Can Cell Phones Damage Our Eyes?

Roland Piquepaille writes "I'm sure you've read dozens of stories about how our cell phones could be dangerous to our health, causing brain tumors for example. But so far, there is not a definitive answer. But now, according to IsraCast, a team of Israeli researchers has discovered that the microwave radiation used by our cell phones could destroy our eyes by causing two kinds of damages to our visual system, including an irreversible one. If the researchers are right, and even if you only occasionally use your cell phone, the lenses in your eyes can suffer from microscopic damages that won't heal themselves over time. As this study has not been not done -- yet -- on humans, I guess the controversy can begin and that another scientific team will soon tell us that this study is not correct. In the mean time, read more for other details and references. And whether you think that cell phones can damage our eyes or not, feel free to post your comments below."

Comments

Missing parameter

[Muerte23]

They say they exposed the eye tissue to 2.2 mW of radiation at 1.1 GHz. But 2.2 mW over what area? the room? One micron? The ~100cm^2 device in their setup? The important unit is *intensity*.

How much energy per area hits my eye from my cell phone in comparison? They don't say. That's a very important free parameter that they can vary to cause sensationalism where there may indeed be no danger.

It would be more useful if someone calculated this in burnt Libraries of Congress per century per square cubit.

Also, looking back at the article, they have the eye tissue sample in some sort of transmission line resonator. They don't go into specifics, but such a device could increase the power density of the microwaves by several orders of magnitude over that of a point emitter.

m

Thermal?

[tgibbs]

I'd need to be convinced that this is relevant to lenses in an animal. It sounds a lot like thermal damage, so we need information about the temperature reached in the chamber and how the thermal conductivity of the chamber compares to the body. If you continually pump microwave energy, no matter how low in intensity, into a sufficiently well insulated chamber, you'll eventually manage to heat it up enough to cook a lens.

Re:CRTs damage your eyes too (supposedly)

[dustmite]

I'm 28 and although I've been short-sighted for a little over 15 years, my vision has deteriorated still somewhat during the last few years. This is almost certainly due to staring at the computer monitor for long periods each day without taking breaks. My optometrist agrees. A large percentage of people with jobs that require long periods of concentration at short distances develop eyesight problems quickly - this stuff is known, ask your eye doctor. The fact that there are exceptions like yourself does not mean it isn't true, as any first-year stats student will tell you, you can't determine much with a statistical sample of size 1.

Ask law students how many of them go in with perfect eyesight and need glasses within a few years of study. They spend long periods concentrating on thick books full of tiny text.

The trick is to take regular breaks, e.g. once an hour to spend a few minutes focusing on something in the distance. (If you are a smoker, then you probably already take frequent breaks while on the job.)

Re:Everybody hurts

[anagama]

I recently built a cantenna and as you can imagine, spent a lot of time googling. I did find this, from here, to be a bit disturbing ... but plowed ahead anyway:

As if this was not yet enough to keep you from messing around with fast flying electrons, I have received many emails from folks who are very involved with HAM radio and other professions and hobbies that involve work with high frequency microwave radiation. They warn that 2.4 GHz just happens to also be the resonant frequency of plain old water. This is why a microwave oven works. The energy of an 802.11b device is the same kind of energy that cooks your food, but on a much smaller scale. This is important considering that we as humans are 98% made of water. I have been warned that exposure to even as little as a 1/4 watt amplified with a 14db antenna, such as described here, could lead to severe vision problems and possibly other health issues.

After spending yesterday at work with only my perscription sunglasses (forgot my clear ones at home), and becoming increasingly frustrated throughout the day from my inability to see (either too dark but crisp, or bright enough but blurry), I'm considering further precautions.

Re:That attitude is pretty stupid

[NormalVisual]

The decay of the radiation is obviously cubic over distance, but where most are held, right next to the eyes and brain, the radiation is quite strong. At certain times such as call initialization it's very strong, strong enough to light batteryless LED accessories popular on some phones.

It's strong enough such that when I have my cell phone within a foot or so of my old-school CRT display, I can tell when it's going to ring several seconds in advance because of the substantial disturbance of the monitor image.

I'm wondering why this is news though - it's been known for decades that RF is *not* good for your eyes and can contribute greatly to cataracts (that's why waveguides generally have all kinds of warnings about not looking into them), so I think a little common sense would probably go a long way here.

Re:Well...

[linzeal]

They work in Canada , but the US has not moved ahead with their graphic warning campaign.

Re:Everybody hurts

[Dun Malg]

The energy of an 802.11b device is the same kind of energy that cooks your food, but on a much smaller scale. This is important considering that we as humans are 98% made of water.

FWIW, it's fairly irrelevant that the human body is 98% water. Microwaves only heat water-- they don't transform it into Horrible Eye Poison or anything. Most of the human body can handle a little microwave heating. It's really only the eyes that can't handle it, essentially cooking like the whites of an egg.