145 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
145 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
IS CELLULAR DOOMED?
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by Ira Brodsky
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As published in Pen Magazine, Issue 12, Mar/Apr 1993. Entire contents (c) 1993 by PenWorld, Inc.
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Recent reports linking the use of portable cellular telephones
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with brain tumors have created anxiety among users, manufacturers,
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and service providers. Is the wireless revolution about to come to a
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screeching halt? Probably not.
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In fact, I suspect that the emotional stress produced by these
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reports will prove more injurious to people's health than the
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(allegedly) offending electromagnetic waves.
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What are the facts? There are ten million cellular telephone
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subscribers in the US. Perhaps as many as two million own portable
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phones. Two cases of brain tumors have been reported. Of course,
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additional cases may be disclosed in the next few months.
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11,800 people in the US are expected to die from brain cancer
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this year; 146,000 are expected to die from lung cancer. We can
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expect 84 portable cellular telephone users to die from brain cancer
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this year even if it is proven that there is no connection between the
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use of portable cellular telephones and getting brain cancer.
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We also know that the number and scope of studies in this field
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have been inadequate. While there have been many studies
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regarding the potential health hazards or physiological effects of
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radio frequency energy, few if any have been modeled after portable
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cellular telephone's frequency (800 mHz band), power level
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(maximum: 600 milliWatts), and proximity between antenna and
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living tissue.
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To my knowledge, the only proven physiological effect of
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microwave radio is heating. (The 800 mHz cellular telephone band,
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however, is well below the microwave oven band which is located at
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2400 mHz). It has been suggested that microwave energy could
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have other effects, particularly on cell membrane function, but I
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don't believe this has been proven.
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One scientist, physiologist Stephen Cleary of the Medical College
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of Virginia, conducted a study showing that the growth of cancerous
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cells is accelerated when exposed to radio waves. But even Cleary
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says he doesn't believe portable cellular phones cause cancer.
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The gap between a statistical correlation and proof of cause and
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effect is a longstanding problem faced by all scientific researchers.
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At this point, not enough brain tumor cases have been reported to
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even raise a statistical red flag. For all we know, the incidence of
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brain cancer among portable cellular telephone users is lower than
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among the population at large. If this turns out to be the case, it
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would make just as much sense to purchase a portable cellular
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telephone to help prevent brain cancer...
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Another thing wrong with this episode: if cellular radio waves
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pose a health hazard then the risk should increase with exposure
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(power level, daily usage, and number of years used), services
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adjacent to cellular telephone's frequency band should run similar
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risks: specialized mobile radio (SMR), private two-way radio, and the
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upper UHF-TV channels. Why have we not heard from these
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quarters? The signals emitted from TV transmitters (decades of use)
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are thousands of times stronger than those emitted from portable
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cellular telephones.
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Health Hazards & The Wireless Industry
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A big part of this dilemma hinges on perception. People are
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quicker to object to risks they feel they have been subjected to
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involuntarily. Like the video display terminal (VDT), wireless LANs
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and PBXs could become a new center of controversy for office
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workers. But it's my impression that most portable cellular
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telephone customers use their phones voluntarily.
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The wireless industry needs to get on top of the safety issue.
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Credable studies must be commissioned and the results must be
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publicly disclosed. Once a link between specific wireless products
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and health hazards is even hinted at, the industry finds itself in the
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unenviable position of trying to prove a negative. The fact that
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researchers are having a hard time proving that low power radio
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signals pose a health hazard doesn't make it any easier to prove that
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they do not.
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I suggest this "Industry Action Plan." First, data should be
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compiled on the number of cases expected in each related market
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based on the background rate of illnesses that might be linked to
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environmental causes. Second, the public needs to be made more
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fully aware of the types of electromagnetic radiation to which our
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bodies are already exposed-and how long this exposure has been
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going on. Third, we need to catalog the various studies that have
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been, or are being, conducted. Fourth, existing standards for
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maximum exposure should be publicized; most people are not aware
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that the power output of portable cellular telephones is already
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subject to safety restrictions. And finally, studies must be
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commissioned to fill in knowledge gaps in those areas likely to be of
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concern to the public.
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As for the emerging personal communications industry, the
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maximum power output of handheld personal communicators and
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personal digital assistants will generally be lower that that of
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portable cellular phones. Therefore, the risks will be lower.
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Wireless manufacturers have no excuse for being caught off
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guard by the brain tumor scare. This episode was foreseeable.
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Nevertheless, cellular telephone use will continue much as before.
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The fact is that people are willing to accept small risks as long as
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they know they have a choice.
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About The Author: Ira Brodsky is President of Wilmette, Illinois-
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based Datacomm Research Company, a market research firm
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specializing in emerging wireless communications. Brodsky is
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Chairman of Wireless User '93 Conference & Exposition which will be
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held March 29 - April 1, 1993 at Walt Disney World Village near
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Orlando, Florida. Readers can reach Dr. Wireless via radio at his
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Internet address: <brodsky@radiomail.net>.
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___________________________________________________________
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Who Started This?
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On Thursday, January 21, 1993, a group of guests on CNN's
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Larry King Live, claimed that they contracted brain cancer from their
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hand-held cellular phones.
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This group based their claims on the warnings issued in
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manuals accompanying cellular phones. For instance, the manual for
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the NEC P201 portable phone, which one of the guests used, cautions:
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"Radio Frequency Injury. Your phone is a power transmitting device.
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When the phone is in use, radio frequency with a power output level
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ranging from 0.6 to 3.0 watts of radio frequency energy radiates
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from the antenna. Avoid direct contact with the phone antenna
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and/or direct exposure to the radio frequency energy radiated from
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the antenna at high-level radiation periods.
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How can you avoid contact with the antenna when it's right by
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your ear? Furthermore, how do you avoid exposure with radiowaves
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which you cannot detect? Hence the controversey. What is or was
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really meant by the "caution" placed on packages by manufacturers?
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Although NEC (named in one suit) declined to comment,
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Motorola's Senior Vice President said that their warning was only for
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the car phone antenna, which one wouldn't be close to, and it was
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only because of the heat generated during operation that the
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warning is listed.
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Dr. Mays Swycord of the FDA has stated that studies indicate
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that cellular phone radio waves accelerate cancer growth, but do not
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cause the disease. And Dr. Thomas Stanley of the FCC issued a
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statement reassuring the public that devices using less than 0.7
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watts of power are considered safe by the government. Cellular
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phones use only 0.63 watts.
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Relax, you probably have nothing to worry about.
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___________________________________________________________
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If you want to keep-up with the fast-paced world of pens, PDAs,
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Communicators and related technologies, subscribe to 'PEN: The
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