Cell Phone Safety
Speculation as to the safety of cell phone use has been common in the media in recent years. Some of what has been written about cell phone safety has been balanced and well-informed. Some of it, though, has been sensationalist misinformation. Cell Phone Safety .Info offers independent advice to those concerned about the dangers of cell phone use.
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“The fool speaks, the wise man listens.”
[African Proverb]
Modern cell phones use discontinuous transmission, meaning that your phone only transmits information, and so only emits radiation, when you speak into it.
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The scientific consensus is that cell phones have not yet been shown to pose a risk to human health, but that further research is necessary. The influential Stewart Report [Stewart, W., Mobile Phones and Health, IEGMP (2000)] concluded that the rapid rate at which cell phone use has grown has left insufficient time for detailed research into its health implications. Governments have imposed safety guidelines on manufacturers, based on the amount of radiation absorbed by the brain in normal cell phone use, but a level of uncertainty about the risks remains. All commercially available cell phones fall within these guidelines, and so are, at present, believed to be safe. However, the long-term effects of cell phone use will not be known for certain for a number of years.
In the short-term, therefore, it seems wise to take steps to minimise one’s exposure to cell phone radiation, but without falling into hysteria. Cell Phone Safety .Info is an independent information site offering advice on safer cell phone use. It includes explanations of the risks involved in cell phone use, and of the various ways in which those risks can be minimised. It does not, however, claim that using a phone in the way described will eliminate all risks; that can’t be guaranteed. Whether, and how, we use a cell phone is a personal choice that each of us makes at our own risk.
The main cause of concern to do with the safety of cell phone use is the level of radiation emitted by cell phones. Cell phones are sources of radiation, and in ordinary use are held in close proximity to the head. A proportion of this radiation—between 10% and 50%, depending on the cell phone in question, the position in which it is held, and several other factors—is absorbed by the brain. Those who wish to minimise the risks that they run in using their cell phone therefore need to do two things: minimise the amount of radiation emitted by their cell phone and minimise the proportion of that radiation that they absorb. Our Five Steps to Safer Cell Phone Use guide summarises the best ways to do this.
Also see our Cell Phone Safety Products section for explanations of the benefits, dangers, and limitations of hands free kits and radiation shields.
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