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A Balanced Look At Cellphone Radiation

Posted by kdawson on from the who-you-callin'-sensitive dept.

A month back we discussed an article in GQ on the alarmist side of the cellphone-radiation question. Now reader pgn674 passes along a PopSci feature article looking at the current state of cellphone radiation research. It profiles people who claim to be electro-hypersensitive, "who are reluctant to subject themselves to hours in an electronics-laden facility" for studies. The limited research on that condition is still showing that sufferers, in blind tests, are unable to detect radiation at levels better than chance. The article also touches on the relationship of non-ionizing radiation to cancer. The conclusion is that while it seems unlikely high-frequency fields in consumer devices directly cause cancer, they might promote it, and might also indirectly cause other health deficits beyond simply heating nearby tissue — though one skeptical researcher cautions, "The gap between a biological effect and an adverse health effect is a big one."

8 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Luddites by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A lot of those so-called "radiation sensitive" people are nothing but Luddites in disguise.

    In Malaysia, there have been cases of communities in uproar, having many people claiming that they suffer from "excruciating painful headaches" to "cancer" and all that, just because there is a cellphone station nearby.

    Those "radiation sensitive" people demand that the authority remove those "radiation hotspots" immediately, and it turns out that, in some of those cases, the so-called "cellphone stations" haven't even begun operation and never emit any radiation !

    Luddites !

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:Luddites by nickspoon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Name-calling isn't going to help anyone. The fact of the matter is, to some people hyperelectrosensitivity or whatever the buzzword is nowadays is a very real phenomenon. It has been shown pretty conclusively that the electromagnetic radiation itself does not cause the issues (in one study researchers used an inert box with blinking lights on it to produce the same effect), but that does not mean that the condition is unimportant, or not to be taken seriously. That would be like telling a schizophrenic "none of that stuff is real, shut up".

      Rather than laughing at these people, we should consider their problem a mental disorder and treat it accordingly. This does, of course, mean that you consider the condition the problem, not the EM sources.

    2. Re:Luddites by the_raptor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You appear to have mistaken "logic" for naturalism. Logic is a method for arriving at a consistent response to a given set of data assuming certain axioms. That you believe that religious people even exists is a logical conclusion based on certain axioms. For example that the data from your senses is reliable and that what others tell you of their beliefs is true or can be inferred from their behaviour.

      There are libraries of theological works that can not be attacked on the logic of their arguments but only on the strengths of the axioms they assume and the data they use.

      I can see why you have failed in your attempts to convince religious people if you are that ignorant about the tool you are attempting to use.

      --

      ========
      CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
  2. Re:"Promote" It? by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 4, Funny

    not finish your sentences?

  3. For all those hyper-electrosensitives out there by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Check out your pharmacy. I'm fairly sure there are some Bach flowers tinctures available by now that can cure the problem. If everything fails, get a few healing crystals.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Re:Typical by DangerFace · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now that you mention it, the times I've been in the closest to radiation free rooms (faraday cages for testing cell phones), I felt quite uncomfortable.

    I know what you mean - I always get this weird disconnected feeling whenever I've been away from the internet for a few hours...

    --
    Be smart, help people!
  5. Re:On the other hand... by Gordonjcp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As Lessig said in his latest website chat, 75% of studies not funded by the cellphone industry found evidence for a connection.

    As a matter of interest, who *were* they funded by? People with an interest in proving a link between RF from mobile phones and cancer?

  6. If it's a balanced perspective you want... by macraig · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... then I guess we'd better wait for the Fox News coverage! They'll be fair, too!

    Glenn Beck: "What I wanna know is, why don't these cell phone companies deny this rumor that their phones are cooking my brain? I'm not saying my brain is actually fried, but it sure feels that way and why won't they deny it?"