Cell Phones

Since the introduction of cellular telephones in 1983, there have been remarkable changes in the cellular industry.  The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), the leading national organization that represents both wireless carriers and manufacturers, reports that the industry is growing at a rate of 40% per year. Worldwide mobile phone sales surpassed 167 million units in the third quarter of 2004, a 26 percent increase from the third quarter of 2003, according to Gartner, Inc.

According to a Strategy Analytics report, by the end of 2004, 670 million cellular telephones will have been sold globally. Mobile phone subscribers around the globe totaled nearly 1.5 billion by the middle of 2004, about one quarter of the world's population, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says.

This rapid growth has brought with it a non-discriminating change in the demographics of cellular telephone users: from middle-aged businessmen to users encompassing all age groups, and social and economic classes. This number is increasing at a rate of about 46,000 new subscribers per day. Experts estimate that by 2005 there will be over 1.26 billion wireless telephone users worldwide.

Radio waves from mobile phones harm body cells and damage DNA in laboratory conditions, according to a new study majority-funded by the European Union, researchers said on Monday, December 20, 2004.

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The so-called Reflex study, conducted by 12 research groups in seven European countries, did not prove that mobile phones are a risk to health but concluded that more research is needed to see if effects can also be found outside a lab.

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The $100 billion a year mobile phone industry asserts that there is no conclusive evidence of harmful effects as a result of electromagnetic radiation.

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About 650 million mobile phones are expected to be sold to consumers this year, and over 1.5 billion people around the world use one.

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The research project, which took four years and which was coordinated by the German research group Verum, studied the effect of radiation on human and animal cells in a laboratory. After being exposed to electromagnetic fields that are typical for mobile phones, the cells showed a significant increase in single and double-strand DNA breaks. The damage could not always be repaired by the cell. DNA carries the genetic material of an organism and its different cells. "There was remaining damage for future generation of cells," said project leader Franz Adlkofer. This means the change had procreated. Mutated cells are seen as a possible cause of cancer.

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The radiation used in the study was at levels between a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of between 0.3 and 2 watts per kilogram. Most phones emit radio signals at SAR levels of between 0.5 and 1 W/kg. SAR is a measure of the rate of radio energy absorption in body tissue, and the SAR limit recommended by the International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection is 2 W/kg.

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The study also measured other harmful effects on cells. Because of the lab set-up, the researchers said the study did not prove any health risks. But they added that "the genotoxic and phenotypic effects clearly require further studies ... on animals and human volunteers."

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Adlkofer advised against the use of a mobile phone when an alternative fixed line phone was available, and recommended the use of a headset connected to a cell phone whenever possible. "We don't want to create a panic, but it is good to take precautions," he said, adding that additional research could take another four or five years.

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None of the world's top six mobile phone vendors could immediately respond to the results of the study.

In a separate announcement in Hong Kong, where consumers tend to spend more time talking on a mobile phone than in Europe , a German company called G-Hanz introduced a new type of mobile phone which it claimed had no harmful radiation, as a result of shorter bursts of the radio signal.

A study by scientists in Finland has found that mobile phone radiation can cause changes in human cells that might affect the brain. The study at Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority found that exposure to radiation from mobile phones can cause increased activity in hundreds of proteins in human cells grown in a laboratory. Nonetheless the study, the initial findings of which were published June 2002, in the scientific journal Differentiation, raises new questions about whether mobile phone radiation can weaken the brain's protective shield against harmful substances. The study focused on changes in cells that line blood vessels and on whether such changes could weaken the functioning of the blood-brain barrier, which prevents potentially harmful substances from entering the brain from the bloodstream.

They also found that one hour of exposure to mobile phone radiation caused cultured human cells to shrink. The researchers believe this is triggered by a response that normally only happens when a cell is damaged. In a person, such changes could disable safety mechanisms that prevent harmful substances from entering the brain from the bloodstream. Radiation-induced changes in the cells could also interfere with the normal death process of apoptosis. If cells that are "marked" to die do not, tumors can form. The study found that a protein called hsp27 linked to the functioning of the blood-brain barrier showed increased activity due to irradiation and pointed to a possibility that such activity could make the shield more permeable, he said. Increased protein activity might cause cells to shrink--not the blood vessels but the cells themselves--and then tiny gaps could appear between those cells through which some molecules could pass.

