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Are the Health Hazards of Cell Phones Being Covered Up?
Grab your tinfoil hats everyone. We're going on a wild ride through the world of cell phone radiation, industry cover-ups, and government complicity. If you've been following Switched, or tech news at all, you know that one of the most contentious debates right now is over wireless technology and its effects on the human body. Studies come out nearly every week, alternately declaring cell phone and Wi-Fi radiation safe and announcing its responsibility for countless health issues. GQ's Christopher Ketcham did some digging and turned out one of the most thought-provoking (if slightly alarmist) articles on the physiological effects of wireless radiation we've ever read.
According to Ketcham's article, the lack of a scientific consensus doesn't spring from the difficulty of observing subtle shifts in biochemistry, or from maintaining viable documentation of the long-term effects. Instead, Ketcham, and his sources, most notably neuroscientist Allan Frey, accuse both the communications industry and the Defense Department of actively covering up the truth, and exerting influence over government agencies and the scientific community here in the U.S.
While that might sound like the ramblings of a paranoid Fox Mulder type, it's not as insane as it seems. Private industry has a long and proud history of covering up its own health hazards, while convincing the government to turn a blind eye. The tobacco industry, asbestos manufacturers, and the makers of both DDT and Agent Orange long denied and actively hid overwhelming evidence that their products caused cancer and other health problems.
We're still maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism here at Switched. But, given the pace at which wireless technology has advanced in its capabilities and reach, one thing that Dr. Frey told Ketchman struck us as remarkable:
Or, in the words of our good friend Dr. Ian Malcolm, "[Our] scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." [From: GQ]"It just so happens that the frequencies and modulations of our cell phones seem to be the frequencies that humans are particularly sensitive to. If we had looked into it a little more... we could have allocated spectrums that the body can't feel."
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Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsP CostFeb 9th 2010 8:06PM
You are more likely to be killed or maimed by someone (or yourself)
driving and using a Cell Phone, even talking handsfree.
Over 28% of vehicle accidents are caused by distracted driving.
P CostFeb 9th 2010 8:23PM
What if you wrapped your head with a band of wire with two coils positioned near your temples? Then pump modulated magnetic signals into the two coils.
Seems like headphones with wires less than a few hairs away from your skull
have a huge multiplier factor by virtue of the inverse square law. The electromagnetic effect increasing by the square the closer all that wire
gets to your brain.
How about those wires from electrified overhead train systems. That's a huge amount of power radiating out a few feet above you at the train station. You think that's got an impact above your cell phones power?
You got an electric blanket? heating pad? car seat warmers? microwave?
Scary all this electricity leaking out all over. How could one ever develop a cause and effect with all the other similar and in some cases more powerful electromagnetic sources resonating at multiple frequencies across the spectrum.
NathanMar 3rd 2010 1:51PM
The answer is yes, they are being covered up, but less and less nowadays. Maine and San Francisco are both debating mandatory health warnings on cell phones. The World Health Organization has admitted there's a problem. And Congress was just briefed on the dangers of cell phone radiation by experts in the field. Things are changing. Read more about the issue here:
San Francisco's efforts: http://blog.waveshieldstore.net/2010/02/17/san-francisco-continues-push-for-cell-phone-radiation-warnings/
Maine's efforts: http://blog.waveshieldstore.net/2009/12/23/maine-considers-adding-cancer-warning-to-cell-phones/
Congressional hearings: http://cellphoneradiation.waveshieldstore.net/news/United-States-Congress-warned-by-scientists-of-cancer-risk-from-cell-phone-use.php