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Pittsburgh Cancer Center Warns of Cell Phone Risks
RevWaldo contributes a link to an AP story carried by Google, according to which "The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration." RevWaldo continues: "One possible solution offered? 'Use a wireless headset.' No risk of EM exposure from one of them, no sirree!"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that a cell phone transmitter (having to reach from the phone to the tower) is on the order of one watt, while your Bluetooth headset (having to reach only a few feet) is on the order of one milliwatt.
Which would you rather have up to your head?
Also FTFA: "He even warns against using cell phones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields."
And here I thought the medical community would go after fatties next ... nope.
You're killing me with your Secondhand Cellular EMF! No calls allowed in a restaurant, or any other public place, and you must stand at least fifteen feet of any building entrance while getting your cellular fix ... outside!
Your right to speak ends where polluting my electromagnetic sphere begins!
Photons of EM waves at 900MHz have tiny energy compared to bonding energy of molecules and compared to ionization energy of atoms. Radio waves simply can't cause chemical changes in the human body.
Amount of heat absorbed (cell phones emit ~1-2W, only small fraction is absorbed) is also insignificant compared to the amounts human body produces. I think statistical fluke in their data is most likely reason for their conclusion.
Actually, my brother had to get a microwave meter, and needed to test it out. As part of his tests, he looked at the microwave output during various conditions of usage (that is, good reception --> bad reception). What he said is that the cell phone does ramp up to dangerous levels when it has bad reception.
Now consider that the skin of (say) a public city bus reflects the microwaves within the chamber, and you have a recipe for being toast.
I don't have more detail than that, but in line with that... yes, I'd say that it is wise to avoid using cell phones.
Even though the articles have been kept out of refereed medical journals, it's no secret.
Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
Follow the money, especially with university studies- they're almost always funded by industry these days. Sadly.
The only ones normally wanting to fund such university studies are cellular providers and equipment manufacturers. They're only going to fund studies that are very likely to show "no conclusive result" because that gives them plenty of deniability. The more studies they can fund to get no results, the more deniability.
Same strategy used by every other corporation.
It would be good to get some actual cancer foundations involved (who don't have cellular execs on their boards) and fund some unbiased studies to put this to rest.
My poetry site welcomes the unusual.
*Woosh*
The bans on smoking in public places are specifically because of the health issues. None of the other annoying and/or disgusting activities you've mentioned have anywhere near the health risks associated with them.
Yes, some of them pose health risks when combined with other activities (Cell phones while driving, drinking while driving, or on the job) and are illegal or banned accordingly. Even the merely disgusting or annoying ones are either frowned upon or actively discouraged is specific situations.
For most of the smokers I know, the bans on smoking are no more inconvenient than having to go to the loo to take a dump.