Topic 22: Controversy over phone mast plans

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Topic 22 Controversy over phone mast plans

• Tyler Hinkle
• Petia Zamfirova

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Background

• A mobile phone company (Vodafone) wants to
  relocate a tower near two area schools
  
• The county authority breaks policy of restricting
  cell towers within 250 meters of a school and
  wants to allow it saying there is no choice
  
• The original tower was even closer to one of the
  schools and its lease is ending and has to be
  relocated due to highway construction
  

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Background continued

• The County Authority will meet to discuss denial
  of relocation request
  
• Cell phone towers emit electromagnetic
  Radio-Frequency (RF) fields
  
• A form of electromagnetic radiation
• Lack of substantial proven scientific evidence of
  cell phone RF emissions on health
  

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Ethical Dilemma

• Debate Question Given that danger from cellular
  telephone towers has never been proven
  scientifically, would it be ethical for the
  county officials to deny Vodafone its tower
  location request only because of the public
  perception that the towers could be dangerous?
• Petia Yes, it would be ethical to deny the
  request
  
• Tyler No, it would NOT be ethical to deny the
  request

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It would be ethical to deny the tower request

• NSPE Code of Ethics
• First Fundamental Canon
• Engineers shall hold paramount the safety,
  health, and welfare of the public
  
• National Institute of Environmental Health
  Sciences identified RF fields as possible human
  carcinogens

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It would be ethical to deny the tower request

• Health Effects Linked to Cellular Telephone RF
  Fields from Towers according to the National
  Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
  (NIEHS)
• Increased Cancer Cell Growth
• More Childhood Leukemia
• Headaches
• Memory Loss
• Increased Blood Pressure
• Changes in Sleep Patterns
• Neurological Changes

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It would NOT be ethical to deny the tower request

• NSPE Code of Ethics Section III-2
• Engineers shall at all times strive to serve the
  public interest
  
• The public interest is in the use of cellular
  service
  
• 140 Millions US users and 1.4 Billion users
  worldwide
  
• Increases by 1 Million users each month in US
• 25 increase expected by 2007

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It would NOT be ethical to deny the tower request

• No proven risk from cellular RF field
  transmission
  
• The Cellular Telecommunications Internet
  Association (CTIA) - "There's nothing in the
  science to suggest there are any adverse health
  effects with cell phones," says Jo-Anne Basile,
  vice president for external and industry
  relations for the CTIA.

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It would be ethical to deny the tower request

• Cell towers do emit electro magnetic and radio
  wave radiation in small amounts
  
• RF radiation has the ability to heat human
  tissue much in the ways microwaves do
  
• ADDITIVE - Prolonged exposure even at small
  amounts is enough to cause damage risk increases
  with duration
  
• RF exposure is proven to cause DNA mutation
  (NIEHS)

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It would NOT be ethical to deny the tower request

• Any level of emitted RF radiation from towers is
  minimal
  
• DNA mutation exists but is far less severe than
  normal sun exposure Immune system repairs
  damage using T4 endonuclease enzymes
  
• 3rd degree Sun-Burn 200x more severe than RF
  levels at that of cellular technology according
  to the Cellular Telecommunications Internet
  Association
• It would be unethical to deny the request when RF
  exposure is safer than sunlight

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It would NOT be ethical to deny the tower request

• Vodafone Code of Ethics
• 1.3 Promote compliance with applicable
  governmental laws, rules, and regulations
  
• Code Ensure that Cell Company Complies with
• FCC regulations for maximum Radio Frequency
  transmission levels
  
• FDA radiation health standards The available
  scientific evidence does not demonstrate any
  health effect associated with the use of cell
  phones.
• IEEE Standards
• Laws and regulations are being
• met, RF levels of towers are safe
• according to government standards

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It would be ethical to deny the tower request

• Regulations not good enough
• No Clear Cutoff Levels
• Not Proven Safe
• Environmental Protection Agency rejects IEEE
  standards for RF emissions

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It would NOT be ethical to deny the tower request

• ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Code of
  Ethics
  
• 2.6 Honor Contracts, Agreements, and assigned
  responsibilities
  
• Customers of cellular telephone companies signed
  contracts ensuring them service. Multiple cell
  towers at varying locations are required to
  ensure signals for service.

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It would be ethical to deny the tower request

• ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Code of
  Ethics
  
• 1.1 Contribute to society and human well-being
• 1.2 Avoid Harm to Others
• "People can vary in their susceptibility to
  environmental hazards," the report by the
  Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones states.
  "We conclude therefore that it is not possible to
  say that exposure to RF radiation, even at levels
  below national guidelines, is totally without
  potential adverse health effects, and that the
  gaps in knowledge are sufficient to justify a
  precautionary approach."

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It would NOT be ethical to deny the tower request

• Non-ionizing radiation
• Power level similar to a CB radio
• Utilitarian View
• Cell towers serve the greatest good by allowing
  service to a far greater number of people than
  those averse to cell phone use
  
• 45 of US citizens use Cell phones
• No Proven Evidence that Cell Towers are the Cause
  of any Health Effects

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It would be ethical to deny the tower request

• Respect for Persons Everybody treated as moral
  agents
  
• Rights-
• Right to life
• Right to bodily integrity
• Right to free action
• Self-Defeating Criterion
• What if all cell phone companies put towers near
  schools?
  
• Remember that prolonged exposure increases risk,
  every student would have constant exposure for at
  least 12 years.
  
• The Golden Rule
• Cell phone companies pay for the use of land for
  a tower. Would you put a cell phone tower on
  your house if they offered you money?

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It would NOT be ethical to deny the tower request

• Self-Defeating Criterion
• What if all cell phone companies were denied
  tower locations near schools?
  
• Cost-Benefit Utilitarian Approach
• Costs non-users of cell phones may be exposed
  to minimal RF non-ionizing radiation as much as
  users
  
• Isolated cases of sickness supposedly linked to
  exposure
  
• Benefits Seamless cell phone signals and higher
  usage for a growing number of users approaching
  150 million in the US alone
  
• Emergencies - 1/3 of all 911 calls are from cell
  phones

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It would be ethical to deny the tower request

• STC (Society of Telecommunications Consultants)
  Code of Ethics
  
• Every member has the professional responsibility
  of adhering to generally accepted standards of
  accuracy, truth, and good taste at all times
  
• Every member has the professional responsibility
  of fair dealing toward the member's clients, past
  and present, fellow members, and the general
  public.
• Good Taste and fair dealing of the general
  public includes not putting the public in harms
  way
  

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Questions?