An estimated 1,000 people die each year from phone-related car accidents, and the number of crashes is expected to double as more people purchase cellular telephones. According to studies done by the University of Toronto , during the first 15 minutes of your cellular telephone call, your chances of having an accident in your motor vehicle are quadruple.  The New England Journal of Medicine conducted extensive research on this problem issue and published its finding in February of 1997.  Dr. Donald Redelmeier and Robert Tibshirani said the risk of driving while talking on a hand-held phone “is similar to the hazard associated with driving with a blood alcohol level at the legal limit. The published study showed that cellular telephone users are four to five hundred percent more likely to get into traffic accidents than those who do not use them.

There are a number of alternatives that can be undertaken to avert danger on the road while having a telephone conversation.  The most common alternative is a hands-free telephone headset. A second alternative may be to obtain a hands-free, voice-activated system as a factory installed option in one’s motor vehicle.  These systems are very expensive with a lengthy installation period.  Plus, this option is not found in all cars but rather select luxury cars. A third alternative can be to ban all telephone devices from a motor vehicle altogether.

The concern about an increased risk of cancer with cellular telephone use is related to the radiation that the device produces. Like televisions, alarm systems, computers, and all other electrical devices, cellular telephones emit electromagnetic radiation. In the United States, cellular telephones operate in a frequency ranging from about 800 to 2400 megahertz (MHz). In that range, the radiation produced is in the form of non-ionizing radiofrequency (RF) radiation. AM/FM radios, VHF/UHF televisions, and cordless telephones operate at lower radio frequencies than cellular phones; microwave ovens, radar, and satellite-stations operate at slightly higher radio frequencies. RF radiation is different from ionizing radiation, which can present a health risk at certain doses. Ionizing radiation is produced by devices such as x-ray machines and television and computer monitors that use cathode ray tubes. Because so many people use cellular telephones, it is important to learn whether RF radiation affects human health, and to provide reassurance if it does not.

A cellular telephone user's level of exposure to RF radiation depends on several factors. These factors include the: amount of cellular telephone traffic, quality of the transmission, how far the antenna is extended, and size of the handset. A cellular telephone's main source of RF energy is its antenna. Therefore, the closer the antenna is to the head, the greater a person's expected exposure to RF radiation. The amount of RF radiation absorbed decreases rapidly with increasing distance between the antenna and the user. The antenna of hand-held cellular telephones is in the handset, which is typically held against the side of the head while the phone is in use. The antenna of a car cellular telephone is mounted on the outside of the car, some distance from the user. Transportable cellular telephones or "bag phones" have an antenna in a portable unit separate from the handset. Most of the studies conducted on cellular telephone use and cancer risk have focused on hand-held models, since they deliver the most RF radiation to the user. RF radiation can be harmful at high levels because it produces heat. The emitted microwaves heat the metals in the head, such as amalgam fillings braces, crowns bridges, etc. This increases the galvanic electricity generated as well as the emission of mercury vapor that's inhaled from amalgam fillings. Some people have speculated that the heat produced by RF radiation from hand-held cellular telephones may be associated with brain tumors, because the antenna is held close to the user's head.

Cell phones are becoming increasingly popular, yet most of us are unaware of the damage they are doing to our brains by exposing us to this radiation. Today, there is more and more compelling evidence showing low intensity, pulsed radiation can exert subtle influences that have serious health problems. Your body is an electrochemical instrument of exquisite sensitivity. Its orderly functioning and control are determined by oscillatory electrical processes of various kinds, each characterized by a specific frequency, some of which happen to be close to those used in GSM. Thus, some of your biological electrical activities can be interfered with via oscillatory aspects of the incoming radiation, in much the same way as can the reception on a radio. Your biological electrical activities that are vulnerable to interference from GSM radiation include highly organized electrical activities at a cellular level, whose frequency happens to lie in the microwave region, can interfere with processes as fundamental as cell division. This radiation also seems to affect a variety of brain functions including the neuroendocrine system. Additionally, cell phones have been associated with a 200-300% increase neuroepithelial tumours that occur on the same side of the brain that the cell phone was being used on. People should limit their exposures to these potential dangerous devices that cause irreversible brain damage and cancer. We only have to look less than a hundred years back to learn from similar mistakes our forefathers made in this area. Early in the 20th century radon and radium-enriched spa waters were "recommended" for a wide range of aches and minor ailments. Today, no reputable scientist would disagree with the dangers that ionizing radiation has to our health.

