scholarly journals A Possible Effect of Electromagnetic Radiation from Mobile Phone Base Stations on the Number of Breeding House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)

2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joris Everaert ◽  
Dirk Bauwens
Birds ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-337
Author(s):  
Alfonso Balmori

In recent decades, there has been a decline of the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), mainly in European cities, and several hypotheses have been proposed that attempt to determine the causes of this rapid decline. Previous studies indicated that house sparrows were significantly negatively associated with increasing electromagnetic radiation and sparrows disappeared from areas most polluted. In addition, there are many studies on the impact of radiation on other bird and non-bird species, as well as numerous laboratory studies that demonstrated detrimental effects at electric field strength levels that can be found in cities today. Electromagnetic radiation is the most plausible factor for multiple reasons, including that this is the only one that affects the other hypotheses proposed so far. It is a type of pollution that affects productivity, fertility, decreases insects (chicken feed), causes loss of habitat, decreases immunity and can promote disease. Additionally, the recent sparrow decline matches the deployment of mobile telephony networks. Further, there are known mechanisms of action for non-thermal effects of electromagnetic radiation that may affect sparrows causing their decline. Thus, electromagnetic radiation must be seriously considered as a factor for house sparrows’ decline, probably in synergy with the other factors previously proposed.


Author(s):  
Mutamed Khatib

Exposure to electromagnetic fields is a major public concern due to the possible hazardous effects on health caused by exposure to these radiations. The aims of this study were to measure radiofrequency radiation levels from different wireless systems and to compare the results with the recommended limits by the World Health Organization (WHO) which should be less that 450 µw/cm2. The study was a cross-sectional study that was conducted in different cities and villages from the northern governorates in the West Bank; Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tubas and Salfit. To measure the radiation levels ranging from 80 MHz to 2 GHz, a Portable Field Strength Meter with the suitable set of antennas was used. This frequency range covers the radiations from different sources as mobile phone base stations, local radio and television stations, mobile phones, Wireless Local Area Network, Bluetooth, wireless computer periphery and even microwave ovens. Points close to mobile phone base stations and local radio and television stations in addition to randomly selected points were included. The scanning process for each point was done twice and the higher reading was included in the analysis. The results were compared to the recommended limits of radiations by WHO. Also, a questionnaire was distributed to evaluate people knowledge and perception regarding radiations. A total of 2000 readings were obtained with a mean ± SD = 0.25 ± 0.214 µw/cm2. The highest reading was 1.91 µw/cm2. All the readings were below the limits of radiations recommended by the WHO. Most of the readings in the tested area 1184 (59.2%) were between 0.1 -0.45 µw/cm2 which are 1000- 4500 time less than the maximum allowed level (450 µw/cm2), 527 (26.35%) readings were <0.1 µw/cm2, 271 (13.55%) reading were between 0.45-1 µw/cm2 and the rest 17 (0.85%) were >1 µw/cm2 which were still 236-450 times less than the allowed WHO level. Regarding the questionnaire part, most of the participants use mobile phones frequently, they think radiations are dangerous and can cause cancer, they prefer not to have mobile base stations close to their living places. In this study, a scanning for all electromagnetic radiation sources caused by different sources of wireless communication systems showed theoretically no dangerous radiation levels and all the recorded levels were much lower than the recommended levels by the WHO. Most people feel afraid from radiations and think they are dangerous.


Author(s):  
Mutamed Khatib

Exposure to electromagnetic fields is a major public concern due to the possible hazardous effects on health caused by exposure to these radiations. The aims of this study were to measure radiofrequency radiation levels from different wireless systems and to compare the results with the recommended limits by the World Health Organization (WHO) which should be less that 450 µw/cm2. The study was a cross-sectional study that was conducted in different cities and villages from the northern governorates in the West Bank; Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tubas and Salfit. To measure the radiation levels ranging from 80 MHz to 2 GHz, a Portable Field Strength Meter with the suitable set of antennas was used. This frequency range covers the radiations from different sources as mobile phone base stations, local radio and television stations, mobile phones, Wireless Local Area Network, Bluetooth, wireless computer periphery and even microwave ovens. Points close to mobile phone base stations and local radio and television stations in addition to randomly selected points were included. The scanning process for each point was done twice and the higher reading was included in the analysis. The results were compared to the recommended limits of radiations by WHO. Also, a questionnaire was distributed to evaluate people knowledge and perception regarding radiations. A total of 2000 readings were obtained with a mean ± SD = 0.25 ± 0.214 µw/cm2. The highest reading was 1.91 µw/cm2. All the readings were below the limits of radiations recommended by the WHO. Most of the readings in the tested area 1184 (59.2%) were between 0.1 -0.45 µw/cm2 which are 1000- 4500 time less than the maximum allowed level (450 µw/cm2), 527 (26.35%) readings were <0.1 µw/cm2, 271 (13.55%) reading were between 0.45-1 µw/cm2 and the rest 17 (0.85%) were >1 µw/cm2 which were still 236-450 times less than the allowed WHO level. Regarding the questionnaire part, most of the participants use mobile phones frequently, they think radiations are dangerous and can cause cancer, they prefer not to have mobile base stations close to their living places. In this study, a scanning for all electromagnetic radiation sources caused by different sources of wireless communication systems showed theoretically no dangerous radiation levels and all the recorded levels were much lower than the recommended levels by the WHO. Most people feel afraid from radiations and think they are dangerous.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-207
Author(s):  
Mohamed Meeran ◽  
◽  
Syed Marjuk ◽  
Mohammed Byrose ◽  
Subramanian Arivoli ◽  
...  

A thorough study of house sparrow behaviour and its population is essential to revive its population status which is the need of the hour. Therefore, the nature of sparrow population, their nests, water and food sources, interspecific competitions and noise pollution were taken into consideration in the present investigation, which documented its first research carried at Chinnamanur town, Uthamapalayam taluk of Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India. The study period was divided into summer and winter seasons and the survey was carried out for a period of nine months from April 2019 to December 2019 by point count and ebird data method. A total of 542 house sparrows were counted of which 250 was present in summer and 292 in winter. The overall house sparrow population in Chinnamanur town, related to the summer and winter seasons exhibited the range of correlation coefficient value to be 0.94 indicating a very strong positive correlation. Above all, the present study revealed that mobile phone towers were not the main reason for the decline of house sparrows, rather it was loss of habitat and food, urbanization, noise pollution, interspecific competition and conversion of agricultural lands into plots.


2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1733) ◽  
pp. 1560-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Koren ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Terry Burke ◽  
Kiran K. Soma ◽  
Katherine E. Wynne-Edwards ◽  
...  

Potential mechanistic mediators of Darwinian fitness, such as stress hormones or sex hormones, have been the focus of many studies. An inverse relationship between fitness and stress or sex hormone concentrations has been widely assumed, although empirical evidence is scarce. Feathers gradually accumulate hormones during their growth and provide a novel way to measure hormone concentrations integrated over time. Using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, we measured testosterone, corticosterone and cortisol in the feathers of house sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) in a wild population which is the subject of a long-term study. Although corticosterone is considered the dominant avian glucocorticoid, we unambiguously identified cortisol in feathers. In addition, we found that feathers grown during the post-nuptial moult in autumn contained testosterone, corticosterone and cortisol levels that were significantly higher in birds that subsequently died over the following winter than in birds that survived. Thus, feather steroids are candidate prospective biomarkers to predict the future survival of individuals in the wild.


1973 ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl J. Mitchell ◽  
Richard O. Hayes

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