Hi there

We are three months into lease of our years apartment rental and a mobile phone mast today has been erected within 50 meters of where we are living. The WHO guidelines state that 400 meters from a mast is a safe distance

We have two young children and although nothing has been proven do not want to expose them to possible damaging high power frequency. We would never have chosen to live here had the mast been already there.

Please does anyone know if we have any legal standing against the landlord or what we can do besides wait and find another tenant to take over the lease?

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks.

Rosehip, I feel your frustration and anger, but I am not sure how one could make the landlord responsible. I am sure the phone mast does not belong to him. I would have thought that it would be difficult to get out of your contract for that reason.

However, in order to be sure that you have checked all options, I would join the tenants association (Mieterverband / ASLOCA). The give free legal advice as a member benefit. They should be able to tell you whether you have any other options. Best of luck!

I would not worry too much about it, all day you are surounded by HF radiation in the house, these days from WiFi or if you have a cell phone or even a wireless telephone, to put things into a bit of perspective the recomended distance to a electrified railway is around 1 kilometer and to a tram 500-600 meters.
Houses are built directly near the line and I don´t see many complaining there, also in my humble opinion you will get more radiation from the prayers emmiting out of a church
If you are realy worried you can ask your local Elektrofachgeschäft, the shop with the tellys in the window, (EP offers a measuring service)to come round and take a measurment using the correct tools, then you will have a leaver in your hand for your Vermieter.

Do you have a source? I'm somewhat sceptical as in inner city areas masts cover a radius of appox 100 metres, so are spaced much much closer.

What WHO does recommend OTOH is not putting a mobile phone next to your head, but to only use it with the loudspeaker or a hands-free kit. Do you?

Here is a link to an article in the Swiss consumer magazine K-Tipp (German only I am afraid):

http://www.ktipp.ch/themen/beitrag/1...n_Profi_messen

They say that measuring oneself is not that easy and give a list of people who will also carry out measurements at your home. They also say that your electric alarm clock may be one of the biggest hazards

Can I say, just once: "Tinfoil hats"?
;-)
SCRN.


Other, also not-so-serious suggestions:
- sleeping in a lead-lined, err, coffin
- TEMPEST-proofing the whole apartment.

The only good news is that because the mast is so close, your own mobile phones will only need minimal power to connect to it, reducing the amount of radiation directly directed to the skull....

Thank you all very much for your replies, very much appreciated

I know for some this is not a problem but we are not comfortable with the situation and it would not have been our choice to live in such close proximity to a mobile base station had it been there when we were viewing the apartment.

I should have thought the landlord would have been aware of this, as I would have thought permissions or permits are needed to erect these stations?

We will be contacting a lawyer to see where we stand legally and hopefully clarify the situation.

...which is usually a good way to make yourself very unpopular in this country. We don't like going down the legal path at every chance offered so much. I'd suggest just having a chat to the landlord first and see what he says. He maybe more flexible than you think!

Actually, the building of the mast would have been widely advertised to all residents prior to construction, so everybody could have their say or enter legal proceedings to stop/delay said construction - you would be a little late to the game I'm afraid..

Mm, not sure a lawyer will be able to do much of anything. The way I see it, someone down the street could equally well have started a pig farm on his own land. All your arguments would still apply (we're not comfortable, wouldn't have rented if we had known, how can we ever find a replacement tenant now) but I'm pretty sure it would still be a case of "sorry, tough luck".

The landlord cannot conceivably be held responsible unless he had some obligation to notify you and didn't. As far as I know there is no obligation for landlords to inform you of anything in the neighborhood - church bells, pig farms, mad biddies downstairs - and certainly not of things that (a) are beyond his control and (b) don't even exist yet at the time you sign the lease.

As tomberli said, your best bet is to talk to the landlord, explain the situation and ask if he is willing to work with you - whether there is any chance he will let you out of the lease early. Not everyone is as bothered by this as you are, so you might not even have difficulty finding a replacement tenant. Won't know till you try!

I suspect also even if the landlord did know he is probably not under any obligation to tell you anything, so unless you specifically asked him whether there were going to any masts going to be built and he lied to you, then I am afraid you probably won't have a leg to stand on.

I would suggest as others have, that you talk to the landlord and see if he is willing for to either sub-let or let you move out early if he finds another tenant so that he has no loss of rent.

More evidence here in the British Medical Journal of a large epidemiological study performed in Denmark.

The conclusion:
Though, in fairness, the study was on phone users, not people living in the vicinity of a base station. But the frequencies used in station => handset communication are radio frequency and wouldn't be ionizing.

Indeed. If you are worried about radiation, not using mobile phones unless with a hands-free kit (of the "long wire" variety) is vastly more important than keeping away from the base stations.

Ironically, having a base station closer would ultimately be better for phone users as the handset would not produce as much radiation. The signal output would not be as strong due to the close proximity of the base station.

Since it is so important to you I would have thought you would have specifically asked the landlord about phone masts, or even better, enquired at the relevant local government organisation as to whether there were any plans to install a base station near your chosen apartment. How did you find out about the current one? Did you just happen to see it? Sometimes these things can be difficult to spot so the onus is on you to find out what is in the area and what is planned for the area.

When you are looking for a new tenant so that you can move away will you tell them that the reason you are moving is because of the phone mast?

Rosehip, this sums up an important cultural difference quite well; generally, one is expected to do one's own due diligence, to ask the right questions, of the right person, in the right way. The other party will answer exactly the question you asked, but usually not volunteer information you didn't specifically request. The onus is indeed on you. (A phrase you hear all too often is 'selber schuld'.)

Many of us have been caught out by this difference; I've learned a few expensive lessons because I didn't know what I didn't know. It's natural to feel hard done by when you first encounter this, especially when you come from a country where there are different laws/norms around disclosure. But that won't help you here.

Do as MN suggests - start with a friendly chat with your landlord rather than going in guns a-blazing.

We won't have to it was erected today and in full view - can't now be missed. Yes with hindsight we would have done more research but we just didn't expect it.

There have been numerous replies already, but it would be useful to know what it is about the mast that you find so sinister. What is the basis of your obvious distress?

Don't take this as criticism, but before you freak at the landlord or take legal action against someone, could you try to assess the risk objectively? Others have pointed out that you can get radiation evaluations done by independent services. Knowing what the radiation level at your site is would be useful to be able to assess the actual level of health risk.

The tone of the thread started with panic, and it's spread to some of the replies as well.

God forbid anyone should mention food additives now.

Well.... yes and no
Have there not been any scientific studies which would legitimately support the OP's worries or at least questions in regards to the danger ?

On the other hand dear OP, there's absolutely nothing the landlord can be held responsible for.
So you'll just have to find another tenant and move out.

I have read several studies linking mobile mast radiation to cancer and there have been links with young children when exposed over a long period to leukemia. Of course everyone has their own opinion as to what is a safe level but nothing has been proved or disproved.

Obviously mobile phone companies have their own interest saying there's no risk but everyone must make up their own mind. Years ago tobacco companies claimed smoking was good for you we now know it causes lung cancer and people who smoke are now aware of the health implications. The same with tanning beds.

I believe it's up to the individual to have a choice.