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Serious question: can cell phone radiation give us cancer?

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Dany M said:
Radiation leads to mutations in cells, mutations in cells increases potential for cancer.
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ionizing_radiation.jpg


Only ionizing radiation does, because it has enough energy to strip away electrons from atoms. Radio waves are simply absorbed and re-emitted, they don't have nearly enough energy for electrons to break free, or even change orbitals (which is how color is produced). They're harmless, at least in the sense that they can't damage DNA. They may have still have physical effects, but cell mutation and cancer aren't among them.
 
Do MRIs give off radiation? I had 2 MRI's, a chest X-ray, a chest CT scan and a bunch of dental x-rays in the past year.

How come I don't have super powers yet?
 
Az987 said:
Do MRIs give off radiation? I had 2 MRI's, a chest X-ray, a chest CT scan and a bunch of dental x-rays in the past year.

How come I don't have super powers yet?
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MRIs don't, but everything else you listed does.

Curses...
 
There was a story about this on This American Life recently (might have been old, it was in the archive)

Basically, we are the test. Sometime in the 80's the government stop funding testing and we became the test...guess we will know in 50 years.

No one knows and no one is really studying it in the states.
Studys financed by carriers say no, independant studies say theres a high chance.
 
I have this XKCD comic posted at my desk at work, since I get this question a lot as the radiation protection guy at my work center.

cell_phones.png
 
Found the story...give it a listen

True Urban Legends: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/406/true-urban-legends

The original GQ article: http://www.gq.com/cars-gear/gear-and-gadgets/201002/warning-cell-phone-radiation

Industry-funded studies seem to reflect the result of corporate strong-arming. Lai reviewed 350 studies and found that about half showed bioeffects from EM radiation emitted by cell phones. But when he took into consideration the funding sources for those 350 studies, the results changed dramatically. Only 25 percent of the studies paid for by the industry showed effects, compared with 75 percent of those studies that were independently funded
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The cell-phone industry has managed to exert its influence in other ways, too. In the United States, the organization most influential in the government's setting of standards for microwave exposure is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which bills itself as "a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics." According to Slesin, "The committees setting the EM safety levels at the IEEE historically have been dominated by representatives from the military, companies like Raytheon and GE, the telecom companies, and now the cell-phone industry. It is basically a Trojan horse for the private sector to dictate public policy." The IEEE's "safe limits" for microwave exposure are considerably higher than what they should be, says Allan Frey, who was a member of the organization in the '70s. "When it comes to this matter, the IEEE is a charade," Frey told me
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Big Tobacco hid the dangers of smoking and the addictiveness of nicotine, supporting its position with countless deceptive studies. Asbestos manufacturers hid evidence that the mineral was dangerous even as tens of thousands of workers died from exposure; the makers of DDT and Agent Orange stood behind their products even as it became clear that the herbicides caused cancer. That the cell-phone industry, which last year posted revenues in the hundreds of billions of dollars, has an incentive to shut down research showing the dangers of cell-phone use is not a radical notion.
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Az987 said:
Do MRIs give off radiation? I had 2 MRI's, a chest X-ray, a chest CT scan and a bunch of dental x-rays in the past year.

How come I don't have super powers yet?
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You have been exposed to more radiation than was released at the Three Mile Island accident.
 
Rebel Leader said:
Mandatory?:
radiationhypxz.png



(if false, I'll delete the image)
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Wrong kind of radiation. Cellphones emit non-ionizing radiation, and that chart is dealing with ionizing radiation. Radio frequency radiation is a type of non-ionizing radiation that cellphones emit, and that is generally measured in watts per square meter, not sieverts.
 
Parn said:
Wrong kind of radiation. Cellphones emit non-ionizing radiation, and that chart is dealing with ionizing radiation. Radio frequency radiation is a type of non-ionizing radiation that cellphones emit, and that is generally measured in watts per square meter, not sieverts.
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The chart does say that :

Using a cell phone (0 uSv) a cell phone's transmitter does not produce ionizing radiation
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Look under the blue box's box

---

"and that is generally measured in watts per square meter, not sieverts."

