The Convenience of Cell Towers Also Brings Health Risks
While some people are sensitive to radiation emitted by electronic devices, most can feel negative effects only after years of exposure.
One example of a community affected by living and working within 100-200 meters of cell towers are those who live in Colonia Winston Smith, just west of Tres Flores. According to Pablo Echeverría, teacher and Colonia Smith Patronato vice president, the colonia’s residents have an abnormal incidence of birth defects. Children are born with cleft lip, many mothers have miscarriages, and there is a high incidence of tumors. According to Echeverría, five children were born with cleft lips in the colonia. Expectant mothers also suffered an abnormal number of spontaneous abortions, which Echeverría said could be attributed to the strong frequency signals emitted by the cell towers.
While proximity to the tower is one issue, another is the strength of the signal emitted by the tower’s equipment. Echeverría says that having trees or other objects between the cell tower and a home helps reduce constant exposure to the frequencies.
What made things complicated for Colonia Smith residents was that the towers predated the housing community. “The towers were here before we came,” Echeverría said.
Since the late 1990s, there was a tower on the site, and eventually both Claro and Tigo cell service companies operated towers on the tall hill. Those towers provided cell service to Los Fuertes, Palmetto Bay and Crawfish Rock. Since 2011, the colonia’s residents have been building their homes and raising their children in the shadow of two cell towers.
Things changed in 2024 when American investor James Baum bought land just north of Colonia Smith with a Tigo tower on it. Baum plans to turn his land into a high-end development featuring attractive views
of the sea to both the north and south. Cell towers are incompatible with high-end developments, so he decided to discontinue the lease with Tigo, which had operated the tower there for around 20 years.
Then there is the issue, common knowledge in fact, that cell towers negatively affect property values. Given a choice, people simply don’t want to live looking at cell towers, even if they want to see five bars on their smart phones. According to William Gati of the New York Real Estate Journal, real estate values can decrease by as much as 20%.
While living near cell phone towers can be dangerous in the long term, working on the towers can also be deadly. On April 15, a worker died in an accident dismantling the Tigo tower at Colonia Smith. After losing its lease near Colonia Smith, Tigo located a much shorter, temporary cell tower just 200 meters to the east, next to an existing home.
Working on the towers can also be deadly.
After a few more weeks, the work was complete and the original Tigo tower was finally disassembled. Colonia Smith residents breathed a sigh of relief. The only tower currently functioning there is an internet tower, which receives signals from La Ceiba and transfers them to fiber optic cables.
Some island communications professionals admit there are issues with cell towers and health. “Cell towers use spectrum and frequencies just as any household device. (…) The vibrating waves of spectrum resonate on different levels and can be both harmful and beneficial depending on the individual’s body and how close that person is to the device,” said Duane McNab, owner of MaxCom.
Balancing the convenience and health dangers of cell tower signals is a tricky issue. There is also an inherent conflict of interest among stakeholders in the cell tower business and residents. Telecommunications firms, technology companies and real estate industry players have vested interests in minimizing information about the health dangers of signals emitted from cell towers. They make their living from the convenience and prevalence of the cell towers providing those signals.
