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.

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. This advertising blitz was produced by the same transnational public relations corporations that previously gave us such delightful cartoon characters as "Joe Camel" for the tobacco industry, and no words of warning are heard. However, within the scientific community, there is a growing chorus of expert voices that are urging caution because, if there are adverse health effects from mobile phone use, it will be the children who will be in the front line and who may pay the highest price. For the sake of the future of our children's health, we need to heed these voices seriously and limit children's unnecessary use of mobile phones. Children may be more vulnerable because of their developing nervous systems, the greater absorption of energy in the tissues of the head, and a longer lifetime of exposure. Children are more sensitive to microwaves than adults; they absorb microwaves at 3.3 times the rate of adults. While some manufacturers target children for cell phone sales, cell phone radiation penetrates the skulls and brains of kids more deeply than adults, and this radiation might cause tumors or otherwise affect a developing brain.

Children are more vulnerable because of their developing nervous system, the greater absorption of energy in the tissues of the head, and a longer lifetime of exposure. Absorption of microwaves of the frequency used in mobile telephony is greatest in an object about the size of a child's head, the so-called head resonance, while in consequence of the thinner skull of a child, the penetration of the radiation into the brain is greater than in an adult. Children's brain wave patterns are abnormal and stay like that for a long period. This could affect their mood and ability to learn in the classroom if they have been using a phone during break time, for instance, leading to things like a lack of concentration, memory loss, inability to learn and aggressive behaviour. The still-developing nervous system and associated brainwave activity in a child are more vulnerable to aggression by the pulses of microwaves used in these devices than is the case with a mature adult. This is because the multi-frame repetition frequency of 8.34 Hz and the 2 Hz pulsing that characterizes the signal from a phone equipped with discontinuous transmission (DTX) lie in the range of the alpha and delta brainwave activities, respectively.

The fact that these two particular electrical activities are constantly changing in a child until the age of about 12 years, when the delta waves disappear and the alpha rhythm is finally stabilized, means that they must both be anticipated to be particularly vulnerable to interference from the pulsations. The increased mitotic activity (cell division) in the cells of developing children makes them more susceptible to genetic damage. A child's immune system, whose efficiency is, in any case, degraded by radiation of the kind used in mobile telephony, is generally less integrous than that of an adult, so the child is less able to cope with any adverse health effect provoked by chronic exposure to such radiaiton. Scientists have discovered that a call lasting just two minutes can alter the natural electrical activity of a child's brain for up to an hour afterwards. They also found for the first time how radio waves from mobile phone spenetrate deep into the brain and not just around the ear.

Doctors fear that disturbed brain activity in children could lead to psychiatric and behavioural problems or imair learning ability. Several brands of cell phones exceed the radiation limits specified in FCC guidelines, ABC News show 20/20 reported. The widespread use of mobile phones by children for non-essential calls should be discouraged. The mobile phone industry should refrain from promoting the use of mobile phones by children. Dr. Ross Adey, a widely published RF researcher stated that "Children categorically should not, be encouraged or allowed to use" cell phones. Epidemiology has seen a large number of examples where health hazards were initially described with unconvincing and sometimes inadequate experiments that demonstrated a weak association with a given environmental influence. Such associations were found between cholera and drinking water containing fecal contaminants, between smoking and lung cancer or between exposure to vinyl chloride and certain forms of liver cancer. All these associations were highly questioned in the past and are now well recognized.

Current Research on Cell Phones

Though 85 million Americans now use cell phones, Europeans began widespread use of them much earlier with many now reporting side effects from their use. At least one of the symptoms noted, which include dizziness, concentration difficulties, memory loss, and a burning sensation, showed up in 47 percent of people who reported using these wireless devices an hour or more daily. The China Consumers Association (CCA) issued a "worrisome" warning about Chinese cell phones' electromagnetic radiation and how this might affect phone users. According to the CCA, tests have found that some cell phones' radiation was as high as 10,000 microwatts per square centimeter (1,550 mw per square inch). Half of cell phone's radiation is absorbed by the human body and another quarter by the brain. The strongest link yet shows a high cancer death rate among soldiers exposed to microwave radiation, the same as that emitted by the phones. Using a mobile phone could drastically reduce your sex drive, new research shows. Exposed rats had far less testosterone in their blood stream than those that remained unexposed. The higher the dose of radiation, the less testosterone was released by the body's glands, resulting in diminished sexual activity." The test results are being studied in Britain, where scientists are conducting similar research.

