Parents in Ripon, California say a cell phone tower in a local schoolyard is to blame for the cancer diagnoses of four students in the last three years. The tower, which is located at Weston Elementary, is the same as others scattered throughout the town.
Weston Elementary School in Ripon, CA went on high alert after the controversy erupted two years ago - with some parents even pulling their children from school over the tower which Sprint has been paying the school $2,000 per month to place on its property.
However, one parent told CBS Sacramento that its proximity to her son led to his 2017 brain cancer diagnosis. “We had a doctor tell us that it’s 100 percent environmental, the kind of tumor that he has,” Monica Ferrulli said in the interview. “It’s indescribable, it’s really tough.” Ferrulli’s son Mason was the second child to be diagnosed with cancer in just three years at the school. Mason walked by the cell phone tower daily.
One family lives across the street from Weston School, said a bump appeared on his 11-year-old son’s abdomen a month ago. He said his son’s classroom is near the tower.
Although there is no "hard evidence" the cell tower is linked to the children’s cancer, Sprint now says they will be removing it in the near future.
The potential negative health effects from electromagnetic fields (EMFs) emitted by cell towers or transmission lines have been long debated. While the National Cancer Institute cites studies which conclude that EMFs are a possible human carcinogen based on research which focused on childhood leukemia. The institute's website says there are no increased risks from brain tumors or other cancers based on European epidemiological studies.
Other communities around the United States are asking schools to improve cell phone coverage on campus. Here is an article about cell phone coverage at school.
