The Trouble with Cell Phones

Feeling run down, perhaps it's your cell phone? Once again, Americans are showing a concern for the environment and are scrutinizing the purity of the foods they eat and the chemicals they use to clean and how all of this plays into their overall health and well being. But what about the purity of the electronic products we use everyday? We all know of the intense effects of microwave radiation on food, but what happens to the human brain as we ostensibly hold, "tiny, low-power, microwave ovens, without walls," to the sides of our heads? A recent article published in GQ entitled, "Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous to Your Health," outlines a great deal of scientific research that supports this alarming premise as well as the government and industry forces at work to discredit the findings. As the article's author admits, "It's hard to talk about the dangers of cell phone radiation without sounding like a conspiracy theorist." However, to the author's credit, there was also a time when smoking was considered completely safe and non-addicting, asbestos was thought to be a good non-cancer-causing home insulator and DDT a harmless and reliable pesticide.

Never being one to base important decisions on a singular source of information, I ran a couple of simple searches using some of the Health and Medicine databases available via the Austin Public Library. I've listed the article titles as well as the database I found them in so that you may find them for yourself and read the full text.

Health and Wellness Resource Center
"WHO (World Health Organization) Study Finds Cell Phone Usage May Cause Brain Cancer"
"Strong Signal for Cell Phone Effects: Nothing You Do For Children is Ever Wasted"

Consumer Health Complete
"Health Risks From Wireless Technologies"
"Growing Concern Over the Safety of Using Mobile Phones and Male Fertility"

Health Reference Center - Academic
"Cellular and Cordless Telephones and Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Case Report"