Cell Phone Safety
 Is My Cell Phone Safe? 
  • Are cell phones dangerous?
  • Which phones are subject?
  • What's the research say?
  • What's the FDA's role in this?

    •  Radiofrequency Energy 
  • What's radiofrequency energy?
  • How is RF energy used?
  • How is RF radiation measured?
  • What level of RF is safe?

    •  Cell Phone Accessories 
  • Do hands-free kits reduce risk?
  • Do cell phone shields work?
  • What are base stations?
  • Are base stations safe?

    •  Other Safety Issues 
  • What about use on aircrafts?
  • Are cell towers/antennas safe?
  • What about towers near schools?
  • What about cell phone fraud?
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    What are wireless telephone base stations?

    Fixed antennas used for wireless telecommunications are referred to as cellular base stations, cell stations, PCS ("Personal Communications Service") stations or telephone transmission towers. These base stations consist of antennas and electronic equipment. Because the antennas need to be high in the air, they are often located on towers, poles, water tanks, or rooftops. Typical heights for freestanding base station towers are 50-200 feet.

    Some base stations use antennas that look like poles, 10 to 15 feet in length, that are referred to as "omni-directional" antennas. These types of antennas are usually found in rural areas. In urban and suburban areas, wireless providers now more commonly use panel or sector antennas for their base stations. These antennas consist of rectangular panels, about 1 by 4 feet in dimension. The antennas are usually arranged in three groups of three antennas each. One antenna in each group is used to transmit signals to wireless phones, and the other two antennas in each group are used to receive signals from wireless phones.

    At any base station site, the amount of RF energy produced depends on the number of radio channels (transmitters) per antenna and the power of each transmitter. Typically, 21 channels per antenna sector are available. For a typical cell site using sector antennas, each of the three transmitting antennas could be connected to up to 21 transmitters for a total of 63 transmitters. However, it is unlikely that all of the transmitters would be transmitting at the same time. When omni-directional antennas are used, a cellular base station could theoretically use up to 96 transmitters, but this would be very unusual, and, once again, it is unlikely that all transmitters would be in operation simultaneously. Base stations used for PCS communications generally require fewer transmitters than those used for cellular radio transmissions, since PCS carriers usually have a higher density of base station antenna sites.

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