Should you worry about cellphone use?
The industry doesn’t acknowledge it, some scientists deny it, but extended cellphone use may be dangerous. Here’s one solution
Two billion mobile users worldwide spent 5.6 trillion minutes on their cellphones in 2005, and by 2010 the world’s predicted 2.5 billion mobile users will be talking for 12.6 trillion minutes on cells, according to Strategy Analytics.
With almost 40 per cent of the world’s population using cellular devices within five years, you would think the health impacts of cellular radiation would be a hot topic, simply because sticking a radiation-emitting device next to a brain for more than 600 minutes every month—207 million U.S. users talked for 1.7 trillion minutes in 2005—has got to have a health impact. Many studies around the world have pointed to increased risk of brain tumours, cancers and genetic damage:
> Children shouldn’t use cellphones, warned Sir William Stewart, chair of the UK Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones in January 2005. Kids’ brains are more susceptible to radiation and today’s children will be using mobiles over their lifetimes.
> Lennart Hardell, professor of oncology at Orebro University, Sweden, found mobile users were two-and-one-half times more likely to have a temporal brain tumour where they held their phones, while risk of auditory nerve tumours increased more than three times.
> DNA in the brain cells of rats was damaged after a single two-hour exposure to microwave radiation at levels considered “safe” by government standards, in a study by Dr. Henry Lai and University of Washington colleague N.P. Singh in 1995.
> In December 2004, the REFLEX study, a European effort involving 12 research groups in seven countries over four years, found mobile phone radiation damaged cells and DNA, caused mutations, and the damage carried on in subsequent cell generations.
> The DNA in mouse sperm was damaged when exposed to 900 megahertz electromagnetic radiation -a similar frequency emitted by mobile phones, according to a 2005 study by John Aitken, an expert in male reproduction at University of Newcastle in Australia.
The mobile industry is quick to note this research is inconclusive. But Dr. Henry Lai points out that, of the 326 studies on biological effects of cellphone-related radiation up to July 2006, 56 per cent show cell radiation has a biological impact while 44 per cent suggest the opposite. But, 67 per cent of the independent research warns of biological effects of mobile radiation while research funded by the cellphone industry found the opposite - only 28 per cent of studies show effects. With mobile industry revenues of US$570 billion in 2005, this is all reminiscent of big tobacco’s decades-long campaign suggesting the evidence that smoking caused cancer was inconclusive.
Some researchers have suggested that 10 years are needed to conduct studies to conclusively determine long-term health impacts. Given that the shift from analog to digital cellphones occurred only around 2000, by the time we know “conclusively” many may have brain tumours.
So we need to adopt the precautionary principle. We know for certain that radiation intensity decreases exponentially with distance, so while a cellphone has to be powerful enough to reach a cell tower say 900 metres away, a Bluetooth wireless headset only has to reach a cellphone, which can be up to 9 metres away. In this scenario, the Bluetooth headset needs less than one per cent of the power the mobile has to emit. So a Bluetooth headset can reduce radiation to your brain by up to 99 per cent.
Given this, I tested three Bluetooth headsets: the Jabra JX10 weighs 10 grams, the Jabra BT500 weighs about 20 grams and the Motorola H700 weighs only 14 grams. All offer at least six hours of talk time and 130 hours of standby time. The three test very well and are easy and comfortable to use. More importantly, I got to move my cellphone away from my head.
Other measures
> Use a landline when possible, and at home or the office forward your mobile to your landline
> Limit cellphone use for children and teenagers
> Keep your mobile away from your groin
Rather than deny the potential negative health impacts, the industry should embrace the precautionary principle and include a Bluetooth wireless headset with every mobile sold.
