Radiation from a phone mast vs from a phone

[Wokinglad]

Hi guys

I'm not going ask is radiation from phones and masts safe, half would say it's absolutely safe and half would say it's probably a bit dangerous.

My question is how does phone mast radiation compare to mobile phone radiation, broadly speaking of course. I'm moving house soon and there's a mast about 20m away (similar height to my house) and another about 50m away. How would this radiation compare to a phone (not in a call but when switched on) or WiFi radiation? Now I am aware there'll be many factors involved here such as the power and direction of the mast and so on, so I am asking for a guesstimate. Cheers

 

[CWatters]

Impossible to say. Phone masts don't always transmit equally in all directions. Most countries have regulations on exposure in nearby properties.

 

[CWatters]

Table here has some data...

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...ypical field strength near phone mast&f=false

2cm from phone 400V/m
50m from mast 0.6V/m
50cm from microwave oven 0.5V/m

 

[Wokinglad]

Table here has some data...

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EknOBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA586&lpg=PA586&dq=typical+field+strength+near+phone+mast&source=bl&ots=gypxYxHv7P&sig=G4BWpRDuNCP7140weo_ztbpIOMc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJieO_8aTTAhUIJMAKHTeLDzA4ChDoAQgeMAI#v=onepage&q=typical field strength near phone mast&f=false

2cm from phone 400V/m
50m from mast 0.6V/m
50cm from microwave oven 0.5V/m

So it's like being near a leaky microwave 24/7

 

[berkeman]

So it's like being near a leaky microwave 24/7

Different frequencies, though.

 

[Wokinglad]

Different frequencies, though.

So the mast frequencies are safer?

 

[davenn]

So the mast frequencies are safer?

not necessarily, depends on power levels. Also, many cellular frequencies are very close to the microwave oven frequency of 2.45 GHz
For example, here is the Australian cellular bands...

Dave

 

[russ_watters]

So it's like being near a leaky microwave 24/7

No, a normal microwave.

I'm not going ask is radiation from phones and masts safe, half would say it's absolutely safe and half would say it's probably a bit dangerous.

Not in this forum they wouldn't. But if you ask a group of people somewhere and half say it's dangerous, you're asking the wrong group!

 

[Drakkith]

So it's like being near a leaky microwave 24/7

No, a normal microwave.

To expand a bit on Russ's post:
Note that the linked article states that the microwave is "leaking at the British Standards Institute limit".
So the 0.5 V/m is the maximum allowable leakage from a microwave according to these standards. In other words, this is the maximum leakage that is still considered safe for a consumer to use. That doesn't mean that higher amounts are dangerous though. We tend to err on the side of caution in situations like this. If exposure to low intensity microwave radiation is dangerous, then the effects must be very subtle, as we don't see any obvious damage in the short term and the long term effects must be small enough that they are buried within the noise from thousands of other health hazards you face every day.