Unfortunately it is nearly technically impossible to design a study to prove that a device or procedure is safe. That is one of the reasons that cell phones health hazards have not received more attention than they have. Cell phones have been one of the fastest growing industries in modern history. 300 million Americans now use cell phones, and this technology is predicted to have over 1.3 billion worldwide users by the year 2005. Every day some 300 million cell phone users are "reaching out and touching someone" they love with the new 1.9 gigahertz (nineteen-hundred-million) broadcasting frequency. Yourself, and anyone else within range of the microwaves emitted by your phone. The uses of electronic communications for average people began with the introduction of personal paging systems in the 1970's--expanding into remote telephones and cell phones by the end of the century. Most people today have either portable phones in the home, cell phones for away-from-home use or both. As entire nations reach for pocket communicators, the explosively emergent $40 billion a year mobile phone industry is poised to deliver a "Wireless Revolution" that over the next five years is expected to double the one-billion people connected by telephone lines over the past century.

Cell Phone Radiation Triggers Measurable Brain Cell Changes in Mere Minutes

Previously, advocates of cell-phone safety have maintained that the phones cannot cause brain damage because the microwave radiation that they emit is at a level too low to heat the body's cells. But in the new study, changes in biological processes began at an energy level even lower than that used by a typical phone, even without heating occurring.

"Safety guidelines assume that health effects from mobiles can only occur when significant heating of body tissue occurs. [But] this study shows biological changes in response to low-level mobile phone radiation--something that could potentially have implications for health," said Graham Philips of the British nonprofit Powerwatch.

Researchers exposed both human and rat cells to low-level radiation at a frequency of 875 megahertz, a similar frequency to that used by most cellular phones. The intensity of the radiation was far lower than that used by most phones, however.

Even so, within 10 minutes the scientists observed changes within the cells. A chemical switch regulating cell division was switched on--a switch that has been linked to a variety of cancers.

There was no direct evidence of cancer inducement in the current study. However, the researchers point out that the changes occurring at the low radiation level were non-thermal in nature, something previously said to be impossible. Thus, the study challenges the entire basis on which cell phones' presumption of safety has been based.

"The significance lies in showing cells do react to cell-phone radiation in a non-thermal way," said co-author Rony Seger. "We used radiation power levels that were around one tenth of those produced by a normal mobile. The changes we observed were clearly not caused by heating."

"This helps explain why mobile phone radiation has been linked to increases in cancer tumors," said consumer health advocate Mike Adams. "Until now, skeptics have said the radiation wasn't intense enough to cause cells to overheat, but now we're learning there can be significant cellular changes taking place at far lower levels of exposure."

Children should be forbidden from cell phone use because they still grow their brains and are particularly vulnerable to radiation.

The Health Effects Mount

Exquisitely sensitive to subtle electromagnetic harmonies, human brains and bodies as intricate as galaxies depend on tiny electrical impulses to conduct complex life-processes - including the ability to read, recall and respond to these words. Much like a boxer taking repeated blows to the head, rapidly pulsing cell phones signal permanent brain damage. Acting as antennas, our anatomies just as easily tune into spurious signals from radio and microwave transmissions. When it comes to cell phones, a worse frequency could not have been chosen for the human anatomy. The brain reaches peak absorption in the UHF bands, right where cellular telecommunications operate. A study by Dr. Peter Franch found unequivocally that "cells are permanently damaged by cellular phone frequencies." This cellular damage, Franch noted, is maximized at low dosage, and "inherited unchanged, from generation to generation." Franch found that the production of histamine, which triggers bronchial spasms, is nearly doubled after exposure to mobile phone transmissions. Cell phones also reduce the effectiveness of anti-asthmatic drugs, and retard recovery from illness. British military scientists have discovered that cell phone transmissions disrupt the brain sites for memory and learning, causing forgetfulness and sudden confusion.  Other studies show that electromagnetic signals from cellular phones reduce the ability to concentrate, calculate and coordinate complicated activities such as driving a car.

