Online Platform to Check Mobile Tower Radiation Pollution Launched

EghtesadOnline: In response to citizens’ concerns over reportedly excessive mobile tower radiation pollution in urban areas, the government of President Hassan Rouhani has launched a website through which residents of Tehran and Shiraz can now view the amount of non-ionizing radiation in any region across the two cities.

News ID: ۷۴۵۹۴۰

29 August 2018

As part of the ICT Ministry’s quest to promote transparency, the ministry has designed a platform for the public to check the emission rate of non-ionizing radiation in the capital of Tehran and Shiraz, the fifth most populous city of Iran, reported ICT Ministry’s official website.

Non-ionizing radiation refers to any type of electromagnetic radiation that does not carry enough energy per quantum (photon energy) to ionize atoms or molecules—that is, to completely remove an electron from an atom or molecule.

Non-ionizing radiation includes the spectrum of ultraviolet (UV), visible light, infrared (IR), microwave (MW), radio frequency (RF) and extremely low frequency (ELF), Financial Tribune reported.

ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi took to Twitter last Monday to announce the website’s launch.

The website shows whether the radiation has surpassed the standard limit. Too much exposure to non-ionizing radiation can be a health hazard.

The data published on the website is gathered by the Communication Regulatory Authority which has set up 70 monitoring stations in Tehran and 18 in Shiraz to measure radiation. By law, protection from radio waves falls within the purview of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the measurement of the waves is CRA’s duty.

Falling Into Line

By establishing the system, the Iranian government is following the guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.

The international organization’s activities include determining exposure limits for electromagnetic fields used by devices such as cellular phones.

Azari-Jahromi has said city councils or municipalities can register requests for establishment of similar services in their jurisdictions. He vowed that the ministry will follow up on establishing the same system for other cities as well.

The public can visit the website cra.ir to check radiation rate of various radio frequencies in Tehran and Shiraz.