Analysis of RF Radiation and its Health Effects in Champhai District of Mizoram

Abstract

A detailed survey was conducted on people living within and beyond 50m from mobile base station, on thirteen (13) different non-specific health symptoms faced by inhabitants living near mobile tower in six different localities in Champhai district for the first time, since mobile tower was erected in 2009. Power density of RF radiation have also been measured within and outside 50m from the station for GSM900 and GSM1800 in the same locality. The measured power densities have been compared with standard limits given by various scientific bodies like International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP 1998), Bioinitiative Report (Sage and Carpenter 2012) ,Salzburg Resolution (Haumann et al. 2000) and current Indian National Standards. The radiation level is under permissible limits as per the guidelines adopted in India. Also the results were statistically analysed and compared by using Kruskal Walli’s t-test. It was found that the comparisons are statistically significant with p<0.05 in all the six localities where headache, memory loss and muscle pain are the most common health complaints. From the correlation studies, it has been found that there is a strong positive correlation between power density and complaints on non-specific health symptoms.