Mobile telephones are arguably the most radiative appliance we have ever invented apart from the microwave oven and people are putting them by their heads--arguably the most sensitive part of the body. The pegged needle of a shrieking electromagnetic radiation (EMR) meter placed beside a connected cell phone still shows significant exposure 100 feet away. Cell phones emanate microwave radiation, and human brains may absorb up to 60 percent of that energy. Already there are at least 15,000 scientific reports on the subject. It has been discovered that small amounts of energy, when delivered in the right way, can have the same effects as a massive dose of chemicals. The most delicate fields of electromagnetic energy influence the complexity of living creatures. There are 66 epidemiological studies showing that electromagnetic radiation across the spectrum increase brain tumors in human populations. Two of those studies are for particular brain tumors from cell phones. Because cancer takes decades to develop, it will be another 10 or 20 years before "mobiles" manifest a bonanza in brain tumors. We're already seeing acute effects that are noticed within minutes of using a cell phone.

After two minutes' conversation, a cell phone's digitized impulses disable the safety barrier (blood-brain-barrier) that isolates the brain from destructive proteins and poisons in the blood. Professor Leif Salford, the neurologist who carried out the research for this finding, said "It seems that molecules such as proteins and toxins can pass out of the blood, while the phone is switched on, and enter the brain. We need to bear in mind diseases such as MS and Alzheimer's are linked to proteins being found in the brain." Startled by $4 billion a year in extra claims among cell phone-wielding drivers, North American insurers did a double-take that found simply juggling phones is not causing a 600% increase in accidents over other drivers busy shaving, applying makeup, tuning radios, taming pets, making out, pouring coffee, retrieving dropped cigarettes, talking and gesturing to passengers, or actually steering the vehicle.  Instead of just another dangerous distraction, tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy found that using a cell phone severely impairs memory and reaction times. Hands-free mobile speakerphones cause even more crashes because they typically emit 10-times more brainwave interference than handheld units. For all drivers dialing out, University of Toronto investigators report that the heightened probability of cracking up your car persists for up to 15-minutes after completing a call.

That's comparable to the risk of crashing while driving dead drunk exclaims Dr. Chris Runball, chairman of the B.C. Medical Association's emergency medical services committee. Reeling from "dial-a-collision" costs, the government of British Columbia may join England, Spain, Israel, Switzerland and Brazil in restricting or banning the use of cell phones by drivers. In New Zealand, cell phone towers are prohibited on school property because of possible health effects. But Health Canada regulations ignore the hidden hazards of cell-wrenching cell phones, which send pulsed signals through the skull in a process one expert likens to "jackhammers on the brain." "Safety Code 6" looks only at microwaves burning skin. Basically, Health Canada claims if it can't cook you, it can't hurt you, its like saying cigarettes aren't dangerous unless they burn you. Carrying similar risks of long-term lethality, and strangely just as legal, cell phone addiction mirrors the prestigious early allure of smoking  - as well as an immensely profitable industry's steadfast denial of risk and responsibility. As poisonous as cigarette smoke and even harder to corral, the cell phone's second-hand microwave and radio-frequency (RF) pollution pose invisible but significant risks to bystanders--particularly children riding in cars that transmit amplified cell phone signals through their steel structure. Cell phone transmissions damage the ability of white blood cells to ward off infectious disease by disrupting the immune system's electromagnetic communications. Dr. Neil Cherry has measured accelerated aging, increased cell death and cancers caused by radio frequency microwaves from cell phones and their relay towers.

With the brain's electro-chemical communications repeatedly zapped by lightning-like cell phone pulses, this Ph.D. biophysicist warns that headaches, fatigue, lethargy, nausea, dizziness, depression, arteriosclerosis and even Alzheimer's can result from frequent or prolonged calls.   "There is also a higher incidence of cardiac problems," Cherry comments, "in terms of the timing function in hearts. You get more heart attacks and more heart disease - it has now been shown in many studies." The biophysicist from Lincoln University in Christ Church, New Zealand has also found that cell phones can murderously modify moods. In brains and bodies seriously derailed by tiny imbalances in trace minerals and hormones, depression, suicide, anger, rage and violence can result when calcium and serotonin levels are disrupted by cell phone transmissions.

