Communications in Mendocino

Cellular Telephones and Base Stations, Health and Emergencies

This document concerns cell service in Mendocino. It is presented for two audiences - visitors who wonder why they cannot use their cell phones in most of the Mendocino area and for local residents who have an interest in the technology and its potential hazards.

In December, 2004, Edge Wireless switched on a GSM antenna located about 40 feet above sea level below a house across Mendocino Bay from the town. Service is now available in Mendocino. Customers of Edge, Cingular, and companies using similar technologies having roaming agreements with Edge Wireless can now use their phones in an area of less than a square mile. Marginal GSM service is also available at The Stanford Inn. Additionally, in December, 2006, a CDMA antenna began service at the Stanford Inn providing Verizon-type signals for the Inn and the town.

The benefits of cellular phones are well known - accidents and medical emergencies can be reported when traveling without having to find a land-line phone; children can call their parents and report where they are or ask for a ride; and families and businesses can reach traveling parents or principals. There are some people who feel that these benefits do not out way the hazards of the technology. It is these people who have worked to keep cellular service out of Mendocino. They have not been totally successful.

Mendocino Cellular Signals

Edge Wireless' GSM signal and the CDMA signal from the Inn provide connection for Edge-Cingular, Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular. Taken together, these companies provide the the full range of signals used in the United States with the exception of those by Nextel. These signals are CDMA - a technology by Qualcom - and used by Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular, and TDMA-GSM used by Edge, ATT, Cingular, T-Mobile. GSM is the current European standard and CDMA is prevalent in Africa and China. TDMA is a technology which overtime will not be supported.

Although Mendocino is a rural area and preeminent destination for North Coast travelers, Mendocino remains primarily cellular free through the activism of a tiny group.

Health Effects and Emotional Arguments

A very small group of ardent anti-cell activists are persuaded that cellular technology is dangerous. They fervently believe that "radiation smog" is damaging them and is the source of a multitude of illnesses. A small group of local citizens are sympathetic and are moved by the anti-cell folks' emotional arguments. One of the activists recently wrote the Mendocino Beacon from his car 'somewhere in New Mexico' in an attempt to find an area free of radiation. There is little validated science supporting the claims of the anti-cell activists especially with regard to cellular base stations. Nevertheless, many of their local supporters find science to be unemotional and uninteresting as well as difficult to read and understand.

A Little Science

Cell phones operate within a range of frequencies called microwaves, 300 thousand cycles per second (hertz) and higher. Unlike X-rays, the microwaves are non-ionizing. In 2000, responding to a review of scientific studies of the biological effects of non-ionizing microwave radiation, Britain’s National Radiological Protection Board in concert with their Health Protection Agency called for another review of studies "on the biological effects of non-ionising radiation relevant to human health and to advise on research priorities.”

On January 14th, 2004, the Associated Press reported the results of the study: The British government determined that "cell phones pose no cancer risk," but, "long-term research [is] still needed." The report Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Waves (this is a link which you may click on) evaluated peer reviewed, scientific studies. Generally, the report absolved antenna sites, or base stations, as health hazards, but suggested handset use might be problematic.

More recently a Danish study released in December 2006 suggests that cell phone use does not cause cancer. Surveying data on 420,095 Danes who have been using cell phones for 7-20 years, researchers found 14,249 incidents of cancers, a lower incidence than would be expected in the population. However, the disparity could be caused by the fact that early adopters of a technology tend to be among the intelligentsia of a society and a recent British study demonstrates that individuals choosing to become vegetarian tend to have higher IQs. Vegetarians tend to have less disease, including cancer and especially chronic disease. The Danish study has not eliminated other lifestyle variations affecting cancer.

Serious Warnings

1. A Problem with Older Technology

With regard to handset use, Reuters, on October 15th, 2004 reported that a Finish study demonstrated that "ten or more years of mobile phone use increases the risk of developing acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the auditory nerve." However, Rueters notes that the study was done after a period when powerful analog phones had been in use for more than a decade. The institute, a medical university and research center which awards the Nobel Prize in medicine, reported that their research could not determine if newer GSM digital technology would produce similar tumors. GSM is the technology use by Cingular, T-Mobile and other companies. The Finish study found that the risk of acoustic neuroma was almost twice for cellular customers who started using cell phones at least ten years prior to diagnosis.