Current safety guidelines for cell phones assume no harmful effects, as long as the microwave radiation they emit does not cause heating of body tissue. Exposure limits are intended to protect us only from excessive temperatures caused by absorption of energy, a known danger linked to the intensity of radio frequency microwaves. But living cells respond in non-thermal ways to the fields produced by cell phones, and at intensities below the established safety threshold. Ionizing radiation is a well-established risk factor for brain tumors. Exposure to ionizing radiation, work in laboratories, and work in the chemical industry increased the risk of brain tumors. Use of a cellular telephone is associated with an increased risk in the anatomic area with highest exposure. In addition to extremely low frequency (ELF) electric power fields, many millions of mobile phone users worldwide are now also exposed daily to radio frequency fields under near-field conditions. We may expect that these newly evolved behavioral patterns will be lifelong, with intermittent exposures at the phone user's head making yet one more contribution to an already complex daily EMF exposure arising in an aggregate of multiple and disparate sources. The cell phone industry continues to downplay the risk and defer to more research. The precautionary principle is a good one for an age in which technology is doubling every few months and the impact of that technology may not be known for years after. We need to open the doors in this area and in the mean time, find ways to reduce risk and exposures for EMFs--particularly those created by home remote and cell phones.

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Study indicates mobile phones increase tumor risk

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) — Ten or more years of mobile phone use increases the risk of developing acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the auditory nerve, according to a study released in October 2004 by Sweden 's Karolinska Institute.

The risk was confined to the side of the head where the phone was usually held and there were no indications of increased risk for those who have used their mobile for less than 10 years, the Karolinska Institute said in a statement.

The institute, one of Europe 's largest medical universities and a clinical and biomedical research center, awards the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

"At the time when the study was conducted only analogue mobile phones had been in use for more than 10 years and therefore we cannot determine if there results are confined to use of analogue phones or if the results would be similar also after long-term use of digital (GSM) phones," it said.

The mobile phone market is now dominated by GSM phones, which replaced the bulkier and less advanced analogue phones in many markets the mid- and late-1990s.

The mobile phone industry has said there is no scientific evidence of negative health effects from use of mobile phones.

The Karolinska Institute said 150 people with acoustic neuroma and 600 healthy people participated in the study.

"The risk of acoustic neuroma was almost doubled for persons who started to use their mobile at least 10 years prior to diagnosis," the institute said.

"When the side of the head on which the phone was usually held was taken into consideration, we found that the risk of acoustic neuroma was almost four times higher on the same side as the phone was held and virtually normal on the other side."

Finland 's Nokia is the world's biggest mobile phone maker.

Other large producers include Motorola of the United States , South Korea 's Samsung Electronics , Germany 's Siemens and Swedish-Japanese joint venture Sony Ericsson.

Global mobile phone sales have been booming as thousands of new users sign up every day and existing subscribers replace their old handsets with new ones, capable of taking pictures or playing music.

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Independent Research Funded by Industry

The industry has been involved in attempting to influence the research and has been required to pay for independent research. The companies involved have attempted to control the data flow to the public as information has become available. As far back as 1996 the issues began to surface with the following report. Motorola Inc. planned how to collaborate with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and Wireless Technology Research L.L.C. to downplay potentially damaging scientific findings on possible health risks from portable telephones, according to a Dec. 1994 internal Motorola memo. The company the industry sought to collaborate with was the firm, which eventually used over $27,000,000 industry dollars to research the risks of cell phones. In the body of that research several issues emerged creating additional studies.