In 1995, mobile phone sales in North America exceeded the birth rate. Hired by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association to condone cell phones, public health scientist George Carlo found that rare tumors on the outside of the brain are more than doubled among cell phone callers--particularly on the right side of the head where phones are usually held. Carlo told ABC's "20/20" that cell phone causes genetic damage that leads to cancer. Warning of "the potential for a global health disaster," ABC recommended "prudent avoidance" of cell phones after finding that every cell phone they lab-tested exceeded the Federal Communication Commission's standards for EMF absorption rates. EMF researcher Dave Ashton cautioned 20/20 viewers that because cell phones constantly search for the nearest repeating tower, "long-term damage comes from cell phones in the stand-by mode." Cell phone "shields" and headsets cannot adequately address these problems. Dr. Carlo later told London's Express newspaper that cell phones cause genetic damage following a dose-response curve. That is, the more a person uses a cell phone, the more cellular destruction and health risks they incur.

Cell phone-confused cells can go crazy, Carlo cautioned. Experiments on captive animals show that this cumulative DNA damage is passed on to succeeding generations.  Addicted as we are to a culture of convenience, we forget how inconvenient it is to contract cancer. As magazine-size "cellular" relay antennas hidden in church steeples and rooflines keep popping up just about everywhere, more and more communities are declaring their airspace a "No Fry Zone." Cellular relay towers in Kansas and Oklahoma have been shut down because they interfered with passing aircraft. These same transmissions pluck our electrical circuitry, inflicting a "chronic edginess" that "twangs human nerves." Sleep disorders are common among people exposed to high levels of electromagnetic pollution.  These energy fields can affect the central nervous system and immune system in man. Chronic exposure to EMFs is associated with significant changes in some physiological parameters. The impact on Calcium ions, which are important in maintaining normal health functions in brain tissues, was found in experiments. This may affect nervous system function. Amplitude-modulated (AM) radio frequency radiation can induce responses in cells of nervous tissue origin from widely different animal species, including humans. Another area of concern is in prenatal development in mammals. Australian research has found one of the strongest links between cell phones and cancer. Over periods of 9 to 18 months, exposed mice had twice the tumor rate as unexposed mice. The mice were exposed to cell phone radiation.

As reports linking cell phone use to adverse health conditions have been published, attempts have been made by industry to hose down the findings with what is called "The Hockett Defense" (named after the chief Tobacco Institute scientist) who advise his executives to repeat endlessly, "men aren't rodents." But, DNA is DNA. At the level of normal cell growth processes, human and animal cells act very similar. The body is not a closed system but, rather, an open one, which exchanges energy with all of the forces around it. The human body seeks equilibrium or its own balance. Energy interaction requires a corresponding action from the body. On an energetic level this results in chemical changes, system stress and other interactions, which can be either healthy or not so healthy. EEG-data of man sampled under the influence of these electromagnetic fields are altered extremely in the range of alpha-activity during as well as after exposure for some hours. This biological effect is induced by field intensities lower than the given international limiting values. Regarding these results there is the very important question of possible influences, injurious to health for people exposed to pulsating electromagnetic fields, especially by operating the new type of digital telecommunication networks.

Even fairly low levels of electromagnetic radiation can change the human body's sleep rhythms, affect the body's cancer-fighting capacity by harming the immune system, and change the nature of the electrical and chemical signals communicating between cells. Reports continue to amplify the same results, which are being replicated now around the world. At the same time the industry is shifting the standards, changing cell phone designs and altering other factors that make evaluation of the effects even more difficult. Existing data indicate that RFR of relatively low intensity can affect the nervous system. Changes in blood-brain-barrier, morphology, electrophysiology, neurotransmitter functions, cellular metabolism, and calcium efflux, and genetic effects have been reported in the brain of animals after exposure to RFR. These changes can lead to functional changes in the nervous system. Behavioral changes in animals after exposure to RFR have been reported. New research indicates that exposure to cell phones' radiation causes red blood cells to leak hemoglobin, the build up of which can cause heart disease and kidney stones. Even at lower levels than those emitted by cell phones, the blood cells leaked hemoglobin. Two minutes of exposure to emissions from mobile phones can disable a safety barrier (blood/brain barrier) causing proteins and toxins to leak into the brain. This can cause the chances of developing diseases such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's. Symptoms reported by mobile phone users include fatigue, dizzy spells and memory loss.