The primary effect of cellular radiation is thermal. Microwaves are absorbed by water molecules, essentially heating them as in a microwave oven. The heat spreads into the tissues and can lead to a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. Of course, one may easily avoid the thermal effect by using an earphone and by staying out of the sun and avoiding a heat stroke when on a long call.

2. Indeterminate Results - Power is not all there is.

Digital signals, although generally weaker, may not be safer than analog signals. Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News notes that research demonstrates that digital pulsed signals are more "biologically active" and may react in the body more strongly.

One of the reports we reviewed in our continuing exploration of potential health effects of cellular technology was Henry Lai and Narendra Singh's studies of the effects of "safe" microwave radiation on rats' brains, reviewed in the University of Washington Alumni Magazine. Lai and Singh found that two hours' exposure to FCC "safe" levels of microwave radiation caused the destruction of DNA in rats' brain cells. They compared rats exposed to a low dose of microwave radiation for two hours to a control group of rats that spent the same amount of time in the exposure device, but didn't receive any radiation. The exposed rats showed 30 percent increase in breaks in DNA compared to the control group. It is not clear if the damaged DNA would lead to any other than cell death or cell repair. Other experiments did not find an exact correlation between duration, power and damage. In fact, this indeterminacy is common in biological systems: "It happens with chemicals. One dose can do one thing, while a higher or lower dose does the opposite," according to Jerry Phillips who reviewed the studies for Motorola and suggests that research be undertaken into repair methods.

3. Warnings from a Technical Writer - The Handset

Molly Wood, senior editor of CNET.com compares the cell phone industry to big tobacco in The Buzz Report - The Cell Phone Industry: Big Tobacco 2.0?.

She notes that recent studies suggest that the cell phones can be harmful to users, citing some of the work we studied while exploring the safety of cell phone technology, for example, Lai and Singh's studies of rats' brains. Wood lists additional "bad news" for the cellular industry.

Research must be funded and encouraged, however, as Wood points out, cell manufacturers are attempting to discredit research such as Lai and Singh's and uses economic muscle to discourage research in universities. These and other studies suggest that  cell phones might be harmful - "even cancer causing."This is one of the first high profile articles written about the safety of the industry. Molly Wood's article in a major on-line technology journal is a harpoon, unfortunately, this harpoon is more like a neutron passing through the earth than even a mosquito bite. Cell phone users are unphased, if even aware of the potential dangers.

4. Handsets: Cellular and Home Remote Phones

In addition, a comparative analysis of cell and other wireless technologies such as walkie talkies and remote phones used in the home, reports that the standard 2.4 gHz remote telephone used in the home operates at 20% of the FCC's maximum public exposure - MPE. The average Motorola cell phone operates at 5% MPE.

The research we undertook such as that noted above suggests that cell phones and remote handsets for home phones should be used with caution. British health officials urge children 8 or younger not use them. For adults, whenever possible, headsets,wired preferably, or the phone's speakerphone should be used during a call.

5. Manners, Health and a Warning from a Cellular Manufacturer

LG Cellular Phones writes in its User Guides that base stations operate at higher wattage than handsets, but are so designed that "the RF exposures that people get from these base stations are typically thousands of times lower than those they can get from wireless phones." LG then goes on to suggest the use of a headset.

The anti-cellular people are fighting base stations, but for many the real issue is manners: they are upset by ringing phones in restaurants, movie theatres and other public places. Many users, hearing static on their phones, yell into to phone and disturb others. And an often heard silly complaint comes from those who eavesdrop - they don't like the inane conversations they hear.

The fight against base stations whether for unsupported health concerns or because of manners has diverted attention, at least in the coastal area of Mendocino County, from the need to properly use cellular handsets where they can be used. The antennas within or on the phones require that the phone be held at a correct angle, that the phone not be held by the antenna and that it never be used if the antenna is damaged. Proper use is critical to maintain the antenna's distance from the brain. For longer calls, headsets or speakerphone options should be used. And as stated above, children should not be allowed to use the phones at least until more definitive research is completed, assuming that it has even begun.

