Cell Phones...

New Studies and Risks

by Karelle Scharff

Like many others, I’ve been lulled into complacency, led to believe that cell phones and other wireless devices are safe to use, but that may not be true, according to a report issued August 25, 2009. The report’s title, Cell Phones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern. Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone, leaves little doubt that it questions the telecom industry’s insistence that cell phones are safe, even for children.

As a technologist I spend the majority of my time working with electronic EMR(ElectroMagnetic Radiation)—emitting gadgets; as a consultant driving from one office or home to another I spend a fair amount of time with a cell phone pressed against my ear; and my 22-year-old daughter has used her cell phone for all phone communications for 5 years, so it’s a little disconcerting when I’m reminded that the gadgetry with which we surround ourselves may have negative health consequences.

That’s what the “Cell Phones and Brain Tumors” report suggests—that the joint study called Interphone, funded by 13 governments and the telecom industry, because of its design flaws, may be dramatically underestimating the risks of brain tumors associated with the long-term use of cell phones, especially for children. Some of the available data does indicate that there is greater risk in children using cell phones from an early age—their heads are smaller, their skulls thinner, the proportion of water in their brains higher and the neuron insulation is not completely developed, so it would stand to reason that if anyone is susceptible, it would be our children. That data also shows that the earlier and longer they are exposed, the higher the risk of a brain tumor later.
This is serious stuff, and we, the cell-phone-using public, are not well served by studies that build in bias of any sort, whether of the telecom-Pollyanna variety or the tin-foil-hat-wearing kind. Additionally, since we still don’t have a clear answer, it seems that we would be well advised to err on the side of caution, especially with our children, who will grow up using cell phones.

Given that there is some evidence that a problem may exist, and low or no-cost actions are available, then according to the Precautionary Principle, these actions should be undertaken. My grandmother would shake her finger and tell me, “Better safe than sorry.”

Here are 8 actions recommended by “Cell Phones and Brain Tumors” to personally reduce risk to yourself and your children.*

1. When on a call, use a wired headset (not a wireless headset such as a Bluetooth), or use in speaker-phone mode, or send text messages (your teenager will love that!)

2. Keep the cellphone away from your body (particularly pant/trouser or shirt pockets) or use a belt holster designed to shield the body from cellphone radiation, when not in use (stand-by mode).

3. Avoid use in a moving car, train, bus, or in rural areas at some distance from a cell tower (AKA mast or base station) as any of these uses will increase the power of the cellphone’s radiation.

4. Use the cellphone like an answering machine. Keep it off until you want to see who has called. Then return calls, if necessary, using steps 5 and 1.

5. Use a corded landline phone, whenever possible, instead of a wireless phone.

6. Avoid use inside of buildings, particularly with steel structures.

7. Do not allow your children to sleep with a cellphone beneath their pillow or at the bedside.

8. Do not allow your children under 18 to use a cellphone except in emergencies.

If you’re interested in the details of this very readable report, you can download it at

*from the report whose link appears above.

More links at http://www.bestmacsolutions.com/blog/blogger.html

Karelle Scharff, an information technologist and the owner of Best MacSolutions, is an Apple-certified help-desk specialist (www.bestmacsolutions.com), based in the Boulder area. She provides training, service, and support to small businesses, home-based business, and individuals. Call her at (303) 459-3363 for questions or more information.