The U.S. wireless industry, responding to the global proliferation of media coverage of mobile phone health concerns and to Internet-savvy activists, is leading an effort to create a worldwide information-sharing network to counter negative publicity. The Wireless Industry Global Information Network, or WIN, held its first meeting Dec. 10, 1998 in London. Dr. George Carlo's initial reports were framed in the standard conservative approach at finding the facts which science demonstrates. In an attack on the industry for which he once acted as a spokesman, he accused firms of not taking safety seriously. "The companies are now spending millions trying to discredit me because, basically, they didn't like what I told them. I feel angry and let down." After presenting its results to the phone companies in February, he claims they failed to take "the appropriate steps to protect consumers". They have shown total disregard for the users.

Dr. George Carlo, in his capacity as director of Wireless Technology Research wrote a letter to the CEO of AT&T, which has serious legal implications for mobile phone manufacturers who have claimed that there is no evidence for adverse health effects from mobile phone use. With the letter widely circulated in the industry, making that claim now could possibly expose them to litigation in much the same way as what happened to the tobacco industry, where it was shown that industry assurances of no evidence of hazards from smoking was a complete fabrication. The rate of death from brain cancer among handheld phone users is higher than the rate of brain cancer death among those who used non-handheld phones that are away from their head. The risk of acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor of the auditory nerve that is well in the range of the radiation coming from a phone's antenna, was fifty percent higher in people who reported using cell phones for six years or more, moreover, that relationship between the amount of cell phone use and this tumor appeared to follow a dose-response curve.

The risk of rare neuro epithelial tumors on the outside of the brain was more than doubled, a statistically significant risk increase, in cell phone users as compared to people who did not use cell phones. There appeared to be some correlation between brain tumors occurring on the right side of the head and the use of the phone on the right side of the head. Laboratory studies looking at the ability of radiation from a phone's antenna to cause functional genetic damage were definitely positive, and were following a dose-response relationship. The cell phone transmits a microwave signal from an antenna to a base station or tower, often miles away. The farther from the tower, or if the phone is inside a building or a car, the more power this phone is told by the tower to send out to make or keep the connection.

Depending on how close the cell phone antenna is, as much as 60 percent of the microwave radiation is absorbed by and actually penetrates the area around the head, some reaching an inch to an and a half into the brain. The $200-billion-a-year cell phone industry maintains the devices are safe. The question of cell phone safety recently led Metrocall of Alexandria, Va., the nation's third-largest pager company and a major seller of AT&T cellular phones to warn its sales staff that parents buying for a child or young adult should consider a pager instead of a cell phone due to potential health risks.

Liability and Possible Claims

The industry has largely put forth studies that looked at the effects of radio waves outside the cellular frequency, or at exposure levels that are different from those experienced by cellular phone users. The industry hasn't told the public the full story about how there has been very little research on biological effects at low-level exposures, similar to those of handheld phones. Very limited information has been available to the public about the risks of cell phones or various electromagnetic fields outside of some obscure research and academic circles. The fact is that increasing evidence has been mounting and the true risks of these energy fields are becoming well known. The possibility of another tobacco-type of health scandal was perhaps in the offing when a closed Congressional hearing was held to develop regulations and recommend further studies of electromagnetic field (EMF) health effects.

They suggested moderation in phone use until more is known, while an FDA paper, dated Feb. 4, 1992, suggested: those who spend long periods of time on their hand-held cellular phones could consider holding lengthy conversations on conventional phones and reserving the hand-held cellular models for shorter conversations. Many studies have been sponsored by industry, academic institutions, and government laboratories and by military research organizations into the effects of low levels of electromagnetic radiation. The constant problem in the debate of risks is the limited knowledge about very specific fields, interacting with our bodies, having significant health effects. These effects vary throughout populations with some effected to a greater degree than others. This is related to our physical and biochemical differences. The research that is being conducted by the industry is ignoring much of what has already appeared in the literature regarding risk factors.

