There are so many other things to worry about! You are afraid of power lines because you aren't educated about power. DH has a PhD in electrical engineering. He doesn't worry about power lines or cell phone towers. He flips when I talk on my cell phone without a ear piece. Seriously though, there are other far more immediate dangers.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.gq.com/cars-gear/gear-and-gadgets/201002/warning-cell-phone-radiation?printable=true

Wow! Thanks for posting this link. That's really scary! Now I am paranoid! I'm going to look into switching my wifi back to wired! Why take a chance?

I think it's prudent to be concerned about cell towers and high power lines. I don't think there's enough evidence to know what the effects of long-term exposure to radiation and EMFs, but why take the risk?

There are cell phone towers about half a mile from my house, and I'm not pleased about it, but there was little I could do about it.

Before getting too anxious about it, it's best to do some research. Sound drops off fairly quickly, so does microwave radiation, so perhaps cell phone radiation drops off as well -- I certainly hope so! I hope half a mile is enough distance for us. But we live in an urban area, so there are cell phone towers around, and yes we are exposed to this stuff all the time.

I don't ever put my cell phone up to my ear. I use bluetooth in the car -- is this bad too? I don't know. You can only worry about so much, and after that you have to hope that not doing anything to excess will spread out your risk.

Find a house in a location that feels safer to you. I would not buy a house that doesn't feel safe -- you will regret it, and you will feel uneasy the entire time you live there. There are lots of houses in the world, OP, find one you really love and feel safe and secure in.

We recently moved from a location overseas where we had no say over where we lived -- and there were HUGE power lines right outside our kids' windows (and we were 10 floors up). DH is paranoid about this kind of stuff, so we bought one of these: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=emf+detector&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=3576571491&ref=pd_sl_271vbgjqrh_e

We couldn't get completely away from the effects of the power lines (and thankfully we didn't have to live there forever) but this device at least let us put their beds in positions with less exposure.

Honestly I would be more worried abut wi-fi in our homes. According to research (I haven't read this in awhile before I had young kids) but according to the research from a few years ago, these are outlawed in Europe based on findings that say you may as well have power lines installed in your house. I'll see if I can find the link but I doubt it.

I would never live within two miles of one of those towers.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I am concerned about this, but what are you to do? We are all bombarded constantly with low level radiation, waves of some sort, and what not. What is it doing to us? Is anyone researching it? Why do we have such alarming rates of spectrum disorders, mood disorders, cancer, etc?

Because we're not dying of diptheria anymore and aren't as inclined to "tough it out no matter what" and/or self-medicate.

You might want to think about resale, too, because at least some number of people might have the same concern you are now voicing. In fact, my DH just said to me earlier tonight (we had not read your post!) as we were driving through Tenleytown - "can you imagine living here with all of these cell towers around"? Then again, we probably spend more time thinking about radiation than most people, I would guess.

Anonymous wrote:If you're paranoid about cell phone sites, you should probably consider a rural location. Typical cell phone placement in an urban area is about every 500 feet.

I would personally be a lot more concerned about unexploded chemical weapons in Spring Valley than the radio/TV antennas in Tenleytown, which have been there in some form or another for over 100 years.

No! Rural is worse because the greater the distance, the more power that is needed. Cells phone towers with closer placement put out less power. Most of the towers in Tenley are AM/FM. TV, AM, and FM operate at a lower frequency that I don't find worrisome. Plus, we have 100 years or so of data on those.

I do agree that there are far more scarier things: sunlight, cigarettes, pesticides, plastics. Oh and instead of worrying about the towers, worry more about that smartphone up against your head.

We are looking at homes in NoVa and have the same concern. Although there is no research to support this, as a scientist i also believe there is insufficient evidence to truly understand the long term health effects. We are definitely that into consideration and are opting not to buy a home too close to either.

Yes, I am concerned about this, but what are you to do? We are all bombarded constantly with low level radiation, waves of some sort, and what not. What is it doing to us? Is anyone researching it? Why do we have such alarming rates of spectrum disorders, mood disorders, cancer, etc?

If you're paranoid about cell phone sites, you should probably consider a rural location. Typical cell phone placement in an urban area is about every 500 feet.

I would personally be a lot more concerned about unexploded chemical weapons in Spring Valley than the radio/TV antennas in Tenleytown, which have been there in some form or another for over 100 years.

We are looking to move to Tenleytown area in DC, this area suits us very well location wise, but we are concerned about what appears to be a large presense of transmission structures in the area next to the Tenley metro stop, AU campus and around Park Reno. I've done some online research and so far there hasn't been any outward investigations into the harmful effects of the transmission towers on residents in the 1 mile radius save for some research done in SF area in similar type of hilly neighborhood riddled with such structures. According to that research, there didn't appear any increased number of illnesses associated with environmental effects of such structures, however, we have been told by some family members and friends that they would personally have a concern and never move to such area.

I am just wondering have any of you investigate whether the area you are moving to has cell towers/transmission towers in the close vicinity and are concerned about it? Are we just paranoid and should get over it and not pass on this great neighborhood?