Are mobile phones and Wi-fi the new tobacco and asbestos?

[Damocles]

No long term studies have been done on mobile phone or wi-fi signals - could they be a big cause of cancer in 20 years or so?

Yes they make life very convenient in so many ways and I don't know how I could cope without either, but something about wireless signals passing through your body all the time is quite worrying - especially mobiles which you hold right next to your brain effectively.

I'm sure there are studies by the World Health Organisation claiming the safety of these things, but they did the same with tobacco - it was once considered good for you.

Thoughts?

I'm not sure how exactly either could be considered harmful. As in, what is the medical process that makes you ill from them (or is suspected to)?

Mobile phones and wifi are non-ionising radiation. Non ionising radiation can't affect DNA.

 

[gmtx]

this is just a scare scory that's been around for years, trust me it'll amount to nothing, just like the MMR scare.

 

[Ronnie the Rep]

A bigger killer in my opinion will be radiation doses from regular flying.

The exposure from 1 flight is pretty frightening.

See here: -

<a class="postlink" href="http://seeder.org.uk/spaesrane-project/spaesrane-research" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://seeder.org.uk/spaesrane-project/ ... e-research</a>

There is a massive amount of research on this and thousands of retired pilots that show no added risk. Relax :-)

I know there is and I've seen the figures.

It just shows what margins of safety the nuclear industry works to.

EDIT: Very fair point though.

I travel for a living. Am I safe for sure Gelson?

 

[u2fme2]

A bigger killer in my opinion will be radiation doses from regular flying.

The exposure from 1 flight is pretty frightening.

See here: -

<a class="postlink" href="http://seeder.org.uk/spaesrane-project/spaesrane-research" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://seeder.org.uk/spaesrane-project/ ... e-research</a>

killjoy

 

[BulgarianPride]

I always wondered about that. Having WiFi in the house, just circulating around you. Just that idea of Google and Facebook floating around your kitchen is a bit strange.

Same with mobile phones as well really.

And good point about microwaves. The fact that you can shove something in a box frozen and leave it a few minutes and it comes out piping hot is just a bit freaky. I can only presume that microwaves have been studied for years to see if they're OK?

To scare you even more, wi-fi is a microwave so is bluetooth and almost all consumer wireless devices.

 

[Damocles]

I always wondered about that. Having WiFi in the house, just circulating around you. Just that idea of Google and Facebook floating around your kitchen is a bit strange.

Same with mobile phones as well really.

And good point about microwaves. The fact that you can shove something in a box frozen and leave it a few minutes and it comes out piping hot is just a bit freaky. I can only presume that microwaves have been studied for years to see if they're OK?

To scare you even more, wi-fi is a microwave so is bluetooth and almost all consumer wireless devices.

Stop scaring the non-scientists. There are people on here who will look at that and think microwave = can cook things.

 

[BulgarianPride]

I always wondered about that. Having WiFi in the house, just circulating around you. Just that idea of Google and Facebook floating around your kitchen is a bit strange.

Same with mobile phones as well really.

And good point about microwaves. The fact that you can shove something in a box frozen and leave it a few minutes and it comes out piping hot is just a bit freaky. I can only presume that microwaves have been studied for years to see if they're OK?

To scare you even more, wi-fi is a microwave so is bluetooth and almost all consumer wireless devices.

Stop scaring the non-scientists. There are people on here who will look at that and think microwave = can cook things.

I am jumping on the media's bandwagon.

 

[Ducado]

The asbestos case is slightly different, they knew for a long time how dangerous certain forms were (Blue and Brown) yet carried on using it, mainly because it is very good at what it does (insulation and fire protection) in fact there has not really been a product that is so cheap and effective as asbestos was

We really will not know what the dangers are from all the electro magnetic pollution and radio waves for many years to come, you also have to remember that people live longer now despite everything so not much need to worry

 

[Damocles]

Just as the final nail in the coffin of this one, it seems that the WHO has put mobile phones on the "Group 2B" list.

For those unaware, the 2B list is essentially a list of things that have not been proven to not cause cancer. Other things on the 2B list includes joinery, coffee, diesel fuel, talculm powder, etc:

<a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IARC_Group_2B_carcinogens" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IA ... arcinogens</a>

Basically, as someone said above, it's dishonest reporting and scaremongering.

 

[a.woollam]

Even if it were to knock a couple of years off, it wouldn't be discontinued since it's so heavily relied on.

Remember that tobacco and asbestos were proven to directly cause cancer, tobacco chemically and asbestos physically.

Microwaves are non-ionising radiation and wont affect your cells. They also wont heat you up as the microvaves in a microwave oven are at a very specific frequency.

So personally I don't think there is a need to worry. I think the industries have learned from exposing the public to harmful products and testing is more rigourous now.<br /><br />-- 01 Jun 2011 18:39 --<br /><br />

Just as the final nail in the coffin of this one, it seems that the WHO has put mobile phones on the "Group 2B" list.

For those unaware, the 2B list is essentially a list of things that have not been proven to not cause cancer. Other things on the 2B list includes joinery, coffee, diesel fuel, talculm powder, etc:

<a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IARC_Group_2B_carcinogens" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IA ... arcinogens</a>

Basically, as someone said above, it's dishonest reporting and scaremongering.

Firefighting ha. I better warn my dad!!!