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Is Your Cellphone Giving You Cancer?
By crooky | August 4, 2008
As someone who uses their cellphone for several hours every day, any research that implicates there is a link between cell phone use and brain cancer catches my attention. According to one study, if you are exposed to radiation from cell phones for more than 260 hours in your entire life, you are two to four times more likely to develop brain cancer.
There is a lot of debate about this research out there. The results were found in animal testing and the results haven’t been replicable. However, I think this issue is worth exploring. There are several things you should consider if you believe this study has any merit:
1. SAR
No, not Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). SAR - specific absorption rate. Simply put, SAR is the amount of radiation in watts that one kilo of your bodily tissue absorbs from exposure to radio frequency energy (the signal that your cell phone emits). In Canada, the SAR legal limit for phones is 1.6 W/kg.
The following chart shows some popular phones and their SAR values but if you want to check other phones, see CNET’s cell phone radiation chart.
If you’re worried about SAR, don’t go with the big SAR emitters. Turns out the Motorola Razr is a good bet.
2. Distance from Body
One of the key recommendations for reducing your exposure to SAR is to keep the phone away from your body while using it. Bluetooth headsets might seem like the ideal solution but turns out they emit SAR as well (much lower amounts but still…). A good, old-fashioned wired headset is the way to go.
May I suggest this beauty:
Keeping it in your pcoket or jacket while using a headset isn’t going to help either because you’ll just cook your leg or heart. Some experts suggest keeping it 8″ - 12″ away while in use.
You’re going to look nuts while doing this so you might as well embrace it.
3. Signal Strength
It turns out that the fewer bars you get on your phone, the more radiation your phone emits as it tries to compensate for the weak signal. Ever notice that your phone gets hot when you try to talk with one bar? It’s not just you - your phone is literally emitting more radiation. That’s the heat.
When using your phone in weak signal areas, try not to use it for as long as you do when you’ve got a good signal.
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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for over ten years.
Topics: Technology, social issues |
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August 5th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I vote for going back to 2 tin cans and a piece of string. You may have to shout a bit but no brain cancer.
Lori
August 5th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Unless you use those darned depleted uranium cans.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Yo dude, use an environmentally friendly can, man. Make sure it’s new (rust free), clean and dull the edges before you put it up to your ear. Safety first! Mind you, hundreds perhaps thousands of strings criss crossing the Lower Mainland could result in the nastiest cat’s cradle game the world has ever seen! :-)
Okay, maybe we should just go back to letter writing or sending smoke signals or something like that.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Not to mention what the WI-FI card in your laptop is doing to your…er…lap.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Who actually uses a laptop on their lap anymore? :)
I have seen some studies that show if you keep your cell phone in the front pocket of your pants, it can cook your sperm.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Ah, everything has a cost ain’t it? Interesting and definitely entertaining solutions proposed.
October 21st, 2008 at 6:37 am
If this doesn’t kill you, the recession may do!