NewsDude
08-05-2008, 04:10 PM
When I started covering technology 18 years ago, there was lots of talk about potential hazards of using a cell phone.
One report would say there was a risk of brain cancer; another would follow saying there was no harm from the relatively low-powered radio signals from the phone. Then the back-and-forth would start all over again.
It continues today. Recently Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said his research shows it is possible that cell phone radiation raises risks for some relatively rare cancers.
But if the arguments are similar today, cell phone use has changed dramatically. Cell phones were an expensive luxury a decade or so ago. Air time was expensive. Most folks only used them when a land line wasn't available.
These days, everyone has a cell phone --- including kids who, according to Herberman, are especially vulnerable to the hazards of radiation. Many people use them constantly, to the point of dropping land line service entirely.
So, for many people, exposure to any potential health hazard has grown from a few hours a month to a few hours a day.
Herberman's research isn't the last word. But it's still worth noting, given the amount of exposure most of us have.
Luckily, we can lessen any hazard from radiation. Bluetooth earpieces allow hands-free operation and keep the cell phone's antenna away from our heads. Some doctors think something as simple as switching the cell phone from one ear to another several times during a long conversation will keep radiation from being concentrated in one part of the brain.
The risks are realistic enough to make it smart to do what you can to reduce the radiation.
But the real kicker to all this is that there is a real and well-documented health risk from cell phones, one so strong that it makes...
More... (http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61111)
One report would say there was a risk of brain cancer; another would follow saying there was no harm from the relatively low-powered radio signals from the phone. Then the back-and-forth would start all over again.
It continues today. Recently Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said his research shows it is possible that cell phone radiation raises risks for some relatively rare cancers.
But if the arguments are similar today, cell phone use has changed dramatically. Cell phones were an expensive luxury a decade or so ago. Air time was expensive. Most folks only used them when a land line wasn't available.
These days, everyone has a cell phone --- including kids who, according to Herberman, are especially vulnerable to the hazards of radiation. Many people use them constantly, to the point of dropping land line service entirely.
So, for many people, exposure to any potential health hazard has grown from a few hours a month to a few hours a day.
Herberman's research isn't the last word. But it's still worth noting, given the amount of exposure most of us have.
Luckily, we can lessen any hazard from radiation. Bluetooth earpieces allow hands-free operation and keep the cell phone's antenna away from our heads. Some doctors think something as simple as switching the cell phone from one ear to another several times during a long conversation will keep radiation from being concentrated in one part of the brain.
The risks are realistic enough to make it smart to do what you can to reduce the radiation.
But the real kicker to all this is that there is a real and well-documented health risk from cell phones, one so strong that it makes...
More... (http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61111)