California Government On the Dangers of Cellphones (cbslocal.com)

mi quotes a report from CBS Local: After keeping it hidden for years, California's Department of Public Health has released a draft document outlining health officials' concerns about cellphone radiation exposure. The previously unpublished document was released this week after a judge indicated she would order the documents be disclosed. Health officials' overall recommendation is to "increase the distance between you and your phone" by using a headset, the speaker phone function and text messaging. Health officials recommend not sleeping near your phone and not carry it in your pocket or directly on your body, unless it is off. The fact sheet also states that "EMFs can pass deeper into a child's brain than and adult's" so suggests parents limit their child's cellphone use to texting, important call and emergencies.

Comments

Sigh...

[MightyMartian]

If that's the case, then the entire human race needs to move to the bottom of salt mines, because the amount of radiation being produced by the sun ought to fry our brains by the time we're six months old.

Re:Sigh...

[ShanghaiBill]

I don't know if their concerns are valid or not.

The concerns are not valid. There are two ways you can determine this for yourself: The finger method, or the brain method.

Finger method: Type some search terms into a browser and try to find peer reviewed research that shows cellphone radiation is dangerous. You won't find any. You will, however, find plenty of ranting by crackpots.

Brain method: Think about what radiation is, and how it could damage a brain. There are two ways that could happen: heat and ionization. Cellphone radiation produces a negligible amount of the first, and none of the second.

In the absence of either evidence or plausible mechanism, it is safe to presume cellphone radiation harmless. You should find something else to worry about.

Re:Sigh...

[ShanghaiBill]

Is it impossible that you are wrong, and that heat and ionization are not the only way that a brain could be affected?

Nothing is completely impossible, but this issue has been studied to death. Billions of people use cellphones. If there was an issue it would have shown up in epidemiological data long ago.

Doing yet more research is nearly pointless. It would be far better to focus resources on other health issues that are supported by actual evidence rather than pseudoscience.

Re:Sigh...

[ShanghaiBill]

It's well known that exposure to UV increases the risk of skin cancer. Is that heating or ionization?

UV light causes ionization. Furthermore, there is ACTUAL EVIDENCE that UV light causes cancer. Skin cancer is highly correlated with UV exposure. Americans are more likely to get skin cancer on their left arm. Australians tend to get it on their right arm. The only plausible explanation for that is that Americans drive on the right, and Aussies on the left, exposing different arms to the sun.

If cellphones cause cancer, there would be similar disparities in brain cancer incidence depending on whether the cellphone is held to your right ear or left ear. Researchers have looked for this, and found no significant difference in cancer rates between "listening side" and "non-listening side". There is also no evidence that heavy cell users have higher rates of brain cancer.

Is it possible that that we have missed something? Sure, but maybe we also missed Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.

Re:Real or Fake News?

[MightyMartian]

Let me ask you. Can the body tolerate solar RF?