Cell Phone Radiation in pocket or next to the ear

andy92129 · 06-30-2017, 06:31 PM

Get a hands-free and don't carry it in your pocket. Keeping a cell phone on in your pants pocket all day is not recommended. The phone is always in contact with a nearby cell site/base station when it is on, thus some radiation is always emitted.

Be aware that cell phones emit RF radiation to some degree even when in the “standby” mode – when they are on but not in use. However, the radiation emitted in the “standby” mode is much lower than that emitted when the phone is in use. You can avoid this radiation by either keeping the phone off and letting calls go to voicemail, or having it away from your body like in a purse or backpack.

The permissible upper limit for cell phones set by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is 1.6 W/kg of RF radiation. As low as reasonably achievable would be best, get a new phone, buy one that has the lowest SAR.

SteveMak · 06-30-2017, 08:48 PM

When people hear "radiation", then often (mis)understand it to mean Gamma radiation, like the stuff that comes from a nuclear explosion.

The radiation that comes from a cell phone is electromagnetic radiation. It is orders of magnitude too weak to cause damage to DNA, cellular mutations, tumors, cancers, etc. Physics says so. Trying to get a tumor from carrying a cellphone is like trying to light up a 120v house light-bulb using a 1.5v penlight battery: It doesn't work, and even if you do it a lifetime, the cumulative effect still amounts to "does nothing."

Unfortunately, the Internet is rife with people who don't know the difference between correlation and causality, so they'll cite the YouTube video about the woman who carried her cellphone in her bra and got breast cancer as "proof" that mobile phones are dangerous. If you (reader) are going "Yeah! See!", then I urge you to look up the definitions of correlation and causality, and hone up your skills to discern between the two.

For people who are worried about exposure to ambient radiation (e.g., electromagnetic, radio frequency, microwave), get an appropriate meter and you'll discover you are routinely exposed to levels that are much higher than those from a cell phone by being around things like a PC, home stereo, cooking oven, television, etc. Don the tinfoil suit and build that Faraday Cage safe room if that stuff worries you.

FYI, videos like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqIZDIxJgXw had many people duped, including some doctors! Some folks will believe virtually anything from the Internet or social media.

LDB · 07-01-2017, 04:20 AM

It's similar to the folks who are spooked by tritium night sights and watch markers.

ChewChewTrain · 07-01-2017, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LDB

It's similar to the folks who are spooked by tritium night sights and watch markers.

I don't think so, LDB. Cellphone radiation is a real problem.

Remember me? I'm the guy that doesn't believe that mankind is the primary reason for global warming, as scientists have proof that the globe has been many times warmer on it's own BEFORE industrialization. In other words, the globe goes through natural warming and cooling trends on its OWN.

However, I believe cellphones put next to your head is dangerous. I use headphones that use air tubes, which put even the tiny magnets of the headphone speakers a safe distance away from my head.

SteveMak · 07-01-2017, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChewChewTrain

...I believe cellphones put next to your head is dangerous...

Before the 1970s, cell phones were rarer than hens' teeth. Their widespread use started in the 1970s, and exploded in the years that followed. For decades, we've had people with phones practically glued to the side of their head.

With the decades old explosion of cellphones and their prevalent use, you expect the increase of brain cancer (or other such stuff) to have risen to keep pace. This has not in fact happened. Physics tells us that the energy levels emitted by cellphones are just too weak -- orders of magnitude too weak -- to damage DNA and cause mutations that result in tumors, cancers and such.

And yet there are believers. Lots of them! (As there are with Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Ancient Aliens building the pyramids, etc.)

People don't change their thinking to conform to truth when they are exposed to it. Human thought systems are predisposed to a well-documented phenomenon called confirmation bias, in which an individual uses their thought system to determine what incoming information is "truth" (to them), and what isn't. One's thought system is so good at this, that people might not even perceive that which is too alien to their way of thinking, or believe they've read something when the actual words are quite different. It's just the way human minds work. Few people (including many "scientists") approach things without bias.

In many cases, humans are like smokers who buy lottery tickets: They don't believe that the smoking will harm them (1 in 2 odds of it killing you), but they do believe they'll win the lottery (about 1 in 14,000,000 odds of winning the jackpot). That's humanity for you. Worry away about your cellphone, but be fine with constantly being at war.