Oh
 
Parn said:
Wrong kind of radiation. Cellphones emit non-ionizing radiation, and that chart is dealing with ionizing radiation. Radio frequency radiation is a type of non-ionizing radiation that cellphones emit, and that is generally measured in watts per square meter, not sieverts.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what information can be gained from comparing non-ionizing radiation. It isn't carcinogenic and doesn't have any common health effects. People who are sensitive to it may get a headache or something, but it doesn't get much more serious than that.

The fact that they don't emit any ionizing radiation is the main point.
 
The Natural background radiation is more than 3 times higher than the human caused radiation. Especially the air is dangerous.
 
As far as I know the concern is not the radiation per se since it is non ionizing, but rather the temperature increase. AFAIK cellphones increasing body temperature is a known fact. Wether that has any effects on cancer... well.

The weird thing is that it's been 30 years since cellphones started to pick up steam. 20 since they were quite widespread and 15 since it became a common appliance. One would think after such a stretch of time and with so many test subjects, a reliable conclusion would have been found already.
 
I don't know if this image is real or not...

cell_phone_thermal_image.jpg


...but personally I don't like to hold cell phone against my head for a long time because it makes that side of my head "feel all weird" and it takes some time to feel normal again.

There was this court case in Italy recently:

Mobile phones can cause brain tumours, court rules.

Italy court ruling links mobile phone use to tumor

Ra\/en said:
I hate to sound like a weirdo, but does anybody else get a slight headache from talking on a cell phone to your ear for over 5 mins or so? I find that I do.
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Yes, this happens to me too. So at least you are not any weirder than a European guy who has a Ron Paul avatar. ;)
 
So far it's unlikely, however mobile phones have been sources of accidents because the user loses his or her attention span.
 
Yka said:
I don't know if this image is real or not...
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Its real. But that people are taking this as a evidence is kinda funny. Makes you think about how bad the education system in europe is.

There was this court case in Italy recently:

Mobile phones can cause brain tumours, court rules.

Italy court ruling links mobile phone use to tumor
Click to expand...

One single court case is always a good way to dismiss scientific consensus.


Yes, this happens to me too. So at least you are not any weirder than a European guy who has a Ron Paul avatar. ;)
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Well....

Boss Doggie said:
So far it's unlikely, however mobile phones have been sources of accidents because the user loses his or her attention span.
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And now imagine how many lives have been saved because people are now able to make a emergeny call everywhere.
 
Is it not just a slightly different frequency of the same radio waves that have been broadcasted over us for decades?
 
J-Rod said:
Is it not just a slightly different frequency of the same radio waves that have been broadcasted over us for decades?
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Not even different in some cases, the old analog TV spectrum was auctioned off to cell providers, so some of it is the exact same frequency, only at lower power.

If this kind of electromagnetic radiation could cause cancer, everyone who lived anywhere near a high power UHF TV transmitter would've had cancer long ago.
 
opticalmace said:
Since cell phones haven't been around all that long, I don't think anyone can say for certain. There is generally no consistent link in current research, but it doesn't mean that there is necessarily no long-term effect.

I think if you're on your phone for hours every day it might be worth considering a headset or whatever. If you just use it sporadically like I do, I wouldn't worry about it (IMHO).
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This. We will probably be fine but no one can say so and be 100% sure.
 
Oersted said:
And now imagine how many lives have been saved because people are now able to make a emergeny call everywhere.
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Has there been a study comparing both? Since most studies only focus on how cellphones lead to many accidents.
 
kinda un-related but still cell phone related.
I saw a thread on gaf a few days ago where people were showing pictures taken from cell phones of dark scenes but it looked very clear. a new tech or something.
I dont want to start a new thread and I cant find the old thread. What is that ? Can someone link me to the thread ?
 
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