By Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
 

Dubai: A father fears his family's health is being jeopardised by a cell phone transmitter mast attached to his flat's balcony.

Eappen Thiruvattal, 50, thinks the tiredness, headaches and joint pains suffered by him, his wife and his daughter could be caused by the mast.

Telecommunications company Etisalat insists that its cell phone towers exceed international recommendations and are not a threat to people.

Eappen Thiruvattal at the mobile phone transmitter mast on his balcony of his apartment. Eappen claims the mast is causing health problems for himself and his family. Karl Jeffs/Gulf News

Thiruvattal, an Indian national works as a manager for a video company, grew concerned after learning of the possible health dangers of cell phone masts.

"You read in many places that these can cause brain tumours and other sinister things and now we have one of these masts near us 24 hours a day. It produces microwaves which could be unhealthy."

"My daughter has constant headaches and complains of pains in her knees. My wife is being treated for her shoulder. I suffer fatigue. It's affecting our health," he said.

Thiruvattal has lived in a first floor apartment along Oud Mehta Road with his wife Ruby, 49, and daughter Eva, 15, for nine years.

He said the mast was fixed between his balcony and that of his neighbour more than a year ago.

"I am sure these things are normally fixed on towers so they are at a distance from people. In India, all telephone companies have them on towers," he said.

Cell phone masts have caused controversy across the world, with residents often campaigning for their removal amid health fears.

Telecommunications companies have insisted that there is no scientific evidence that they cause damage to health.

Those defending the masts say the amount of radiation reaching people from a base station is 10,000 times weaker than that produced by an actual cell phone handset.

Ahmad Bin Ali, Etisalat's Corporate Communications Manager, said the GSM base stations or cell phone towers, that the company set up adheres to international conditions and specifications.

He said Etisalat uses guidelines from the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) in the United States that ensures protection from exposure to radiation.

"Etisalat uses secure limits of maximum exposure when designing and operating phone towers and the locations are selected in line with international safety standards,"he added.