A 4G antenna located in Haute-Loire must temporarily stop working. The installation is targeted by a breeder, who considers that it harms the health of his herd of cows. Is this a credible hypothesis?

In the town of Mazeyrat-d’Allier, in Haute-Loire, a 3G and 4G antenna must stop working. On May 23, 2022, the Administrative Court of Clermont-Ferrand asked the suspension of this facility. The antenna put into service by Orange is suspected by a breeder of harming the health of his herd of dairy cows, reported BFM.

” Since the commissioning of a mobile phone antenna 250 meters from the barn, the behavior of dairy cows in a GAEC [ndlr : Groupement Agricole d’Exploitation en Commun] is worrying: reduction of a third of the production, regrouping of the animals, mortality of the calves multiplied by 4 », abstract the court in a statement issued on June 1. The temporary shutdown of the antenna, scheduled to last 2 months, should allow ” the expert to observe the behavior of these animals, by nature ten times more sensitive than humans to the effects of electricity “, continues the court.

This antenna has been in service since June 2021. The pylon is located at a distance of 250 meters from the farm. It was in February 2022 that an expert was appointed to determine whether the disorders observed in the herd of cows were linked to the operation of the antenna. This expert then asked, on April 4, 2022, the prefect of Haute-Loire to temporarily cut off the operation of the antenna, in order to study the behavior of the cows during this interruption. It is therefore not not a decision of principlebut of a temporary suspension, to organize the expertise.

” Makes sense for a judge to unplug that antenna “Explains Jeanne Brugère-Picoux, honorary professor of the National Veterinary School of Alfort, associate medical pathology of livestock and farmyard animals, interviewed by Numerama about the situation in Haute-Loire. ” On the simple ground of the procedure (without prejudging the merits of the request made on the merits) such a decision can be understood “, confirms after Numerama Maitre Alexandre Archambault, lawyer at the Paris bar, specialist in the law of new technologies.

Such a decision is based on a precautionary principle and makes it possible to organize an expertise. This does not preclude questioning, however, about the proportionality of the measure, adds the expert: “ If the entire antenna must be switched off, this raises some questions of proportionality with regard to the impact on other users of the antenna, in particular with regard to the obligation to route emergency calls.. »

On a scientific level, what do we know about the impact of electromagnetic waves on farm animals, and more specifically the impact of 4G antennas? Solicited by Numerama, ANSES (National Health Security Agency) tells us that it ” does not have expertise on the impact of electromagnetic waves broadcast by relay antennas on farm animals “. As for recent expertise conducted by ANSES in 2021 on 5G, it only concerned human health. On the side of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, a response has not yet been made to our request.

The National Frequency Agency (ANFR), whose mission is to control exposure levels to verify that they do not exceed the thresholds set by the regulations, for its part responded to Numerama. The ANFR confirms having been requested by the owner of the field concerned, ” to carry out an exposure measurement in its field as soon as the site is commissioned in July 2021 “. According to the agency, the results then obtained indicate low levels of exposure, of 0.79 V/m (volt per meter, the unit of measurement used to estimate the intensity of an electric field).

To compare, ” the limit levels not to be exceeded in the mobile telephony band concerned are of the order of 36 V/m and the average of the levels listed by the ANFR on the 5,000 measurements that it carries out each year on the territory is the order of 1 V/m », Explains the ANFR to us. Consequently, the agency considers for its part that there is no subject linked to exposure to the waves.

Orange, for its part, defended himself before the administrative court saying that there is no “no scientific data” which would show “a link between mobile phone masts and unrest in the herd”. Expertise should make it possible to decide, by verifying that the behavior of the animals does not change when the antenna is not working.

In any case, this is not the first time that electrical installations have been accused of being the cause of health problems, or even death, of cows. In 2019, Breton breeders suspected their cattle of being victims of electric currents passing through the ground. Jeanne Brugère-Picoux explained to us that this kind of accusation should be considered with great caution. She herself had been interested in a dairy cow farm in 2003, in Normandy – where 45 cows had died since 2001. While the trail of nearby electrical installations had been suggested, the scientist had highlighted that ” the problems encountered [étaient] mainly related to food and construction. »

“You have to know how to recognize what is scientific and what is not. »

No more than to the electric currents passing through the ground, the scientist does not today give credit to the explanation based on the neighboring 4G antenna, in the case of cows in Haute-Loire. ” You have to know how to recognize what is scientific and what is not. What is certain is that breeders do not know what is happening at home. Often it’s breeding issues: pathogens, or they’re not feeding their animals properly.. »

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