Spray-on Defense from WiFi and Cellphones
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.18.07
Ever since we first learned about the dangers of wifi from Fred Gilbert, we have eyed our router nervously and avoided cellphone towers, and followed news about electromagnetic forces. Thus we are so relieved to find that Clarins has come out with a spray-on mist that can protect us from EMF. 'If electromagnetic waves can penetrate walls, imagine what they can do to your skin!', According to the packaging you can 'Ramp up your skin care regimen with E3p Screen Mist, a new health and beauty treatment that helps protect your skin from all types of known pollutants, including electromagnetic waves. This mist acts as a shield, coating it with an imperceptible and invigorating film." Scientists at Clarins whipped up the "Magnetic Defense Complex" from ingredients found 2000 metres deep in the ocean and were elated-"We exposed our cell cultures to a frequency of 900 MHz in the presence of these two plant extracts and found that their structures hardly changed!"
From the Guardian:
Michael Bluck, an engineer at Imperial College, sounds distinctly unconvinced. We have been bathed in EM waves since the dawn of time. So-called "artificial" waves are used by electronic devices because they do not interact with our bodies. If you were intent on stopping the waves, Bluck explains that you could scatter them with a fine mesh of metal or absorb them - although the energy would be converted to heat, which would cook your skin.
But what about the ocean ingredients that prevented ageing in lab tests? "Presumably there's not a lot in the way of electromagnetic waves, particularly artificial ones, down in the bottom of the ocean, so why the organisms should have evolved this capability is beyond me," says Bluck.
His advice for anyone worried about EM radiation? "Live as far away from the producers of EM waves as possible and live with the consequences of having no friends and no life," he says.:: Strange Harvest and ::Guardian
What crap. This is intentional, dishonest advertising that reflects very poorly on treehugger.com. Don't sell snake oil.
"If electromagnetic waves can penetrate walls, imagine what they can do to your skin!'"
Um, pass right through?
(It's snake oil. EMF is perfectly safe at the frequencies and powers used.)
I'd have to agree, there is no possible way this could prevent EM radiation from entering the body, even if it does filter one frequency, it can't possibly stop all frequencies.
Most materials are tuned to absorbing certain frequencies, that's why we use different frequencies for different devices, so that the signal from your phone will pass through the walls of your house. It's unlikely that this cream will block then entire 900mhz band, and then what do you do about 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz and the radio frequencies from good old fashioned radio stations?
is this some kind of joke?
light is electromagnetic waves.
this stuff is clear.
enough said?
EMF Perfectly safe at powers and frequencies used?
Oh boy - follow the link below and brush up on you stats and science! Blew my mind to read this...
http://www.wave-guide.org/library/cellphones.html
is this another one of those canadian humor pieces?
LA: at last.
I tried it, it works. It is so imperceptible and invigorating, the bottle felt empty and it felt like cool air was being sprayed on me.
I really hope this is a joke review. There have been some silly products reviewed on this website, but this is by far the silliest.
Has anyone at Treehugger taken (and passed) any of the following classes:
Critical Thinking
Basic Physics
Electromagnetic Theory
Sigh...
Treehugger should be about real, peer-reviewed science. Not hocus-pocus stuff like this or homeopathy or its ilk.
If we, as treehuggers attack those that use pseudo-science and lack of critical or forward thinking skills to excuse there pollution, should we not reject that same failure of critical thinking, even when it sames to be "in-line" with our world view. We are smarter than that. We are more logical in that. (Of course, I could wrong and the collective stupidity is growing, in which case, lets nuke ourselves and hope the cockroach's evolutionary children are smarter.)
Sad is the thinky parts of my brain...
Treehugger needs a standard disclaimer for when they are kidding ;)
What utter garbage - I am a PhD physicist, and it really makes me sad/frustrated/infuriated at a) how ignorant people are about BASIC physics involving electromagnetism; and b) how many unscrupulous jerks there are out there who are willing to abuse the ignorant.
Sorry, but the person who posted the link is just plain wrong. Cell phones don't cause cancer; neither do microwaves; nor does living with power lines. If you want something to be afraid of, be afraid of pollution and particulate emissions from power *plants* -- these HAVE been proven to cause cancer.
