Cell towers in busy park raise concerns: Parents question safety of radiation levels

SAN DIEGO - Cell towers in an area filled with active kids have some parents worried about the radiation levels.

 The two new cell towers at Doyle Park in the UTC area have people talking. The signs posted on the poles read, "Caution: radio frequency fields near some antennas may exceed FCC rules for human exposure."

"I just don't think this kind of stuff should be around schools and a park where children are around," said La Jolla resident Layla, who takes her grandkids to the park three times per week.

The towers are near a busy playground and fields loaded with kids in after-school activities. Some are right next to bleachers where people can sit and watch a game. Doyle Elementary School is next to the park as well.

"I don't want to be around places like that," said Layla. "I want to bring them somewhere that they can have fresh air and be healthy, you know."

But not all parents are worried about them.

"I think you'd have to be pretty close to those things or play around them or up of them in order for the radiation levels to be harmful in any way," said John Hutchins, who takes his 5-year-old twins to the park three times a week.

10News with some experts who say the signs are usually placed there to protect the people who climb the poles for maintenance.

According to the American Cancer Society website, "at ground level near typical cellular base stations, the amount of Radio Frequency (RF) energy is thousands of times less than the limits for safe exposure set by the FCC...  it is very unlikely that a person could be exposed to RF levels in excess of these limits just by being near a cell phone tower."

Layla said, "I don't know if anything like that would be safe, you know, but I just don't think they should be around children."

Source: http://www.10news.com/news/cell-towers-in-busy-park-raise-concerns-parents-question-safety-of-radiation-levels-05152013