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Call service to keep mobile phone mast fears at bay MICHAEL BLACKLEY A NEW business has started up in Edinburgh offering radiation tests to residents concerned about the health hazard of mobile phone masts. The Gorgie-based company, called Mast Safe, is charging £99-a-time to give residents "peace of mind". The service is in response to widespread concerns that radiation from masts could have an impact on health and property prices. Industry bosses today insisted there was no need for communities to pay for independent tests as all operators were forced to comply with safety regulations. But Mast Safe managing director David Crook today said a major supermarket chain had already signed-up to get all of its sites checked. A small number of tests have already been carried out on masts in Edinburgh, all of which have so far fallen well below the amounts of radiation allowable by law. Mr Crook said: "We've seen so many stories about people's concerns about the safety of phone masts, and it's a particular problem in Edinburgh because there is a real proliferation of masts. "People are often concerned about the effect on the price of their house as well so we are providing a service to them that will hopefully give them reassurance about that. "It means we can offer peace of mind, but if it failed a test we would be making sure we'd contact the operator and make sure that they closed it down until its safe." If a mast passes the test the consumer that orders it gets a certificate showing that it is safe. Homeowners can then show it to potential buyers while businesses can provide it to their staff to let them know it has been tested. Although Ofcom carries out spot checks on some masts, they do not respond to individual requests from residents or groups. |
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Mast Safe is using the same selective radiation meters which check
the amount of radiation being given off. The Sighthill, Broomhouse
and Parkhead Community Council has recently objected to a planning
application for a phone mast behind the Silver Wing pub on Calder
Road, partly because of safety concerns. Its secretary, Keith Bell, said: "We would like to see it as a requirement of getting planning consent that the masts keep getting checked by an independent company on a regular basis. "If something could be done to make that compulsory then we would certainly support it. "But at £99 a test it is more than a seventh of our annual funding so I would expect that most community councils will not be able to afford to get this company in." Guidelines on the acceptable amounts of radiation are set by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). |
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It says electromagnetic fields need to be limited to no more than 300 gigahertz (GHz). The Mobile Phone Operators Association said that there is no need for a private company to carry out the tests as the operators ensure they are safe anyway. Its spokeswoman said: "In May 2000 the Stewart Report, as a precautionary measure, recommended the adoption in the UK of the ICNIRP public exposure guidelines. "All mobile phone masts in the UK are designed and built to comply with those standards and a certificate of ICNIRP compliance is provided with all planning applications." The Facts MOBILE phone masts have proved controversial in the Capital in recent years, causing anger in several communities across the city when they have been planned. Most of the anger has related to two main factors: safety and the visual impact on the area. T-Mobile was given permission to build a new 50ft antenna on Colinton Road, near to the playing fields of George Watson's School, last October, despite fears that the health of children would be put at risk. But the same operator had been less successful a month earlier when residents on Brunstane Road South won their fight to force the phone giant to move its mast following a six-month battle about it being on the wrong site. Last August, the planning committee's rejection of plans for a mast near Mountcastle Drive South in Duddingston sparked a call by councillor Ian Perry for tougher criteria on phone mast applications. Last January, Professor Sir William Stewart, chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board, said no firm conclusion had been reached on the possible impact of mobile phone technology on the human body. |
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