These issues regard handsets. This article has to do with base stations, or the lack of them along the Mendocino Coast.

Base Stations in Mendocino: Manipulation of the Planning Process

The lack of cell service is in part due to the difficult route taken to get approval for cell sites in Mendocino County. Almost all cell sites require separate use permits. After a site is found and an agreement reached with the owner for the siting of antennas, a plan is created, engineered and submitted to the County's planning department with a request for a use permit. The use permit is subject to a public hearing before the Planning Commission at which time a variety of issues can be addressed by the public and the Commission.

Co-location of antennas - the confusion between a tower and an antenna

Co-location is a huge issue. The Mendocino County planning commission issued guidelines for the placement of antennas. One such guideline is that where there is one tower, there should be several antennas mounted, in effect directing that there be less sites, with each site carrying the signals of all the providers in the area. Towers are not particularly an option in the Coastal Zone. Special rules exist to protect the scenic beauty. These rules have caused cellular companies to develop stealth sites hiding the antennas in water towers, chimneys or other building sofits, man-made trees, etc. The stealth site immediately eliminates the basis of ganging antennas on towers - that is, protection of scenic values by limiting towers.

Planning meetings are often consumed by issues such as co-location. In 1996, the Federal Government passed the Telecommunications Act that authorized the Federal Communications Commission to be the primary agency responsible for determining safe levels of electromagnetic radiation. Those who believe that "radiation smog" is dangerous have had to find other grounds on which to fight the installation of cellular antennas. One of these is co-location.

How it has worked is that a stealth site is found, a permit applied for and a condition of the permit is that the site owners allow the siting of other cell services. Most of the sites are small and can only serve a single company and because only one company can be served, opponents claim that the owners are in breach of the use permit.

What We Are Doing

We entered into an agreement to lease chimney space to a cellular company on the condition they provide a public relations effort to proactively inform the public regarding the efficacy, safety as well as proper use of the technology.

Principals at the company did not believe that such an effort was necessary and we were exposed to protests and other assorted hysterics.

In the meantime, we fully understand the need for cellular phones. In fact we can only leave the inn because the staff can reach us in case of emergencies through this technology and we have all three major services, CDMA, TDMA and GSM. The only system we are not signed up with is Nextel which is not in many rural areas.

If guests have a cellular phone which is neither Edge or Cincular, we suggest they try driving out onto the ridges. To accommodate communications at the inn we have voice mail and offer free local calls and long distance calls throughout the United States cost only $0.30 a minute, about the same as within a cellular plan.

Cellular Technology and Our Vision of an Organic Lifestyle

Cellular technology is not antithetical to organic farming.

We embraced natural lifestyles, low impact recreation, organics many years ago, in fact long before terms such as "green hotels," "eco-tourism" were in the popular lexicon. When we embraced cellular technology, we stunned local activists who understand the difficulties they have encountered in their lives as the result of modern lifestyles, in particular cellular radiation.

We chose to partner with a cellular telephone company understanding that we would help to bring an important technology to Mendocino. We intended to supply our staff with cell phones rather than walkie talkies which, by the way, peaked radiation meters when activated while cell phones were hardly measurable. With ten acres, nine major structures, and very few phone lines, we embraced cell phones as a better way to communicate.

Opponents of the technology wrote and called us telling us to "stick with organic farming; something you know about!" We also know about cell phones and in our intended use of the technology we planned to supply headsets and a rule sheet regarding the proper technical and cultural uses of the phones.

We use a backhoe to turn our compost, which is used throughout the property for fertilizer, and diesel powered trucks fueled with biodiesel made with deep fat frying oil, rather than spend hundreds of grueling man hours in the compost piles and horses and carriages for transportation. In other words, we have chosen modern methods but have mitigated some of their harmful effects.

Cell phones have a similar place on an organic farm.