The FDA concluded in a February 8, 2000 report that; There is currently insufficient scientific basis for concluding that wireless communication technologies are safe or that they pose a risk to millions of users. A significant research effort, including well-planned animal experiments, is needed to provide the basis to assess the risk to human health of wireless communications devices. The FDA began a three to five year study to look at some of these effects. This came at the conclusion of the industry sponsored study which, along with other recent studies, show increasing risk to human health related to cell phone emissions. Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, P.L. 101-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996). Section 704 of the act amends the Communications Act by providing federal preemption of state and local regulation of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of RF environmental effects. In other words states and local communities may not adopt more stringent protections if the federal regulatory authorities fail to protect the public. This limitation on the rights of states or local governments essentially leaves any risk assessment and solution to the federal level regulatory authorities. The FDA approach and the reluctance of the United States government to move on this issue is directly related to lobby efforts, public relations gimmicks and the manipulation of the facts behind what is a major concern to many. Other governments are taking a different approach.

The risks associated with cell phones are being considered too risky even by the biggest risk takers in the insurance industry. Concern about the safety of mobile phones has prompted a leading Lloyd's underwriter to refuse to insure phone manufacturers against the risk of damage to users' health. Fears that mobile phones will be linked to illnesses such as cancer and Alzheimer's have prompted John Fenn, of underwriting group Stirling, to refuse to cover manufacturers against the risk of being sued if mobiles turn out to cause long-term damage. Risk management and the kinds of legal concerns arising out of the tobacco lawsuit has turned insurers of product liability claims on their heads. A number of employers expect their employees to carry out their duties and responsibilities using mobile phones for hours at a time. It could well turn out to be a non-safe system of work for which substantial damages may be awarded as a result of adverse health conditions. A number of cases have already been settled out of Court but again subject to confidentiality clauses. Companies recognizing potential third party litigation have also been attempting to reduce their risk. Employers who require cell phone use in the course of employee work are putting forward reasonable technological advances, which could decrease risk. The risk of future litigation increases if the precaution is not taken to provide a safe workplace. The removal of the cell phone from the head is helpful to reducing exposure to the head but it can still expose the body to the effects of its radiation.

Base-stations or cell phone towers also pose risks. The installation of base stations for mobile telephone systems has been delayed or has met opposition from the public because of concerns that the RF emissions from these base stations might cause cancer in children. In the United States, for example, 85% of the total number of base stations needed have yet to be constructed. The significant increase in these systems and their interactions with other energy fields in our homes, cars and work places will in fact be significantly increasing health risks. International organizations are also looking at the risks because of increasing public concern, scientific evidence and industry concerns. In May 1996, in response to growing public health concerns in many member states over possible health effects from exposure to an ever-increasing number and diversity of EMF sources, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an international project to assess health and environmental effects of exposure to electric and magnetic fields, which became known as the International EMF Project. Other studies are already producing the evidence of biological effects. The research continues and the health effects mount. With over 1.3 billion people projected to be using these devices in the year 2005 the risks must be understood and addressed.

The FDA advises persons concerned about exposure to cell phone radiation to take some simple steps to avoid exposure. Those persons who spend long periods of time on their hand-held mobile phones could consider holding lengthy conversations on conventional phones and reserving the hand-held models for shorter conversations. People who must conduct extended conversations in their cars every day could switch to a type of mobile phone that places more distance between their bodies and the source of RF, since the exposure level drops off dramatically with distance. How cell phones might effect our health is compelling people to take heed of the warnings and find ways to reduce exposure without giving up the device. Some have resorted to earpieces and belt level phones. This may in fact prove to be even worse than head exposure because of the way in which the phone then operates. More power is required and exposure to softer tissue allows more energy to transfer into the body. Cars and other vehicles screen the microwave emissions from the mobile phone when in use and so act as a Faraday cage. GSM phones compensate for this by increasing the power output resulting in greater microwave absorption in the user.

Ferrite Sleeves

Radiation from hands-free mobile phones can be reduced to virtually zero by a simple tiny magnetic bead. One of the most used yet least understood techniques for reducing both incoming and outgoing RF interference is the application of ferrite sleeves or beads to cables and at interfaces. A ferrite bead or sleeve is simply a hollow cylinder made of ferrite, which is a semi-magnetic substance made from iron oxide alloyed with other metals. It is most commonly used with computer cables, where it is slipped over the cable while the cable is being made, or snapped around the cable in two pieces after the cable is made. The beads can be clamped to the hands-free kit's wire and stops radiation from traveling up the wire and into the user's head.

