Editing Base station (section)

=== Emissions issues ===
[[File:GaffneySC-CellTower.jpg|thumb|A cell tower near Thicketty, South Carolina.]]
While low levels of radio-frequency power are usually considered to have negligible effects on health, national and local regulations restrict the design of base stations to limit exposure to [[electromagnetic field]]s. Technical measures to limit exposure include restricting the radio frequency power emitted by the station, elevating the antenna above ground level, changes to the [[antenna (radio)|antenna]] pattern, and barriers to foot or road traffic.  For typical base stations, significant electromagnetic energy is only emitted at the antenna, not along the length of the antenna tower.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Warren PM|title=IEEE C95.1-2005 "IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 3 kHz to 300 GHz" Sources: US Department of Health; The World Health Organization|publisher=IEEE |year=2006}}</ref>

Because mobile phones and their base stations are two-way radios, they produce radio-frequency ([[Radio frequency|RF]]) radiation in order to communicate, exposing people near them to [[RF radiation]] giving concerns about [[mobile phone radiation and health]]. Hand-held mobile telephones are relatively low power so the RF radiation exposures from them are generally low.

The [[World Health Organization]] has concluded that "there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs304/en/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119221916/http://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs304/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 19, 2014 |title=Electromagnetic fields and public health: Base stations and wireless technologies |work=World Health Organization |access-date=2014-09-08}}.</ref>

The consensus of the scientific community is that the power from these mobile phone base station antennas is too low to produce health hazards as long as people are kept away from direct access to the antennas. However, current international exposure guidelines ([[ICNIRP]]) are based largely on the ''thermal'' effects of base station emissions, NOT considering the [[Non-thermal microwave effect|''non-thermal'' effects]] harmless.