WHO: Cell phone use can increase possible cancer risk

[dud]

This topic is likely to be highly contentious:


http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/31/who.cell.phones/index.html


As someone who tragically lost a loved one to brain cancer ... I knew this 10 years ago.

 

[moshquerade]

Well, brain cancers have been on the rise. Coincidence?

 

[HAL9000]

No it can't

/Thread.

 

[zinfamous]

neckbeard: now a card-carrying member of the WHO.

 

[KentState]

Awesome. Less women to clog the roads talking on their cell phone.

 

[HAL9000]

neckbeard: now a card-carrying member of the WHO.

Who?

 

[PsiStar]

I got involved in this argument over microwave transmitters in general long ago. The impossible argument is to prove that there will be no consequences showing up in 10 or 20 or 30 ... years. Skin cancers later in life *may* have a connection to childhood sun burns. The point is, cancer has a long ... gestation(?) ... period and is challenging to determine cause & effect.

These arguments have reminded me of a similarity to global warming arguments. Yes, there is ... cancer/global warming. What percent is caused by man?

 

[AstroManLuca]

I wonder if people who text more than they talk are at a lower risk of cancer? Makes me think texting (not while driving of course) might actually be good for your health, at least if the alternative is holding the phone up to your head for minutes at a time.

 

[moshquerade]

I wonder if people who text more than they talk are at a lower risk of cancer? Makes me think texting (not while driving of course) might actually be good for your health, at least if the alternative is holding the phone up to your head for minutes at a time.

I text in lieu of talking on the cell all the time. Texting is shorter and more to the point than calling imho.

 

[silverpig]

I find it odd that people are worried about radiation from a ~1W transmitter, yet are happy to sit under a few 100W lightbulbs.

 

[PsiStar]

It has to do with frequency ... as in RF. 100W light bulbs (incandescent) do not emit RF at 2.4 GHz. Hmmm, guess what frequency microwave ovens operate at ... 2.45 GHz. 3G & 4G operate in sub ranges from 1.710 to 2.690 GHz.

Happens to be the freq that Blu tooth also works in. Yes, very low power, but it is plastered against your head & is on for much longer periods.

Personally, I despise wired headsets, but as an RF guy ... I don't need any 2.4 GHz transmitter against the few good brain cells I have left. SO, I put long calls on speaker phone and I just don't like yakking on a phone that long anyway. Just me.:whiste:

Yaaay, text messaging

 

[surfsatwerk]

Who?

3rd base

 

[moshquerade]

Who's on first

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

I find it odd that people are worried about radiation from a ~1W transmitter, yet are happy to sit under a few 100W lightbulbs.

I don't think that's the same thing.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Who's on first

What's on second.

 

[silverpig]

It has to do with frequency ... as in RF. 100W light bulbs (incandescent) do not emit RF at 2.4 GHz. Hmmm, guess what frequency microwave ovens operate at ... 2.45 GHz. 3G & 4G operate in sub ranges from 1.710 to 2.690 GHz.

Happens to be the freq that Blu tooth also works in. Yes, very low power, but it is plastered against your head & is on for much longer periods.

Personally, I despise wired headsets, but as an RF guy ... I don't need any 2.4 GHz transmitter against the few good brain cells I have left. SO, I put long calls on speaker phone and I just don't like yakking on a phone that long anyway. Just me.:whiste:

Yaaay, text messaging

RF is non-ionizing. Microwave ovens operate at 2.45 GHz because that excites a vibrational mode in the water molecule. No chemical changes occur unless you get things physically hot enough for it to happen (you need hundreds of watts for it to occur on a head scale). There's a reason why microwave ovens don't operate at 2.4 GHz - they wouldn't work (there are several peaks in the absorption spectrum for water in the microwave, but they are fairly sharp... go off by a bit and you get transmission).

Light bulbs on the other hand emit ionizing visible light and a little bit of UV. That stuff messes up chemical bonds.

Worst case, your head gets a fraction of a degree warmer than the rest of your body, but your temperature naturally varies much more than that during the day.

 

[Nintendesert]

Good thing I make sure all the radiation exposure I get is in the form of ionizing gamma rays instead of this highly dangerous non-ionizing type!

 

[silverpig]

I don't think that's the same thing.

The light bulbs actually emit more dangerous radiation.

 

[frostedflakes]

It has to do with frequency ... as in RF. 100W light bulbs (incandescent) do not emit RF at 2.4 GHz. Hmmm, guess what frequency microwave ovens operate at ... 2.45 GHz. 3G & 4G operate in sub ranges from 1.710 to 2.690 GHz.

Happens to be the freq that Blu tooth also works in. Yes, very low power, but it is plastered against your head & is on for much longer periods.

Personally, I despise wired headsets, but as an RF guy ... I don't need any 2.4 GHz transmitter against the few good brain cells I have left. SO, I put long calls on speaker phone and I just don't like yakking on a phone that long anyway. Just me.:whiste:

Yaaay, text messaging

Visible light (and whatever else lighting produces, I think some types of lamps also create a bit of UV as well) is higher frequency, has far more energy per photon, and in theory has much more potential to damage cells than microwave.

Nobody is going to take you seriously unless you can explain what exactly makes 2.4GHz and microwave in general so bad compared to other non-ionizing frequencies.

 

[HAL9000]

3rd base

That's I don't know.

 

[NoStateofMind]

I text in lieu of talking on the cell all the time. Texting is shorter and more to the point than calling imho.

Less invasive.

 

[mmntech]

Radio is a non-ionizing form of radiation. The waves are not small enough to damage DNA. If they're claiming this isn't true, than any microwave emitter can cause cancer.

Then again, it's the WHO, a UN body. The kings of junk science. You only need look at the IPCC and the swine flu scare to see that.

 

[Imp]

So what about hand cancer? Everyone talks about brain cancer, but what about my damn fine hands?

Are those going to get texting since my hand has to hold the phone up to my head, and when I'm texting or just screwing around, the thing is in my hands.

 

[Bignate603]

Until they find a feasible mechanism this is a pretty useless.

 

[jersiq]

It has to do with frequency ... as in RF. 100W light bulbs (incandescent) do not emit RF at 2.4 GHz. Hmmm, guess what frequency microwave ovens operate at ... 2.45 GHz. 3G & 4G operate in sub ranges from 1.710 to 2.690 GHz.

Happens to be the freq that Blu tooth also works in. Yes, very low power, but it is plastered against your head & is on for much longer periods.

Personally, I despise wired headsets, but as an RF guy ... I don't need any 2.4 GHz transmitter against the few good brain cells I have left. SO, I put long calls on speaker phone and I just don't like yakking on a phone that long anyway. Just me.:whiste:

Yaaay, text messaging

Huh?
Have you looked at a frequency allocation chart lately?

Cellular has always been in the 850 mHz range with PCS in the 1900 range.
LTE was launched in the 700 mHz spectrum.

The only band in that range is the AWS spectrum. Operators hate to use it because of the crappy propagation.