Time: Cell-Phone Radiation Risks: Why the Jury's Still Out

[Barry]

Monday, Sep. 21, 2009
Cell-Phone Radiation Risks: Why the Jury's Still Out

By Bryan Walsh

Roughly 270 million Americans do it several times a day: talk on a cell phone. Seems harmless. But when you make and re*ceive calls, your cell phone emits low levels of radio-frequency radiation — a fact that has fueled heated and ongoing scientific debate on the health risks of mobile-phone use.

On Sept. 9, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a public-health advocacy, released a lengthy review of past research linking long-term or frequent cell-phone use with increased rates of brain tumors, migraines and kids' behavioral problems. For their part, the phone industry and the Federal Government say cell phones are safe. The "majority of studies published have failed to show an association between exposure to radio-frequency from a cell phone and health problems," states the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration on its website. But concerns are high enough that the U.S. Senate on Sept. 14 held hearings — led by Pennsylvania Democratic Senator Arlen Specter, a brain-cancer survivor — to examine the subject. The outcome: inconclusive. “The current [industry] safety standards are not sufficiently supported," said Dariusz Leszczynski, a Finnish radiation researcher who spoke at the hearing, "because of the very limited research on human volunteers, children and on the effects of long-term exposure in humans."

Despite the government's view that cell phones pose no danger, other researchers note that most of us have been using them for less than a decade. If there is indeed a cumulative risk to using a mobile phone, it's possible users won't be aware of it until it's too late — just as it took doctors decades to connect cigarette-smoking with lung cancer. "We all wish we'd heeded the early warnings about cigarettes," says Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at EWG and the author of the recent report on cell phones. "We think cell phones are similar."

That theory is far from certain. While it's clear that humans absorb weak radiation through handsets (the EWG report noted the particular vulnerability of children, whose skulls, according to a French study, absorb twice as much cell-phone radiation as those of adults), what's not clear is whether that radiation causes harm. Scientists are waiting for the publication of a $30 million, 14,000-person international study called Interphone, which is meant to nail down the answer once and for all. But the study ended in 2006 and its authors are still squabbling over the interpretation of their data. To date, the "peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices do not pose a public health risk," says John Walls, a spokesperson for CTIA, the international wireless industry association.

Better, long-term research is needed — and it can't come from the cell phone industry. (Some scientists have suggested levying a $1 surtax on phones to fund new studies.) For now, you can use a Bluetooth or wired headset or simply talk on your cell phone less to reduce the amount of radiation that bombards your skull. You can also choose a low-radiation cell phone; the EWG has created a searchable online database that ranks the radiation levels of more than 1,200 models. (Sorry, Apple fans, your iPhone ranks pretty high.) And finally, take a cue from the nearest teenager: texting is safer than talking. (See a pictorial history of the cell phone.)

[stuartdole]

Thanks for the TIME/CNN article, Barry.

A further complication is that the *kind* of radiation handsets emit changes every few years as the technology changes. The old analog handsets had a very different radiation pattern and frequency than the TDMA and CDMA handsets that followed them, and the current GSM is very different from TDMA/CDMA. Then 3G is becoming popular (I think it carries voice as well as data), and handset makers are testing the 4G technologies already. So, by the time the study does come out, it will be obsolete - if it's not already.

One trend that I hope is hopeful is the increased use of broader frequency spreads ("spread spectrum") and lower power - remember when the old handsets had only 30 minutes of talk time? They used a LOT of power!

One of the newer technologies is "beam aiming", so the power the handset emits is aimed at the local tower, not your head. The important thing about this is (for the industry) better battery life - the handset doesn't waste power warming your head! I hope this becomes widely available soon...

Happy trails...

[Karl Frederick]

Hi Stuart,

I like your observations about the complexity of the situation, considering the evolving modulation schemes, and, like you, hope that with spread spectrum waveforms the stimulus levels will fall below the threshhold of biological response.

Does the antenna pattern aiming scheme you've heard about insure that it's aimed away from the user, not just towards the strongest cell tower signal? If not, it seems to have the potential for an increase in the power absorbed by the person, if the user's head is between the phone and the tower.

Thanks for contributing to the subject!

Thanks for the TIME/CNN article, Barry.

A further complication is that the *kind* of radiation handsets emit changes every few years as the technology changes. The old analog handsets had a very different radiation pattern and frequency than the TDMA and CDMA handsets that followed them, and the current GSM is very different from TDMA/CDMA. Then 3G is becoming popular (I think it carries voice as well as data), and handset makers are testing the 4G technologies already. So, by the time the study does come out, it will be obsolete - if it's not already.

One trend that I hope is hopeful is the increased use of broader frequency spreads ("spread spectrum") and lower power - remember when the old handsets had only 30 minutes of talk time? They used a LOT of power!

One of the newer technologies is "beam aiming", so the power the handset emits is aimed at the local tower, not your head. The important thing about this is (for the industry) better battery life - the handset doesn't waste power warming your head! I hope this becomes widely available soon...

Happy trails...