Mobile Phones: Are They Safe For Your Family?
This post orginally appeared in www.organicgreendaddy.com.
Recently the French Government released an official warning to their citizens regarding the risks of cell phone use, particularly among children and teenagers. In addition to the warning by the French governerment, two separate Swedish studies suggest that cell phones may be more harmful than we have been led to believe.
One indicates that electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phones harm red blood cells, while another suggests the radiation from mobile phones could damage the brain and trigger the onset of Alzheimer’s.
Despite these studies, the common refrain from our own government, the World Health Organization, and the cell phone providers is that science has so far yet to prove that long-term exposure to radio-frequency and microwave radiation are positively linked to any adverse health effects. In other words, since we can’t definitely prove they’re harmful, we should just keep using them at our leisure until told otherwise. After all, it’s a multi-billion dollar per year industry and we’d hate to examine the science behind the technology too closely, lest we discover something we may not want to know.
My question is, can anyone definitely prove them to be safe? Of course the answer to this question is a resounding “no,” as only a long-term and exhaustive study could categorically prove the converse of the prevailing wisdom. With these contradictory ideas in either hand, what are parents with a mind for raising their kids as safely as possible to do?
Use our innate wisdom, that’s what.
See, I believe we all possess inherent wisdom about what is right for us, what is safe for us, and what is best for our planet, but we are often taught to disregard our inner wisdom in favor of what society says is best for us. What is often not revealed, however, is that what we call society often has an agenda that is not always congruent with our own best interests.
Take cell phones. Doesn’t common sense dictate that we don’t want things emitting microwave radiation near our brains, our children, or our reproductive organs? Do I really need a warning from France or a study from Sweden to tell me that electromagnetic radiation is possibly harmful? I mean, if a microwave can cook a sandwich, it can cook my brain, right?
But someone might say, “The intensity of a microwave oven far outweighs the intensity of the microwaves in my cell phone! You’re being an alarmist! Paranoid! Hypochondriac, even!” But do I cook a sandwich for 45 minutes at time, five times a day, every day of the year, right next to my head?
The bottom line is, we need to use discretion and common sense when determining what is right for us and our family. Given the current scientific findings about mobile phones, we should use them in moderation until we positively know the health risks. And if we can’t limit the use of cell phones, there are several things we can do right now to mitigate the possible risks:
Keep them away from our bodies, our brains, and our reproductive organs. When driving the car, I used to place my phone between my legs but my wife helped me realize that I should probably place it in the cup holder instead. To keep it away from my brain, I use a hands-free device, and not a Bluetooth (more signals floating through the air). To keep it away from my body, I carry it in a jacket or a bag instead of my pants pocket.
Limit our children’s use of mobile phones. One of the Swedish studies mentioned above looked at the radiation’s effect on young rats’ brains, to get an idea of how these waves might effect the developing brains of children and teenagers specifically. Brain cell damage was the result, and to a greater degree than in mature rats, so it’s likely that mobile phones might be even more dangerous to our children than they are to us. Often parents say that they feel safer knowing their children have cell phones on them, in case they encounter emergencies. Recently in Massachusetts a group of teen age girls were texting while driving and wound up in a fatal accident. More often than not, the phones are used to further children’s social lives instead of provide emergency contact, and as the text messaging example indicates, sometimes giving mobile phones to our children can make them even more susceptible to dangers we may have never foreseen. A possible solution to limit their use would be to put them on prepaid plans, with lower minutes available, or to give them calling cards so they can make emergency phone calls when necessary. When I was a kid, my mom gave me an open invitation to call collect. Can you even do that anymore?
Use our landlines while in the home or office.
Shield thyself. And if we must use a cell phone, purchase a radiation shield to mitigate the effects of the electromagnetic radiation. A simple Google search for cell phone radiation shields yield many low-cost options. They are often simply affixed to the phone with self-adhesive. They can also be purchased in many health food stores.
Ionize! Finally, mobile phones, along with any electronic communications devices and electrical equipment, to include (but not limited to) wireless networks, satellite receivers, computers, televisions, etc., all sweep away negative ions in the atmosphere, particularly while being used indoors. Negative ions are charged molecules that are known to clean the atmosphere of impurities. Negative ions are found in abundance in natural settings, especially in oceans, beaches, waterfalls, quickly running streams, and mountaintops, and create that feeling of invigorating freshness that we often experience while participating in outdoor activities in those settings. One way to counteract the de-ionizing effects of mobile phone use is to utilize a desktop or home ionizer, a salt lamp, or to spend time outdoors, particularly near running water, whenever possible or practical.
The main lesson here is that we must take responsibility for our health and the health of children. Technology is advancing rapidly and often it is difficult to keep up with the product safety issues of the latest innovations.
The Monkey and I don’t intend to alarm anyone unnecessarily or to create panic, but to instead arm people with all of the latest information available so we can make informed choices. And the more parents take this type of responsibility for their well being of their families, the less our children will be exposed to peer pressure to have the latest cell phone as a status symbol.
Photo by: Martin Lundgren
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