London phone masts cancer scare

Five people, all adults, who live within 200 metres of a building which has 16 masts on it, have developed cancer in the last six years. Residents of Carnarvon Road, South Woodford, are convinced that the high number of transmitters is responsible for the cluster of cancer cases since 1996.

Redbridge council is funding the £4,000 study into radiation emissions. The research is of huge importance as hundreds of similar transmitters have been erected across the capital in recent years and Londoners have become increasingly concerned about the health risks.

If a link between the cancer cases and the masts are proved, it will have huge implications for the whole mobile-phone industry and could spark a major health scare.

Councils cannot refuse applications for the transmitters on health grounds because no link has been proved.

Experts from the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) will take measurements from masts and other transmitters in the area, such as television aerials, in an attempt to pin down possible causes for the cancer cluster.

Dr Mike Clark from the NRPB said: "We will have two scientists on the road who will measure radiation levels from all transmitters in the area. We will compile a full report which should be published within a month or so."

A spokesman for Redbridge council, which commissioned the study, said: "The concerns began about a year ago when people on the street got together and realised that a number of them had contracted cancer in the last few years.

"The problem is that we cannot refuse planning applications for mobile-phone masts on health grounds. The current law means that companies can put a mast up and only have to inform us. We then have 56 days to refuse the application.

"The residents got together to campaign against the masts and last year one application was blocked."

A spokesman for Redbridge and Waltham Forest Health Authority said: "We are very concerned about the high level of cancer episodes in Carnarvon Road and are working with Redbridge council on the research it has commissioned.

"Once we have the results from this research we can determine how best to proceed and, if necessary, commission further investigations."

The scientific experts arrived in the area this morning and began testing radiation levels in the houses of people who have cancer. Then they moved on to the building on which the phone masts have been erected.

Dr Mike Clark, from the National Radiological Protection Board, said: "We recognise that people do have concerns about mobile phone masts and do have suspicions and we have conducted a number of these investigations across the country.

"We have always found that even the highest levels of radiation are still only 0.2 per cent of international levels. The international scientific consensus is that masts are very unlikely to cause any adverse health effects."

Local councillor Richard Hoskins said: "People are extremely concerned because it is their friends and neighbours who are becoming ill and it is the fear of the unknown.

"No one seems to be able to tell us for sure that these masts are safe and they are springing up all over London. It may be that these cancer cases are an aberration but it has to be investigated.

"There is little the council can do to stop these masts but we can try to find out if they are safe."

The masts on top of the building in the road are owned by Orange and One-to-One, a council spokeswoman said.

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