Don’t use clickbait ‘science’ to oppose cell tower

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/05/2016 (3495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are exactly two places I can get a (weak) cell signal in my River Heights bungalow. I can either stand directly under the light fixture in my dining room, or I can stand in the hallway outside the bathroom, with my body slightly angled into the living room. Want to send a text from my house? LOL, K. Hope it’s nothing urgent!

I didn’t know MTS was proposing to erect a cell tower near my house until this week, when residents of my neighbourhood were complaining about it. Evidently, I was not one of the 19 households notified about this proposal. But had I got the letter, which says that MTS wants to install a tower on the existing River Heights Telephone Exchange Building at 419 Niagara St. so that my home and others like it could be less like bomb shelters, my response would have been one of support. Especially after learning that there are no plans to tear down the existing building, which was designed in 1929 and is a charming little piece of River Heights character. I’ve always loved that building, with its Spanish-style roof.  

Now, it’s perfectly understandable why some people might be upset by the idea of an 18-metre-high cellphone tower plunked in the middle of a residential area — particularly in a residential area that is decidedly not cool with large, unsightly building projects that rob the neighbourhood of its character. 

What’s less understandable are the reasons given for the pushback. At a town hall meeting held at the Rady Centre on Wednesday night, a few residents expressed concerns about the tower, including — and I’m paraphrasing — “I’m not allowed to build an unnecessarily tall fence; why does MTS get to do whatever it wants?” and “Won’t somebody please think of the children?”

Let’s unpack the latter worry, since health concerns associated with cellphones have been around for as long as there have been cellphones — and cellular towers. Most of these concerns surround radio frequency fields — which is how your cellphone transmits information — and whether or not they cause cancer. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified radiofrequency fields as a class 2B carcinogen, which means they “possibly” cause cancer. Other class 2B carcinogens include coffee and gasoline. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, a few small studies have shown a link between radio frequency fields and cancer, but most research has not. So, it’s possible that radio frequency fields cause cancer. You know what else is possible? Anything. 

Only one chemical, caprolactam, is designated as class 4, or “probably not carcinogenic to humans.” Everything else will probably, possibly or definitely give you cancer. If it can even be classified, that is. 

According to Health Canada, cellphones and cellphone towers in Canada must meet regulatory requirements that limit human exposure to radio frequency energy. As well, unlike the radiation found in, say, X-rays, the radiation given off by cellular towers is non-ionizing and therefore can’t break chemical bonds in your body. Besides, it’s very unlikely it would reach your body. 

Towers aside, we come into contact with radio frequency fields every day, all day long. Whenever we use our cellphones, watch TV, nuke yesterday’s leftovers in the office microwave, or enter a Starbucks in which 20 people are using Wi-Fi to check email, we’re exposed to radio frequency. Your house probably has Wi-Fi. How many of us fall asleep scrolling through Facebook and Twitter, and then put our phone — which is probably doubling as an alarm clock — right beside our heads? How many kids play on their parents’ iPhones? 

Trying to get away from radio frequency fields is a lot like trying to find a cell signal in my house: you can try, but you’re not going to have much success.   

So, it seems to me the health concerns are a red herring for the real reason people don’t want a cellphone tower in the neighbourhood: cellphone towers are objectively ugly. But the monstrosity River Heights residents are doubtlessly imagining is likely much worse than the proposed Niagara tower, which actually just looks like a weirdly tall chimney. It’s… fine. Personally, I was relieved when I saw it. I was envisioning a space station. 

I know I’m not the only River Heights resident who wants to be able to use a cellphone without it having to be 2 p.m. on a clear day with a gentle breeze coming out of the east or whatever. And cellphones require cellphone towers. 

MTS will be holding an open house on June 1 at 6 p.m. at the Corydon Community Centre (River Heights location). By all means, go oppose the tower if you feel strongly about it — but don’t rely on click-bait “science” to do so. 

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti