I sold cell phones in 1986. They first hit the streets back then. They cost as much as $4,600.00 and I sold them to Senators, Hotels and many other important people with deep pockets. Now cell phone sales reach over 800 million units per year.
As cell phones came down in price and many people could afford them the use of the "handheld" became a health issue. The .6 watts of power was the threshold of power a "handheld" could offer as to emit the least amount of "RF" to which could hurt us.
People, if you didn't know it RF (radio frequency) is everywhere. It is boring through your brain right now. Every radio transmitter out there is sending waves as you read this. Thousands of different radio waves are bouncing off your head (and body) this instant.
For a long time a strong argument has been made that cell phone radio waves (radiation) emit a strong enough wave to penetrate your skull and somehow cause brain tumors.
And you may not simply able to get a brain tumor by holding up a cell phone to your head. Why? For the same reason I mentioned above, RF is everywhere. The closer you are to any signal source the more concern you should have. And here is more... just owning a cell phone can be cause for concern. They are always transmitting, even when not in conversation although the transmission signal is much much weaker. Just read this case: http://www.emf-health.com/reports-courtvictory.htm
Here is another point of fact about cell phones that has NEVER changed. The further you are from a cell phone tower, the stronger the power behind the RF. The phone knows it has to really work hard to reach further transmitters and this means more power emitted from the unit.
Today's story speaks of more doctors weighing in on the subject of cell phone brain cancers but they still offer NO definitive facts. And let us face it, if they did, it would be WALL TO WALL news coverage from print to radio and television. That day may come. In some ways it has. The best I could find was a small cell phone health study by Sweeds (800 patients) which also validates my claim about phones being used further from RF towers. Until the day comes when there is a verified connection between cell phone radiation and brain cancers, the only study to date so far that has been verfied is the connection between men having a lower sperm count when keeping cell phones in pants pockets.
While tumors have not been proven to be caused by cell phone use my personal plan is to use caution. I limit my cell phone use. But hey.. guess what. Your portable home phone emits no less than .6 watts too with RF right up next to your head. In fact cordless home phones may be found to be even far worse a health risk in terms of brain tumors when this all settles out one day. Another reason to use speakerphone I suppose. Doubt me? Research it.
But be careful if you read a study. Find out who funded it. You'd hate to put faith in a study and never know it was paid for by a cell phone manufacturer or a cell phone consortium.
But no matter what you do, you can't dodge RF and some RF can be more friendly than others by way of it's wavelength. I won't get into that, it gets complicated. But in the end, there are thousands upon thousands of radio waves bouncing off your body right now. It is the the unseen world polution that one day we may all face quite seriously.
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY- Cell Phone Concerns
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE - Cellular Telephone Use and Cancer Q & A