Current flowing through a conductor creates a magnetic field around it. Transfer of energy between the current and the magnetic field is effected through the inductance of the conductor - for a straight wire the self-inductance is typically 20nH per inch. Placing a magnetically permeable material around the conductor increases the flux density for a given field strength and therefore increases the inductance.

Ferrite is such a material; its permeability is controlled by the exact composition of the different oxides that make it up (ferric, with typically nickel and zinc) and is heavily dependent on frequency. Also the permeability is complex and has both real and imaginary parts, which translate into both inductive and resistive components of the impedance "inserted" into the line passed through the ferrite. The ratio of these components varies with frequency - at the higher frequencies the resistive part dominates (the ferrite can be viewed as a frequency dependent resistor) and the assembly becomes lossy, so that RF energy is dissipated in the bulk of the material and resonances with stray capacitances are avoided or damped.

The performance of a ferrite suppressor is consistent over time and over a wide range of temperatures. With the proper matching, placement, fit, and sizing, ferrites can provide an effective solution to unwanted RF interference. If more suppression is required, looping the cable through the ferrite can increase the effectiveness of a ferrite without increasing cost. In addition, multiple looping locks the ferrite into position along the longitudinal axis of the cable.

Hands-free Kits

Hands-free kits are also discussed, revealing the hidden risks. It turns out that "hands-free" cell phones may not save you from the Grim Reaper after all. Currently, the cellular industry is encouraging the use of hands-free kits, but cite their only advantage as being to offer greater freedom of use to the user, nothing else. The fact is, they know the real reason users are buying them is because they think these kits protect them from radiation exposure. But, hands-free kits are no guarantee of lowering radiation emissions from mobile phones, and, in some cases, they actually increase it. Recent tests have shown that while direct exposure to the head is reduced by around 70 percent, all that is happening is the radiation is being transferred to another part of the body, which is potentially more vulnerable because it does not have the thickness of the skull to protect itself, such as the waist or chest areas. Earpieces serve as antennae that direct more electromagnetic radiation into the ears. Phone models may differ in the degree to which their internal wires conduct electricity.

Not only are many hands-free devices useless in protecting wireless phone users from radiation that might cause tumors, these products may actually raise the amount of radiation being directed into the head by three times. Using a mobile phone clipped to your waist results in a hotspot of radiation being pumped into the liver and kidneys, prostate, uterus, and ovaries. There is concern that they may intensify radiation exposure to the ear canal. Using a hands-free kit and making a call with a mobile phone clipped to your belt also means the phone will generally be working at a higher power level. That's because it is generally harder to transmit from waist-height than head height. But there's a lot of body tissue in that area which has good conductivity and absorbs radiation more quickly than the head. People think hands-free kits are safer, so tend to spend more time on the phone. Ii works harder to pick up a signal if it is down at waist, where more radiation is absorbed, than at the head.

Air Tubes

Conventional Headsets use wire to deliver sound to the earpiece and also deliver microwave radiation directly to your head. The RF3 Aircom Technology delivers crystal clear sound through an air-filled wireless tube, which eliminates the possibility of radiation reaching your head from the headset.

The RF3 Celluar Headset is the world's first headset to be developed using AirCom™ Technology. This technology utilizes a state-of-the-art SPL enhanced sound chamber which delivers a crystal clear sound through an air-filled wireless tube (similar to a doctor's stethoscope). By replacing the wire with AirCom™ Technology, the RF3 Cellular Headset eliminates the possibility of radiation from reaching your head, providing true hands-free safety!

A 2002 CES Award Winner, the RF3 hands free headset incorporates some of the most durable electronic components on the market today. Sleek and sophisticated in design, the RF3 Cellular Headset is the new standard by which all new headsets will be measured. As cellular phone use increases throughout the world so do concerns about the potential effects of electromagnetic radiation. The RF3 Cellular Headset was developed with these issues in mind.

