Author Topic: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.  (Read 1702 times)

gm66

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Mobile phone and other wireless technology dangers, some serious science from the very well qualified Dr Devra Davis. this is especially informative if you have children or are pregnant :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwyDCHf5iCY
Civilisation is a race between disaster and education ...

aaron

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2018, 01:50:06 AM »
my old roommate mentioned when he was in college he mutated switchgrass seed genetics using radio waves & if that impact can be had on the seeds there's also likely a significant impact on humans, but he said a few years back there's no money to pay for the research. all the money is going for a permanently connected & distracted life with an ever-present cell phone. glad to see someone is researching it. :)

ergophobe

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2018, 05:13:27 PM »
I haven't watched the video, but I assume it is based on her 2010 book
https://ehtrust.org/publications/disconnect-dr-devra-davis/

A couple of other things.

Paul Brodeur is the New Yorker science reporter who first brought to public attention the problems of asbestos and ozone depletion, which he considered his two big accomplishments (this is from my vague memory of reading his biography, "Secrets: A Writer in the Cold War" (1987).

At the time he wrote Secrets, he said that he had no strong epidemiological proof that radiation of high-tension power lines was dangerous, but the pattern of obfuscation and industry response was identical to what he had seen for tobacco, asbestos and similar stories he covered. That, of course, is from the 1980s. But that stuck in my mind as we became a wireless society.

Tim Ferriss claimed that he had very poor sperm count (or some measure of sperm health) and as an experiment, he put his cell phone in his backpack and kept it in airplane mode 80% of the time. After something like 3 months, his counts had improved dramatically, though he also says he made some dietary changes.

And finally, the strength of a radio signal decreases as a square of distance.

This is super important with respect to something like a cell phone that is transmitting (or pinging towers to see if it has any signal or messages). If you have it in your front pocket, 1cm from your testicles and move it to a backpack 32cm away, it is 0.1% as strong. If you have it on your ear and then move it to the passenger seat in the car, that's also perhaps 0.1% or less of the exposure to your brain.


Also, cell phones increase their power in areas like mine with worse signals. So if you're in a rural area with a cell phone in your pocket vs an urban area with a cell phone in the passenger seat, you are getting literally 10,000 times the exposure.

Similar math applies to your wireless router. Don't put it on the shelf right next to your desk.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2018, 05:15:29 PM by ergophobe »

buckworks

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2018, 07:46:05 PM »
Would this be something to worry about with bluetooth headphones?

Travoli

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2018, 07:56:25 PM »
>So if you're in a rural area with a cell phone in your pocket

RIP RC

gm66

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2018, 12:08:17 PM »
Would this be something to worry about with bluetooth headphones?

I'd say yes because we now know that the original limits (10mW per CM2, set by the US Navy IIRC) aren't safe and don't account for pulsed radiation, which can have stronger heating effects in tissue than continuous power.

Civilisation is a race between disaster and education ...

ergophobe

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2018, 02:49:54 PM »
>>bluetooth

Who knows? This is still a bit like asking whether glyphosate is safe, but even less certain than that (I just couldn't think of a better example). Many studies show no effect. Some do. So it depends on how far you want to err on the side of caution.

The key thing is to remember that power decreases as a square of distance, so the difference between a headphone putting out .1 watts (Class 1 BT with 100mW output) at 1cm  is, if we use 1w as an index, .1. Compare that to a cell phone that puts out 30x that power at max (3W). Put that to your ear and you have 3 on my index, but put it one meter away in the car seat and you have 3/10000 = 0.03, so one third of the bluetooth at max.

I'm not sure that a BT headphone can be run at class 1. If it's at Class 2 (25mW) that would be like a cell phone with terrible reception at 1m.

I'm sort of making this up... I'm not a radio engineer. My values could be way off, but the idea is the same. The further away, the better. But BT next to the ear is WAY better than cell phone next to the ear. That said, a wired headset with the phone sitting in the chair next to you is the best if you talk on the phone a lot.

rcjordan

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2018, 10:22:45 PM »
>RIP RC

Study Links Cell Phones to Rat Tumors Without Judging Human Risk - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-01/u-s-finds-clear-evidence-cellphone-radiation-causes-rat-tumors

Quote
There is “clear evidence” that male rats exposed to high levels of radio frequency radiation used in mobile phones developed cancerous heart tumors, the U.S. National Toxicology Program said in releasing a final report summarizing a 10-year study.

ergophobe

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #8 on: November 02, 2018, 01:45:25 AM »
male rats

Uh oh! A lot of us are in trouble then.

rcjordan

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2018, 03:43:16 PM »
This is growing legs.  The NIH recent acknowledgement smells slightly of KYA.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/high-exposure-radio-frequency-radiation-associated-cancer-male-rats

>rip RC

The negative is that I happen to carry my phone in my shirt pocket directly over my heart, probably like most male rats.  The positive is that I have a long-term habit of keeping it in ultra-energy-saving mode which is basically airplane mode with only cell signal activated.  I'm guessing that this kills or severely limits the pinging for location and wifi.

The phone is carried facing away from my chest because I use a DIY clip to keep it from slipping out of my pocket when bending over workbenches. Assuming that the antenna is around or near the edges of the case, this allows the possibility of a lightweight Faraday cage covering the backside of the phone and kept between the phone and my chest.  I have ultra-thin sheets of copper and textured aluminum foil in the shop. Ask to see my pocket half-faraday at Asheville.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2018, 03:45:31 PM by rcjordan »

rcjordan

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Re: The latest research on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation.
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2018, 04:46:18 PM »
<added>

Thin, multi-layered aluminum & copper half-clamshell done.  Man! this metal skin really heats up when the phone is at full power! Induction? Radiation shielding? Better heat sink? All of the above? Dunno.  It's cool when the phone is in the usual ultra-power-saving mode, though. What a difference.