Microwave exposure and safety associated with personal wireless telecommunication base stations

Abstract

There are considerable public concerns regarding the biological effects and safety of microwave exposure from wireless base stations. There have been repeated calls for measures and tools that would reduce the exposure to microwave radiation from cellular mobile telephone operations. The radiated power from a base station antenna can vary from less than 1 to as high as 500 W per channel (or transmitter), depending on the location and type of the antenna used for a cellular communication system. The level of public exposure to microwave energy from any base station varies depending on antenna type, location, and distance from the base station. The microwave exposure a person receives from a base station thus depends on both the distances from the antenna, and the angle below the direction of the main beam.