Fresh Fears Over CellPhones

The safety of cellphones has been called into question, again. This time the scientific community is paying very close attention. A Swedish study links mobile phones to brain damage, in rats, anyway. The findings have re-ignited a longstanding debate among scientists and cellphone manufacturers over cellphone safety.

The cellphone industry so far has been quick to dismiss the data, saying emissions from current mobiles fall well within the range of radiation levels the FCC deems safe (body-tissue absorption rates of under 1.6 watts per kilogram). “Expert reviews of studies done over the past 30 years have found no reason to believe that there are any health hazards whatsoever,” says Mays Swicord, scientific director of Motorola’s Electromagnetic Energy Programs. Dr. Marvin Ziskin, chair of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Committee on Man and Radiation, is similarly skeptical. “The levels of radiation they used seem way too low to be producing the kinds of effects they’re claiming.” Continue >>