in your house from an EMP blast as the result of a high-altitude nuclear detonation (assuming you don't have a skinny little wire connecting you to the grid, in which case, sorry for your luck).
 
Barwick said:
but IIRC, chicken wire is sufficiently sized such that it would effectively shield everything in your house
Sure but what are you going to do about the neutrinos?
 
microwaves have wavelength ranging from 1 metre to 1 mm. So, they simply bend around the corners( Diffraction). Microwaves are not ionizing so i don't think they have any negative health effect and i haven't seen any good, reliable paper on microwaves stating that they have negative effect on human health.
 
  • #10
Sakriya said:
i haven't seen any good, reliable paper on microwaves stating that they have negative effect on human health.
But don't try and dry your dog in the microwave.
 
  • #11
When you use a cellphone, you are getting far more radiation from the cellphone than you get from the tower. Cellphones adjust their power based on how strong the signal is from the tower. The stronger the signal from the tower, the less power the cellphone needs to transmit. So ironically, the closer the tower, the less radiation you are getting.
 
  • #12
It's quite amazing that people suddenly got aerated about cellphone transmitters in their midst when they all clamoured for UHF TV relay stations to be put up nearby to enable them to watch their telly with no snow on the picture. Same wavelengths involved and, very often, much higher field strengths. A little learning . . . .
 
  • #13
NobodySpecial said:
Sure but what are you going to do about the neutrinos?

Not worry about them... Why would I be concerned about Neutrinos?
 
  • #14
Barwick said:
Not worry about them... Why would I be concerned about Neutrinos?
Cos not only are they radiation, they are nuclear and subatomic. That's three scary words in one particle. And they go straight through you and nothing can stop them!
 
  • #15
NobodySpecial said:
Cos not only are they radiation, they are nuclear and subatomic. That's three scary words in one particle. And they go straight through you and nothing can stop them!

Well thank God! It's not the traveling part that worries me but the sudden stops that can happen along the way inside my body.
 
  • #16
NobodySpecial said:
Cos not only are they radiation, they are nuclear and subatomic. That's three scary words in one particle. And they go straight through you and nothing can stop them!

I was starting to wonder about you... :)
 

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