The RF3 Next Generation Cellular Headset is available in 2.5mm or Nokia 8000/3000 plug versions, with EarHook or Earbud designs which will fit most cell phones. Adaptors are available to convert many phones over to a 2.5m plug.

Non-thermal verses Thermal Effects

The literature is full of published papers showing damage and biological effects at power levels that were set deliberately well below thermal thresholds and therefore by definition could not have been caused by thermal damage. Even if we assume the thermal only argument to be correct, there are circumstances that the group should be aware of, where exposure exceeds even the thermal limits. Mobile users who wear metal-rimmed glasses are intensifying the exposure to their eyes by 20 per cent and into the head by 6.3 per cent. Using a mobile in a vehicle can accelerate radiation levels by up to 10-fold due to resonance effect. These risks associated with remote telephone use cannot be ignored. Intelligence documents show that Western governments have known about Soviet experiments using mobile phone-type radiation to cause brain damage for more than 20 years.

The uncensored documents reveal that Soviet military scientists had successfully used microwaves of the type used by mobile phones to weaken the blood brain barrier. US Army scientists had succeeded in duplicating the Soviet experiments by 1977--eight years before mobile phones became generally available in Britain. This work was done as a result of microwave bombardments of the United States Embassy in Moscow as well as reports about research by the Soviets. At that particular time the safety standards for exposure to radio frequency radiation in the Soviet Union was significantly more stringent than United States standards by almost 1000 times. Russian and other East European countries' exposure standards for radio frequency and microwave radiation are much stricter that in the U.S or Western Europe.

Western standard setting organizations have emphasized protection from RF/MW thermal effects...while Russia's more restrictive standard also reflects a concern over non-thermal effects and subjective symptoms. Biological studies of enzymes and human cells exposed in vitro to radio frequency/microwave fields have shown a number of effects which cannot be explained simply by the heating effects of radiation on which our current standards are based. These include changes in cell membrane permeability to potassium, sodium and calcium; changes in the composition or behavior of blood-forming and immunological cells; alteration of calcium ion exchange in nerve tissue; changes in the firing patterns of neurons; and changes in levels of cancer related enzymes. Very close range exposure to microwaves from a cellular phone base station increases the effect of a chemical mutagen on human blood cells, leading to increased chromosomal aberrations.

Microwave radiation such as that emitted by cell phones can heat objects in its path. The heat generated causes the body to begin to expend energy to cool the area and otherwise return to its state of equilibrium before it was irradiated by the device. One study, by the American Health Foundation, in New York, found that mobile phone users had double the risk of developing a certain type of brain tumor than people who did not use them. A second study found that DNA in human blood cells broke down when exposed to large doses of mobile-phone radiation, possibly laying the genetic groundwork for cancer. Most studies have examined the results of short-term, whole body exposure to RF fields at levels far higher than those normally associated with wireless communications. With the advent of such devices as walkie-talkies and mobile phones, it has become apparent that few studies address the consequences of localized exposures to RF fields to the head.

Scientists have reported other effects of using mobile phones including changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns. When mobile phones are used close to some medical devices (including pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, and certain hearing aids) there is a possibility of causing interference. There is also the potential of interference between mobile phones and aircraft electronics. Interference with electronic circuits is acknowledged, but many vigorously fight discussion of the effects on the more sensitive human body.

Reducing the Risk

As the EMF/EMR health effects issue becomes more widely known, especially in relation to mobile phone use, there is a corresponding increasing number of so called EMF protective devices being advertised in health and alternative magazines as "cure-alls" which apparently claim to provide complete protection from exposure to all forms of man made electromagnetic fields (EMF). There is a wide range of devices being offered that make all kinds of unsubstantiated claims.

1. Reducing use is universally regarded as the best step. Use by children should be eliminated. Indoor use increases exposure significantly because the signal strength requires creating a connection from inside a car or building is much greater. Home portable phones should be replaced with the old style hard-wired phones and cell phone use significantly reduced.

