Dave_Berry

Remember the cranberry-cancer scare from the early '60s? What are we to believe with all these "studies"? Overall, my theory is: No one here gets out alive. That should cover all the risks.

Caution on cell phone use -- baltimoresun.com

rorosen

wow, Dave. You're one small step from skydiving.

You can sip your cranberry cocktail on the way down through the clouds,...

Dave_Berry

. . . while calling you on my cell phone. :-)

Dave_Berry

. . . or calling you on my Blackberry (formerly known as my Cranberry).

mommusic

Crackberry.

This article doesn't say, but I read that it was a self-reported study, meaning people who had brain tumors were asked how much they used cell phones. Not a rigorous study.

What about everything else that emits EM waves? Radios, TVs, wireless networks/laptops, etc. etc. We are surrounded by EM waves, evidently.

Dave_Berry

The reason I posted this in the College Life forum is because every time I see students on a college campus, a huge percentage of them are walking along talking on their cell phones. Maybe I should pose a question to parents here:

How often do you see your kids (high school or college students) talking on THEIR cell phones? How much more (or less) are they using them than you do? A lot? A little? About the same? My money's on your kids for the cell-phone-use championship in your house.

rodney

Interestingly, I think my D's use text messaging much more than actually having the phone to their ears....good idea, though, to buy an earpiece for the one heading off to college...I think I'll add it to the list.....

nocousin

Everything in moderation was my mother's advice. The dangers of OBSESSIVE cellphone use are obvious: a psychological addiction is the first and most obvious danger: believing you HAVE to have a cellphone in hand 24/7 or you might miss something. I have news for you: you arent missing anything except YOUR LIFE! Second, driving while using a cellphone or TEXTING is VERY dangerous. I see it everyday. It makes me angry. Its most often women I see (sorry) and of those, its most often young kids. They have replaced lipstick application while driving with cellphone use. Its wrong and its very dangerous to them and others. Not to say men and boys dont use cellphones too much, I just dont see as many of them doing it while driving. As for health risks, its an unknown, but my inner voice (common sense) says its not very healthy in EXCESS....like talking for more than 5-7 minutes at a time and doing that more than a few times a day. Thus, calling and talking for HOURS, or to numerous callers throughout the day which accumulates to hours of usage is unhealthy. And its really weird. So are computer games. XMan and all that stuff.

I have to tell you, this so called digital age and information age is not all that its cracked up to be. Life in the 70's was better, it seems to me...even though we had slow phones, snail mail, and the only "game" we had was pinball at the bowling alley. Instead people talked to one another in person, wrote letters, READ BOOKS OR MAGAZINES OR NEWSPAPERS to learn something (Lord knows the network news didnt teach us anything and sitcoms were so canned and predictable their "humor" was forced.) It was a pain to type papers on a typewriter in college, but EVERYONE was in the same boat and we did it. We didnt worry about computer viruses, ID theft, or privacy invasion or cookies. We werent "googled" by strangers or ne'er do wells. The phone company didnt give the government MILLIONS of names to peruse and listen to calls or intercept messages like Verizon and ATT have done. We actually went to a library to RESEARCH, had to find the books, READ THEM, and then make notes and THEN write a paper. We all know that is NOT what kids do today when writing papers. I am on a rant, I know. But my point is that the new age is not nearly all that its cracked up to be. Some improved convenience, but at a VERY high cost. Gadgetry runs peoples lives. And who is really benefitting from all of this? Think about that.

Yes, there is added safety and a greater ability to locate family and friends when you are concerned. But how much of that is overblown? How much is really obsessive "have to know?" Social expectations are also infecting our work environment. Used to be your boss would ask for something and with a "sharp pencil" you went to work. It employed a lot of people. Now programs replace people and often those jobs are overseas. Now your boss expects the information yesterday because the customer/client wanted it the day before that. Seems like a treadmill today.

So we are not huge fans of cellphones.

BronxBombers7

Actually, I heard that the iPhone can actually cure cancer, amongst other features.

Valawe

It is impossible for cell phones to cause cancer since it uses radio waves, a non ionizing form of radiation. Thus, it can't form any ions in your which can lead to cancer. The EM radiation that people have to worry about is the higher frequency forms like UV and X-rays. Low frequency radio waves are far less damaging than visible light.

mommusic

Thanks, Valawe, for actually adding something to the discussion!

My H uses his Treo constantly for business, esp. while traveling. But I would actually be more worried about the radiation he gets while flying 2 or 3 days a week. (I read somewhere that each flight is equal to x number of X-rays.)

Hmm...do commercial pilots have a higher risk of cancer?

olgita

Oh, come on! Let's also stop trying to explore space because who knows? It might very well contain cancer-causing radiation. And let's throw nanomaterials in the same pile with that. They could be beneficial, but what if they cause cancer? Better abandon research altogether. It could be dangerous.

kutibah

For me I know I text a LOT more than I talk on the phone. I really only use my phone to call my parents because they don't text.

As for headsets, I'm still not convinced that putting something near your brain all day is healthier than using a cell phone.

Also I've read before that simply putting on the speakerphone for your phone and holding the phone 1-2 feet away from your head eliminates any possible harmful radiation. So yeah, use the speakerphone function of your phone!

nickbuddy

There are a lot of details left out that would tell the validity of this group. I'm dubious of the results until the way they used the statistics is clarified. I know that some previous study on this subject studied 20 different cancers at a 95% confidence so when they had one cancer that seemed related it was exactly the amount that should have given that all the cancers had no correlation. Also they mention the use of 10 years of use but older cell phones may have been more dangerous and give this correlation.

Personally I'm not changing my cell phone usage without better evidence.

chink182

So I'm guessing they are saying putting a cell phone near your head will give you some sort of brain cancer? So does that apply if you carry your phone in your pants pocket, will that affect your reproductive system? And what about pregnant women?