Amid an explosive growth of mobile communications, concerns are mounting about cellular telephones' potential links to health problems ranging from headaches to brain tumors. British scientists are demanding that mobile telephones carry a health warning. The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) recommends a limit of 10 milliwatts per gram, though proposed European guidelines are five times more restrictive. There have been reports of headaches caused by cell and portable phone use. Evidence from the 1960s and 70s supports the conclusion that cell phones cause headaches among some users. Cell phone transmitting frequencies fall in the most sensitive band for the microwave hearing effect. The transmitting frequencies are also in the band that has maximal penetration into the head. The area of the head that needs to be exposed to the microwaves in order for people to perceive the effect is in proximity to the antenna of present day cellular telephones. 30 years ago Dr. Frey encountered and reported headaches from microwave energy exposure at approximately the same frequencies, modulations and incident energies that present day cellular telephones emit.

Low intensity microwave exposure opens up the blood/brain barrier, a biological effect that can allow the release of dangerous chemicals into the brain. The radiation from mobile phones makes it easier for poisons to penetrate into the brain. Data in the literature now indicates that the dopamine/opiate system may be involved in headaches and suggest that headaches may be due to cellular emissions...the energy used was approximately the same in frequencies, modulations, and incident energies as those emitted by present day cellular telephones. These current reports of headaches may be the canary-in-the-coal mine, warning of biologically significant effects. The early research by Dr. Frey was most revealing in that it was conducted before the advent of the cell phone. As a result, the research was done with limited, if any, economic impact on industry and the results were unchallenged. Exposure to electromagnetic fields during mobile phone use may increase resting blood pressure. Exposure of the right hemisphere to a radio-frequency electromagnetic field for 35 minutes causes an increase in sympathetic efferent activity with increases in resting blood pressure between 5 and 10 mm Hg, most likely due to more pronounced vasoconstriction.

Mobile phones can cause sudden confusion and short-term memory loss, according to worrying research by British military scientists. Signals from the phones disrupt part of the brain, which controls memory and learning. Frequent mobile users had significantly depressed melatonin - a vital cancer-preventing hormone. An Australian study has linked the phones to a higher rate of brain cancer while a Swedish survey suggested that using a mobile phone for more than 15 minutes could lead to headaches and fatigue. Exposure to RFR does produce various effects on the central nervous system. Other parameters of RFR exposure, such as frequency, duration, waveform, frequency- and amplitude modulation, etc, are important determinants of biological responses and affect the shape of the dose (intensity)-response relationship. As we have increased our exposure to both chemicals and EMFs in the last three decades we have seen certain brain cancers increase in all age groups by 1% a year. Since 1980 those 65 and older have increased 2.5% a year. Among those over 85 the increase has been as much as 500% since 1973.

If you must pack a cell phone, treat it like a loaded pistol. Keep it turned off. Don't carry it near ovaries, testicles, or the heart. For partial protection, buy an antenna shield. Limit calls to one-minute, six to 10 minutes a month. Never fire off a cell phone with children anywhere in sight. A better bet is to facilitate the growth of organic telephone networks with lots of fiber. Instead of more microwave towers, we should be wiring up our cities with fiber-optic cables to provide Internet, fax, telephone, radio and television at very high quality, rather than saturating our cities with the microwave, radio wave and low frequency signals all the time. When it comes to cells, consciousness and cell phones, every call is collect. How can convenience count more than cancer? What is gained by being in constant contact with disembodied voices, while being "out of touch" with the friends and neighbors around us? Are we comfortable having our location traced by monitoring authorities? Unless we start voting with our wallets, consumer complacency could prove as species-limiting as corporate cynicism. Microwave frequencies are the same as those used in radar and your microwave oven. You wouldn't think of sticking your head in the microwave oven, but there is no hesitation to putting the cell phone to your ear.