2. If still using a cell phone or portable home phone keep the phone away from the body when in standby mode. When in use hold the phone as far away from the head as possible. Even three or four inches can significantly reduce the exposure because the energy density drops very rapidly with distance from the body. Keep the antenna away from the head and pointing away from the body. Radiation from all sources obeys the inverse square law. That is, the further you are from the source the less intense your exposure to the radiation. In fact, it drops off with the square of your distance from the source. If you are twice as far from a fire you feel 1/4 of the radiant heat, but if you move four times as far away you only feel one-sixteenth of the heat.

3. None of the devices claiming to eliminate all emissions have any science behind them. Researchers were able to find two systems, which are supported by science and United States Patents. One of these devices is being marketed under Cell/Wave Guard. They found that up to 61% of radio frequency emissions could be prevented from entering the body. While this represents a significant reduction it is not known if it is enough to guard against all potential effects. However, it is the best technology easily available today.

Physical Effects

Our ability to generate the entire spectrum of electromagnetic fields is a double-edged sword. With no understanding of the relationship of these fields to living organisms, we have produced a global environmental alteration that has profound implications for human health. This has exposed all living organisms, from microorganisms to humans to novel energetic fields that never before existed. Complex electronic-resonance effects operate at the level of individual ions or molecules and can occur even in the absence of cells. If a charged particle or ion is exposed to a steady magnetic field, it will begin to go into a circular, or orbital motion at right angles to the applied magnetic field. The speed with which it orbits will be determined by the ratio between the charge and the mass of the particle and by the strength of the magnetic field. While the effects of complex electronic-resonance phenomena at the level of ions and molecules are significant, the resultant change in the function or structure of cells is far more important. The effects of field exposure at the level of the total organism are the sum of the effects at the molecular level, the cellular level, and the level of the specific organs designed to be sensitive to the Earth's normal EMF environment. Field effects on entire functioning organisms are, therefore, a cascade of changes that finally result in many different structural, functional, and behavioral alterations, such as the new diseases that are emerging today. All abnormal, man-made electromagnetic fields, regardless of their frequencies, produce the same biological effects. Some of them are:

Effects on growing cells, such as increases in the rate of cancer-cell division.

Increases in the incidence of certain cancers

Developmental abnormalities in embryos

Alterations in neurochemicals, resulting in behavioral abnormalities such as suicide

Alterations in biological cycles

Stress responses in exposed animals that, if prolonged, lead to declines in immune-system efficiency

Alterations in learning ability

These bioeffects interact to weaken the health status of a human being who is chronically exposed to any abnormal field. The stress effect results in many stress-related diseases. If prolonged, this weakens the immune system, resulting in more inflammatory disease and cancer. The simultaneous effect of enhanced cancer-cell growth and the increase in the malignant changes of these cells leads to more cancer with faster-than normal rates of growth, especially in tissues with continuous rates of cell division. The effect of field exposure on the human fetus is particularly important. Exposure to electromagnetic fields will result in the combined alterations of the speed and timing of fetal cell division, impairment of the genetic apparatus of dividing fetal cells, and the production of chromosomal abnormalities in the germ cells of the parents, all contribute to imbalance of normal development. Research has found a mechanism by which a very weak electrical signal can trigger a series of reactions that promote cancer by leading to unregulated cell growth.

The cell membrane has a huge electrical gradient across it. A very, very weak signal at some point along the membrane can trigger a tremendous increase in the amount of energy released at the surface of the cell, he says. The result could be a disruption in communication within and between cells causing them to begin growing out of control. This means that EMFs so weak that they were long believed not to have any physiological significance undoubtedly can influence the behavior of cells through this amplification of energy mechanism. The cell membranes can detect a signal so weak that it would compare to your taking a 1.5 volt flashlight battery, putting a wire from one end of it in the Pacific Ocean at San Diego and putting a wire from the other end in Puget Sound to make a circuit including the ocean. Over that 1,200 mile wire, you'd get about one ten-millionth of a volt per centimeter. This is a very powerful mechanism for amplifying energy at the cell level. Exposure of human T-cell lymphocytes in culture to a low-strength 60-Hz electric field for forty-eight hours significantly reduces their cytotoxic ability against foreign cells.