I live in California, although I grew up in Ohio. In Ohio, we had faith healers. In California, we have "alternative" medicine. Both are snake oil, just in different packages designed to appeal to their respective constituents. I am sick of listening to some of my friends talk about "magnetic water therapy" (fyi: water is not magnetic!) and other nonsense. If the placebo effect weren't real, and if people had better science educations, none of these snake oil peddlers would have a market. Why do people believe in this garbage? Usually it's because they don't have health insurance, and snake oil, while incredibly expensive, is still cheaper than real medical care for real illnesses. Yet another argument for universal healthcare - putting the quacks out of business.
Has anyone of the readers of Treehugger taken the following courses (and passed)
Humour 101
Satire
Irony
lighten up and have a laugh - and they spray yourself and feel better
Sigh is right!! Please read the whole article before you flame. Did y'all notice the "UN-TREEHUGGER" in the title? And just because it is posted here, doesn't mean TH is endorsing it. Sense of humor anyone? Perspective?
Did none of the previous commenters read the hidden part of the article before pouncing? Of course this is silly. Read the last sentence.
If this stuff can block electromagnetic waves, imagine what it'll do to your skin!
PS: Joshua R: Yes we are smarter than that. Much smarter. We read the whole article. We thought about it critically. We noticed there was no implied endorsement, only two sides of the story: the manufacturer's, and a highly critical one. Perhaps the literal-minded people who still think that treehugger is endorsing the products it mentions are the ones whose critical thinking skills need a bit of dusting up...
while this particular product is probably bogus, i am personally electrosensitive (especially to cordless phones and cell phones), and i ask all of you TH'ers not to throw the baby out with the bathwater here.
EHS/Electrosensitivity deserves more study here in the US...it's scary folks!
Spot the difference.....
"We exposed our cell cultures to a frequency of 900 MHz in the presence of these two plant extracts and found that their structures hardly changed!"
"We exposed our cell cultures to a frequency of 900 MHz in the *absence* of these two plant extracts and found that their structures hardly changed!"
OK, the reality is that electromagnetic waves obviously have en effect on things, otherwise we woulnd't find them so useful for making interesting stuff happen. You know, they make cell phones work, and all that nifty stuff? So, clearly they do effect a change on the environment. The question is, which changes do we want and which don't we want? Saying that electromagnetic waves are harmless is like saying water is harmless - it depends on what you do with it.
I personally don't know what the whole truth is about EMFs, but I'm quite sure that there are dangers as well as benefits to them that we have yet to figure out.
If this is sprayed on a cell phone will it stop the waves from leaving the phone? Maybe movie theaters should pump this stuff into the air.
What happens if you wear this on a plane will it screw up the compass?
It is dangerous to use a disease such as Malaria as an argument against homeopathy. Not only is Malaria best treated with a combination of conventional and complementary diagnostics and remedies, but success is in the hands of the doctor who can use these WBR LeoP
Folks, regardless of the humour included in the original post, I would suggest some realism in the analysis of Electromagnetic radiation...and you.
Look not at argument and counter argument.
Look not at the letters after the names of those who propose each of these arguments.
Look instead at who pays their bills.
Industry says all electromagnetic fields are safe. Why? because they stand to make a lot of money by it. Funny that where Marlboro used to adorn the back of Formula 1 cars, Vodafone now sits. Strange that most Superannuation funds (esp in the US) are heavily invested in Telecommunications.
Imagine what would happen to global Telcos, your pension and the various Government coffers, were the truth to get out.
We shall see, because like Asbestos and Tobacco before it, the Electromagnetic radiation debate has now entered the courts. In fact, class action suits have been won in the US, by Cellphone users (or their spouses in cases where their brain tumors had killed them).
Won't it be interesting to see whether 'just trust us people' is something we should be doing.
The subject of EMF is relevant to health only as much as changing the microvoltage of cells in such a way that pollutants and pathogens can harmonize. If there is no pollutant nor pathogens (by protection or elimination), then there is no issue.