Here are two questions we at Gimme the Good Stuff hear quite a lot from our readers:
- “Is there a link between cell/smart phones and cancer?”
- “Is there a product that provides effective radiation protection?”
As you probably know, your cell phone, along with other common household electronic devices, emits EMFs (electromagnetic radiation fields). That much is an established fact. Vexingly, we are far less certain what health concerns these EMFs might cause.
Until recently, studies have been either inconclusive or show little reason for concern. But the last several years found the World Health Organization, at the urging of over 195 scientists from 39 countries, and citing over 2,000 peer-reviewed studies, reclassifying devices emitting EMFs as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
French researchers have found an almost three-fold increase in the incidence of brain cancer in people with more than 900 hours of lifetime cellphone use. Swedish researchers also found that the risk of being diagnosed with brain cancer increased by a factor of three in people who had used cell or cordless phones for at least 25 years. Research on lab animals has caused similar concerns.
Bear in mind that this technology is still in its infancy and as a rule I’d rather err on the side of safety, especially when I consider the fact that:
- When I was a kid, cigarettes were considered safe, and there were even doctors who endorsed particular brands.
- In the 1960s, many doctors believed that diet played little or no role in our health.
- Recently, the American Cancer Society changed mammography guidelines, based on a new understanding of the risks.
I’ll stop there. The point is that when industry-funded, scientific researchers claim that cell phone use is safe, I can’t help but wonder if, in twenty or thirty years, we will look back and wonder how we could have been so foolish. Children–due to lower skull density and a still-developing brain–would likely be even more vulnerable to the potential carcinogenic effects of cell phones.
Cell Phone Radiation Protection
The good news is that there are ways to decrease the amount of EMFs we expose ourselves to without giving up our phones entirely. For better or worse, cell phones are here to stay, so we need to learn how to use them safely.
(Related Post: iPad Radiation)
Here are some things you can do to drastically decrease the amount of EMFs you are hit with:
- Don’t let your kid use your cell phone. Admittedly, I love to FaceTime with my grandsons. But we try to keep these calls brief.
- Use your speakerphone. Every centimeter of distance between your brain and your cell phone reduces the amount of EMR exponentially.
- Put your phone on airplane mode when you’re not using it. If nothing else, you should always put your phone in airplane mode at night if you use it as an alarm and therefore have it next to you.
- Don’t use your phone when the signal is weak. When the bars are low, your phone has to work harder to find the signal–which means higher radiation for you.
- Invest in a protection device. The internet is thick with products that claim to reduce or eliminate EMF exposure from cell phones. Some of these products are pure quackery, while others have proven their effectiveness in independent labs. We’ve done research on several products, and generally speaking, any product that is worn as a pendant or necklace won’t block or absorb EMFs in any effective way.
- Use tube-type headphones. Normal headphones are attached with a wire that can transmit EMFs to your head.
