Are Mobile Phones Dangerous?.
Lets Consider:
Cell phones emits approximately 1 Watt of electromagnetic radiation. Most of that radiation travels off to find a cell phone tower. The tissues of the user will absorb a part of this radiation. These tissues include the caller’s hand, ear, scalp, skull, and brain. The closer your tissue is to the cell phone’s antenna, the more of the radiation the tissue absorbs. For some reason, however, none of those raising fears about cell phones causing cancer are concerned about skin cancers on palms, fingers, or ears.
• Are cell phones dangerous to use while driving?
• Do cell phones pose a serious health risk?
Dangers of Using a Cell Phone while Driving:
Drivers that talk on cell phones while they drive are at a far greater risk of being in an auto accident. A handful of states have made hand-held cell phone use illegal while operating a motor vehicle. Plug into a headset or hands-free device and then you’re safe, or so seems the message. But a growing series of studies suggests that drivers engaged in cell phone conversations, hands-free or otherwise, pose a serious threat to road safety.
To suggest that the safest legislation would be to totally ban the use of cell phones in cars. Obviously this suggestion faces huge opposition from telecommunication companies and auto manufacturers.
If everyone driving right now were unable to dial into his or her cell phones, life would be vastly different. Business transactions would slow down and wireless providers would lose millions of dollars. But auto accidents would drop drastically.
Responsibility for driver cell phone safety is the part of so many distinct factions.
Consumer safety advocates oppose telecommunication lobbyists, and some state lawmakers seem to avoid the larger issue of driver distractions. But without all participants it’s likely that the cell phone safety debate would lose the thrust required to effect real change. In the words of that old 1963 Sam Cook classic song, A change is gonna come.
Do you have a headache yet?
Health dangers quickly catch media attention. Cell phones have been charged with causing brain tumors, sleep disorders, migraines, and lowering sperm count. But how much of this hype is urban legend and how much is based on authentic research?
Wireless devices run on radio waves. Antennas emit varying levels of radio frequencies (RFs) that at some point are absorbed into the human body. The measurement of absorption, the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), is an indicator of this absorption. What’s the SAR of a cell phone? The FCC requires that all models of cell phones sold in the U.S. fall below 1.6 watts per kilogram. If you’re confused by the complex science, you’re not alone.
Hundreds of clinical studies have attempted to determine the risks of cell phone emissions. To echo the FDA: so far no conclusive evidence exists that proves a health risk from cell phone RFs. BUT studies still need to be done. Scientists have argued that research suffers when forced into short-term constraints. Consumers demand quick and speedy results, a demand that short-circuits authentic scientific study.
Knowing how and where to get the information you need to remain an informed consumer means half the battle is won. Cellphones play a major role in everyday life. Health and safety, on and off the road, is already a major concern.
Will you Cause a Major Explosion in a Gas Station?
This is an excerpt from a Motorola brochure for the Satellite Series 9500 Portable Telephone:
[T]his telephone has not been designed or approved for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. Areas with a potentially explosive atmosphere are often, not always, clearly marked.Potentially explosive atmospheres include:
Fueling areas such as gasoline stations
Below deck on boats
Fuel or chemical transfer or storage facilities
Vehicles using liquefied petroleum gas such as propane
Areas where the air contains chemicals or particles such as grain dust or metal powders and
Any other area where you would normally be advised to turn off your engine.
Sparks in such area would cause an explosion or fire resulting in bodily injury or even death.
No laughing matter, apparently, nor should we suppose Motorola was trying to pull our legs. Similar cautions have been issued by other manufacturers, though industry spokesmen have more recently begun downplaying them, saying the actual risk is very slim, especially with newer and better-constructed models.
I have owned many many cell phones and have yet to find one that sparks, however the old maxim it’s better to be safe than sorry would be wise to remember.
An explosion occurred in a gas station in Adelaide , Australia after a tanker finished pumping fuel into an underground diesel tank. The direct cause, he determined, was static electricity igniting a flammable mixture of fuel vapors and air which had accumulated in the emptied tanker compartment. [Source: The Investigation of the AMPOL Road Pantry Service Station Fire, 325 Brighton Rd, Brighton North, August 28, 1993, by Darryl Horsel, District Officer.]
Was a telephone connected in any way with this explosion? Not causally, but according to Gavin Dougherty the tanker driver testified to using the public telephone in the customer reception area of the station before pumping the fuel. He went out to start the fueling then returned to the reception area to kill time. That’s when the explosion occurred.
It’s possible, Dougherty theorizes, that newspaper reports citing the driver’s good fortune at being inside the station when the tanker blew up may have led to a false association in the public’s mind between his use of the telephone and the explosion. It’s a theory folklorists would approve
So what else can cause sparks or static electricity in Gas Stations?
Automobile engines, I have owned many many cars that sparked like a fireworks show.
Static electricity can build up in your clothing and is often released after exiting the car and touching the door to close it.
While there doesn’t appear to be any authenticated explosive events recorded in gas stations as the result of using a cell phone, it’s still very wise to avoid the possibility and become famous as the first person to cause one.