I love cell phones. They've made life so much more convenient. I don't have to plan my trips to the store; when I get there I can just call my wife to find out what I need to get. If I we get separated in Costco, I can call her to find out where she is. It's comforting to know I have it when I'm out driving in case the car breaks down or I get locked out.
That being said, I've known for years that they might be dangerous. I don't talk long on it, and when I do I use an earphone. I switch ears often. I never let my children use it. And I try not to carry it on my person for long periods.
But it's easy to forget how potentially dangerous they are. I just read a great article that reminded me of this.
The longish, well-researched article is on the Gentlemen's Quarterly website (of all places).
It started out a bit shaky for me: with anecdotal stories. I'm quick to dismiss anecdotal evidence, but the author was just using it as an introductory lead-in. He quickly gets into discussing the issues and scientific evidence that back them up.
It's hard to talk about the dangers of cell-phone radiation without sounding like a conspiracy theorist. This is especially true in the United States, where non-industry-funded studies are rare, where legislation protecting the wireless industry from legal challenges has long been in place, and where our lives have been so thoroughly integrated with wireless technology that to suggest it might be a problem—maybe, eventually, a very big public-health problem—is like saying our shoes might be killing us.
We've heard a lot of this before, with tobacco and asbestos: the lying, the lobbying, the fake science countering the real science, etc. We hear it today with climate change, pig farming, and coal mining and pollution.
These days most of the best cell phone research is coming out of Europe (Europe seems to head a lot of lists these days: health care, social welfare, alternative energy, and on and on). However, with 270 million cellphones in the USA, and 4 billion worldwide, the potential for trouble is pretty widespread.
Though the scientific debate is heated and far from resolved, there are multiple reports, mostly out of Europe's premier research institutions, of cell-phone and PDA use being linked to "brain aging," brain damage, early-onset Alz heimer's, senility, DNA damage, and even sperm die-offs (many men, after all, keep their cell phones in their pants pockets or attached at the hip). In September 2007, the European Union's environmental watchdog, the European Environment Agency, warned that cell-phone technology "could lead to a health crisis similar to those caused by asbestos, smoking, and lead in petrol."
The article then goes on to discuss how we've had some of this info for 50 years and some of the efforts to suppress it by the industry. All of this is very typical for the US: corporate interests above people's interests, assume it's safe until the bodies start piling up, national security interests take priority, etc.
It's very interesting timing. There was a Senate hearing on cell phone health safety just a few weeks ago (involving Sens. Specter and Harkin). Here's the 10m version of the 107m hearing:
It's very encouraging to see this getting some attention. I hope it results in some regulation.
There's lots of evidence that cell phone radiation causes all sorts of problems:
- An increase in
parotid gland tumors correlated directly with increased cell phone use.
- Cell phone radiation
can cause irreparable eye damage (not cancer).
- This study shows
cell phone radiation causes memory loss.
- This study shows a correlation between
cell phone use and low male fertility.
It's strange (but not unexpected) that the above get relatively little publicity, but a single study shows that cell phone radiation had benefit for mice with Alzheimer's, suddenly the story is everywhere and all the media outlets are saying to use your phone more, including ones that should know to be more cautious in drawing parallels.
And all of this is just about cell phones, which have been somewhat well studied, though not completely. However, none of this speaks to the dangers of radiation from cordless phones, wireless routers, or cell phone towers.
What you can do (apart from swearing off cell phones forever)
- Get a low radiation phone. You want to look for one with a low specific absorption rate (SAR). An example of such alist of phones is here.
- Use a head set or speaker and keep the phone away from your body (although some headsets use the wire as an antenna. Try using one with a standard DIN connector instead of a custom one)
- Use your phone when the bars are full (meaning best reception). When you're out of range, your phone will try to boost the signal to make a connection. That exposes you to more radiation.
- Don't let your kids use your phone. Children have thinner skulls and smaller brains so radiation penetrates deeper. And their cells divide more rapidly spreading damage further.
- Don't keep the phone in your pocket. Your genitals and other organs are receiving radiation even if your brain isn't.
- Text instead of talk. Texting sends much less data than voice, and it keeps the phone away from vital organs.
Further articles. I found some other interesting articles along the same lines.
- Another well-researched article
explaining the dangers and steps to avoid radiation.
- An article about
cell tower and WiMAX dangers.
- A
preview of the massive Interphone study on cell phone cancer with 13 countries participating. Billed as the definitive study, it has lots of critics and gets some money from the telecom industry. Also, the USA is not really involved.