In this letter to the editor, the author comments on Gregg Skall’s commentary “Understand FCC Rules for Tower Site Fencing.” Radio World welcomes letters to the editor on this or any story. Email [email protected].
Dear Editor,
I take issue with a statement on AM tower safety that appeared in a column by Mr. Gregg P. Skall, an attorney, in the Sept. 10 issue of Radio World.
“AM towers emit electromagnetic energy transmitted from large antenna arrays, which can be harmful if humans get too close. The National Cancer Institute has noted that exposure in close proximity to the source of AM transmissions has been implicated in cases of leukemia and cancer.”
I don’t know who is making these unproven claims at the NCI but they, and Mr. Skall, are evidently not physicists. The NCI can claim some sort of “implication” to their heart’s content, but none of these claims can possibly have any scientific validity. That’s because there’s no hard evidence that electromagnetic fields in the medium-wave range, cause harm to tissue. The energy levels are so low, it is impossible for these fields to ionize anything and damage DNA, which would be necessary to cause malignancy in an individual.
With that said, everything else in the column regarding direct contact with an energized tower was correct.
It’s disappointing to see this RF exposure hand-wringing in Radio World. The only thing engineers have to worry about at AM sites is their own bad habits when it comes to their health.
— Rob Atkinson, St. Charles, Ill.
Gregg Skall responds: I agree with Mr. Atkinson based on a closer look at the NCI website. Its page about electromagnetic fields and cancer contains useful information. Find it here.
