The Cell Phone Concern
THIS IS a 
strong recommendation to read the book Disconnect by Dr. Devra Davis.
There are simply too many disconcerting facts to ignore. For example, that most cell phones come with a notice (in tiny print) that reads: “Do not hold closer than one inch from your body” (how many people do you know who are aware of this and do it?). And that insurance companies refuse to provide coverage to cell phone companies and operators in case of claims of health damage from long-term operation of their devices.
The central point of concern is that cell phones operate at a radio-wave frequency that emits electromagnetic pulses which penetrate the skin and brain: a factor that has a growing number of scientists and doctors saying that cell phone usage is responsible for the recent surge in brain tumors and other forms of cancer and debilitating illnesses. Although research and evidence are still incomplete (largely because cell phones and the testing of them have not been around very long), two things seem persuasively clear. One is that the effect of radio-wave frequencies on the brains of children under the age of 16 are far more extreme and potentially much more dangerous than with full-grown adults. Secondly, neither the cell phone companies, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), nor the federal government—specifically the FDA and FCC—are willing to state definitively that cell phones are NOT harmful.
Of curious note is that when the City of San Francisco passed a bill affirming that the public has two basic rights—the right to know that cellphones release radio frequency radiation and the right to be able to read information about how to reduce exposures—the CTIA responded the next day with a press statement that it would “no longer hold its annual meetings worth almost eighty million dollars in revenue” in San Francisco.
Needless to say, it is distressing to read what Dr. Davis has come across in her research, interviews, and personal stories. Again and again she points to radio frequency signals at levels that cause “havoc inside cells, blocking their ability to function normally and breaking down the brain’s barrier to pollutants or drugs in the bloodstream [the brain-blood barrier].” She also mentions that the 3G phones are “much worse than the now outdated 2G phones.” And some of these same concerns are now being raised about WiFi, particularly in schools (see the videos below).
Some poignant quotes from the book
- “Radio frequencies have the capacity to unleash precisely the same sort of free radicals and to disrupt the invisible cellular bonds that hold molecules together.” (p. 136)
- “Radio frequency signals of the sort emitted by cell phones resonate with our bodies and can release insidious free radicals into the bloodstream, where they end up moving around to places they shouldn’t reach.” (p. 137)
- “Radio frequency signals affect the amount and health of sperm.” (p. 142)
- “Studies on the capacity of radio frequency signals to impair sperm are mounting, as more researchers at infertility clinics around the world have begun to ask about cell phone use.” (p. 143)
- “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not test cell phones for safety before they are marketed and does not monitor them for safety afterward but relies on the advice of the industry and proddings from consumer groups.” (p. 174)
- “The governments of Israel and France and Finland—to name just a few—are acting to reduce exposures to cell phone radiation and insisting on more public information.” (p. 203)
Dr. David Carpenter, epidemiologist and former dean of the School of Public Health at Albany has stated: “evidence is certainly strong enough for warnings that children should not use cell phones. I think failure to do that is going to lead us to an epidemic of brain cancer in the future.” (p. 213)
- “As of Spring 2010, the Motorola V195 includes a warning to keep the phone one inch from the user’s body; the Blackberry 8300, 0.98 of an inch; the Nokia 1100, one0fourth of an inch; and the iPhone, five-eighths of an inch.” (p. 217)
- A UK government pamphlet reads: “There are significant gaps in our scientific knowledge. This has led a group of independent experts—commissioned by the Government… to recommend a “precautionary approach’ to the use of mobile phones until more research findings become available.” And: “The widespread use of mobile phones by children (under the age of 16) should be discouraged for non-essential calls.” (p. 220)
Safety Steps From the Book (p. 245)
- Use a headset or a wireless headphone with a low-power Bluetooth emitter. If you use a wireless headset, turn it off when you’re not using it.
- Do not keep a phone turned on next to your body all day. If you keep it on your waist, turn it off. Do not keep a wireless headset turned on in your ear or in your pocket when not in use.
- Text more often and when doing so hold the phone away from your body.
- Put the phone on speaker. Your exposure drops more than exponentially as you move the phone away from your head. Even when using the speaker, hold the phone away from your torso and be sure that the back of the phone (where the antenna is) is not close to others, especially nursing infants or other children.
- Teach your children to text instead of calling with their phones and tell them not to keep phones on when in their pockets. [No one] should sleep with cell phones on under pillows or next to the bed all night.
- Use a land line at home and not a cordless phone, as these emit radio frequency radiation like that of cell phones.
- Read your user guides and the FCC and company manufacturer Web sites.
Learn more at these web sites:
http://www.environmentalhealthtrust.org/content/disconnect
This New York Times article (added 2-24-2011)
… and these videos::
