Nicta refutes radiation claims

NATIONAL Information and Communications Technology Authority (Nicta) chief executive officer Charles Punaha says studies sanctioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) have shown that electromagnetic field (EMF) levels from towers do not cause any harmful health effects.
“The real source of EMF radiation is the transmitting antenna mounted on a tower and not the tower itself,” he said.
“The antenna determines EMF distribution around the tower.
“The radiations at ground level are much lower to cause any health risks.
“The level of exposure to the people, even for those living close to a tower, is much lower than the established safety limits specified by WHO, based on the Guidelines of International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).”
Punaha was responding to The National report titled “Radiation from towers causing infertility’’ published last Thursday.
He said the news report was misinterpreted and misleading.
The report quoted Nicta enforcement and compliance manager Gabriel Nanau as saying studies had found that infertility can be caused by radiation.
He said there were many reports and complaints regarding radiation from telecommunication towers in residential areas and public places and Nicta was working on addressing that.
“There is no conclusive research done yet on studies carried by experts here in this field but to be aware (being vigilant) of side effects is paramount and important,” he said.
“We are exposed to radiation every day in one form or the other, even being exposed to the sun can cause sun burns.”
Nanau said Nicta would be buying a software or card they could install into their existing equipment (spectrum analyser) to further improve capabilities to their equipment and measure EMF.
“The equipment we are procuring will give us the comfort to go to areas of concerns and take measurements,” he said.