Listening to Cellphone Warnings
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06. 3.08
Instructions for making a tinfoil hat here.
We usually linked fear of wifi and cellphone radiation with the tinfoil hat brigade, but more evidence is coming out that indicates we should be concerned. A 13-country study looked at the issue, and Tyler Hamilton says it is " the most comprehensive look at the potential link between cellphone use and cancer, involves the pooled analysis of thousands of cases of tumours in the head and neck area: gliomas, meningiomas, acoustic neuromas and parotid gland tumours. It was originally supposed to be completed in 2004 and published in 2006. Years later the final report has still not been released, a source of frustration among some scientists who say such a delay would never be tolerated in the context of a drug study."
the highest-radiation cellphones in the US from CNET- a lot of blackberries!
One researcher explains that over 50 scientists have to sign off on the final, but that it will come out "soon." Some of the reports that are part of the study have been released, and they point to increases in tumours and cancer. Their biggest worry is the use by young people, who have a lot of years of cumulative cellphone use ahead of them. As one researcher said:
"Nobody will stop using this technology. There are car accidents and still we keep driving cars. The question is what precautions do we take?" ::Tyler Hamilton in the Star
Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times weighed in on the issue:
Some doctors say the real concern is not older cellphone users, who began using phones as adults, but children who are beginning to use phones today and face a lifetime of exposure.
“More and more kids are using cellphones,” said Dr. Paul J. Rosch, clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College. “They may be much more affected. Their brains are growing rapidly, and their skulls are thinner.” ::New York Times
Tyler Hamilton's recommendations to minimize cellphone radiation exposure:
Use an earpiece instead of holding the device to your head, particularly for longer conversations.
Keep conversations to a minimum.
Avoid long conversations in locations, such as rural areas or enclosed areas, where a cellphone's network signal is weak. A weak signal makes the phone emit more power so it can connect to a faraway cell tower.
If you buy your preteen or young teenager a phone, make sure he or she follows the above precautionary measures.
TreeHugger on Cellphone Radiation
Mobile phones 'more dangerous than smoking' : TreeHugger
Survey: Your Brain on Cellphones : TreeHugger
Ask TreeHugger: Do Cell Phones Give You a Headache? : TreeHugger
Electrical Smog: More on "Frequency Pollution" : TreeHugger
and our favourite:
Spray-on Defense from WiFi and Cellphones : TreeHugger
It's important to remember that when the WHO originally tested cellular phones for safety they envisaged people using (ie talking on) cellphones for less than 15 minutes a day...
Most people spend at least that, and some far more, every day.
I have no doubt kids shouldn't be using cellphones as much as they are.
With all the common known evitable (and non avoided) causes of tumors (sigarettes, red meat, sun burns and alcool on top) accounting for a large percentage of all the cases, really this insistence on trying to find a cause in non-ionizing electromagnetic frequencies seems pretty useless.
Where's the full list? Where's the iPhone on that list?
If the electromagnetic fields given off by cellphones are bad you have to wonder about the even greater fields given off by an electric or hybrid car!
OR THE EARTH'S ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD!~?!J$! OMG
So what about the radiation from wireless routers and wifi? Where is it in the danger range?
One of the recommendations is to use an earpiece. The most commonly used ones these days are bluetooth. Is there data on how harmful the radiation from the BT is?
Two words: precautionary principle.
Hybrid cars (at least the Prius) have relatively low fields, comparable to magnetic field levels in many homes, except right on the back seats during hard acceleration, when they're about double - at head height they're much lower. The huge fields some people report in hybrids were measured with a Trifield meter, which reports high frequencies as high magnetic fields, which they're not. As far as high frequencies go, the hybrids are comparable with most other newer cars, and nowhere near the levels of a cell phone.
The earth's magnetic field is static, not alternating, and we evolved with it and depend on it.
Radiation from wi-fi is less than from cell phones, but it's constant and cumulative - dump it for ethernet cable, or at least turn it off when you're not using it.
Bluetooth headsets just add another layer of radiation, though they may be better than putting the phone to your head - use a wired headset (the report that they increase radiation has been debunked).
a lot of blackberrys? 2, the same model, while the what, 6 motorolas aren't outed as 'a lot'...?
LA: Everyone I know has a blackberry and nobody I know owns a motorola. I little personal bias slipped in....
i dont have a cellphone
Dr. Siegel Sadetzki from Tel Aviv University has found a connection between cell phone use and salivary gland tumors. What's interesting about the study is that it was done on an Israeli population -- early adopters of the technology and a population which are very heavy users.
See:
http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6425
There are also some recommendations on how to use and hold cell phones in the story, Karin
You can find the full list on CNET.com
I have looked at that list many times before buying a certain cell phone. They keep it very up to date. The only problem is that only american phones and some unlocked phones are on there. Not all of them.
The greatest radiation given off is from the antenna. This decreases with the square of the distance, so even inches make a huge difference.
Now a phone would work equally as well with the antenna down and forward of the mouthpiece, in free space and away from the users body.
Sadly, they are all made with the antenna up and backward close to the users head in the most vulnerable position.
It's time to turn the cell phone design upside down folks!
Tobacco ][: Deja Vu
The skull seems to act as a shield... being "thick" takes on a positive meaning!
Its likely this is a complex problem; we don't understand the electro-chemical processes in the body and especially the brain (although we know enough to mess around we still know nothing.)
Could be our diet changes chemical balance that makes some people more likely to be affected. We eat and live horribly which makes us weaker and more likely to be impacted by stuff that may have been harmless decades ago.
My phone is 2.4Ghz and so is my Wifi and that is not a good freq... we cook with higher power mirowaves; BTW, my fairly new microwave oven leaks measurably into the whole kitchen.
Just because a few lab rats might be tested doesn't mean that long term exposure isn't a problem; after all rats have short lifespans and don't eat like us (aside from not being human.)