Remote Home Portable Phones

Cell phones are not the only phones to cause concern about health problems. Today's high-frequency cordless phones may emit a level of EM radiation similar to cell phones. For reasons of health and privacy, a growing number of scientists and other experts are dead set against these phones. They say a cancer risk is associated with signals that have a strong wattage and high frequency (short wavelength). First generation cordless phones operate at about 60 megahertz and the next ones ran at 900 megahertz--higher than 835MHz cell phones. The new 2.4 GHz is higher still and can transmit for several kilometers without fading. Microwave ovens operate at 2.45 GHz.

MRI of Brain Tumor

Brain Tumors

Two new studies have shown links between mobile phone usage and brain tumors. They found a correlation between phone use and cancer. The studies showed that mobile phone use, regardless which side of the head it was held against, increased the risk of a brain tumor by almost two and a half times. Some of the leading researchers were contracted by Motorola to carry out some experiments. Two of the world's leading radiation experts reported to The Express that multinational companies tried to influence the results of their research. Professor Ross Adey, a biologist, had his funding withdrawn by Motorola before completing research which showed that mobiles affected the number of brain tumors in animals. Dr. Henry Lai, who has been studying the biological effects of electromagnetic fields for 20 years, was asked three times to change findings on how they caused DNA breaks in rats. Both of these scientists have been involved in academic, military and other research projects throughout their lives.

Jerry Phillips, who has a doctorate in biochemistry, worked with U.C. Riverside's [Ross] Adey on Motorola-funded research beginning in 1991. He describes a pleasant relationship with them until studies linked exposure to changes in the incidence of brain tumors in rats. "Motorola was adamant that Adey never mention DNA damage and RF radiation in the same breath," Phillips said. "Motorola has been manipulative of research that we and others have reported to them," said Adey. "Essentially they cut us off because we were too inquisitive." Phillips, Adey, and others said they see a strong parallel between what's happening now and the decades of denial by the tobacco industry. Though the head absorbs 60% of the energy radiated from cell phones, the amount is not significant enough to cause heating. Evidence points to DNA damage as a source of the health problems associated with cell phone use. It is suggested that RFR may hinder the ability of DNA to repair itself. For the first time in history, we are holding a high-powered microwave transmitter against the head.

When you talk on your mobile phone, your voice is transmitted from the antenna as radio frequency radiation (RFR) between 800MHz and 1,990MHz at a range that's right in the middle of microwave territory. Microwaves similar to those emitted by cell phones affect long-term memory, according to a new study by a University of Washington researcher, Henry Lai. Public exposure to electromagnetic radiation (radio frequency and microwave) is growing exponentially worldwide with the introduction and use of cordless phones, cellular phones, pagers and antennas in communities designed to transmit their RF signals.

The virtual revolution in science taking place now is based on a growing recognition that non-thermal or low intensity RF exposure can be detected in living tissues and result in well defined bioeffects, including changes in cell membrane function, metabolism, cellular signal communication, activation of proto-oncogenes, and cell death. Resulting effects which are reported in the scientific literature include DNA breaks and chromosome aberrations, increased free radical production, cell stress and premature aging, changes in cell membrane function including memory loss, learning impairment, headaches and fatigue, sleep disorders, neurodegenerative conditions, reductions in melatonin secretion, and cancer. The United States has a de-facto policy of "post-sales surveillance" with respect to cell phones. That means cell phones can be sold to the public, and only after years of use will there be studies to characterize what health consequences, if any, have arisen as a result. Some scientists are even warning that constant cell phone use causes premature aging. Low level radiation from the phone "heats up" body cells, damaging skin and making the user look lined and haggard. Gradually, cells don't work properly, so the life process becomes less efficient. Heavy mobile phone users are just like heavy smokers who constantly inhale cell-damaging toxins without allowing the body time to repair the harm.

The Effect on Children

The fastest growing group of mobile phone users are children and young people. This growth is actively encouraged by professional advertising campaigns from the mobile phone industry, extolling how indispensable the phones are to their lifestyles. They have really gone out after the young people with prepay cards and colored handsets. Phone makers often present their products in adverts as essential "back to school" items for children.