India: Vogelsterfte door zendmasten!

Bron: The Indian Times 3 oct 2008

In de Indian Times vandaag een artikel dat aansluit op eerder onderzoek in Spanje en België van o.a. Balmori over de mortaliteit bij vogels o.i.v. EM velden.
Onderzoekers van de universiteit van Panjab stellen dat de toename van zendmasten verantwoordelijk is voor de afname van vogelpopulaties door beschadiging van de vogeleieren en embryo's door EM straling.
Tot de vogels die al vrijwel verdwenen zijn behoren de mus, de buul-buul, de tortelduif en de brahmaanse wouw.

lees verder de engelse tekst:

Radiation from mobile towers wipes out birds

CHENNAI: Set a bird song as your mobile ringtone. For that may soon be the only way you get to hear from our winged friends —studies show that the increasing number of cell phone towers in cities is bringing down bird population.

While studies in Spain and Belgium have established the ill-effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted by cell phone masts on birds, a study to be published next month by a team in Panjab University has found that EMR can damage bird eggs and embryos. The study, conducted in Chandigarh, is applicable to all Indian cities where cell phone masts are proliferating. Chennai has 4,000 cell phone towers, compared to about 200 in Chandigarh.

Researchers at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, say there are enough reasons to attribute bird mortality to such radiation. “Cell phones and towers emit a very low frequency of 900 or 1,800 MHz, called microwaves. Studies have found that they can cause thin skulls of chicks and thin egg shells,” says Dhanya R, a researcher at SACON.

The team at the Centre for Environment and Vocational Studies of Panjab University, headed by RK Kohli, exposed 50 eggs to EMR for durations of five minutes to 30 minutes. “All the 50 embryos were damaged. It’s almost like being microwaved,” Kohli told TOI.

Chennai-based zoologist Ranjit Daniels says four of the 200-odd Chennai birds — house sparrow (Passer domesticus), red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), brahmini kite (Haliastur indus) and spotted dove (Streptopelia chinensis) __ have virtually disappeared. “Birds are known to be sensitive to magnetic radiation. Microwaves can interfere with their sensors and misguide them while navigating and preying,” says Daniels.

Voor het origineel zie:

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Radiation_from_mobile_towers_wipes_out_birds/articleshow/3554713.cms .



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