Legislator Wants Cancer Warnings For Cell Phones 314
Cytalk writes "A Maine legislator wants to make the state the first to require cell phones to carry warnings that they can cause brain cancer, although there is no consensus among scientists that they do and industry leaders dispute the claim. The now-ubiquitous devices carry such warnings in some countries, though no US states require them, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. A similar effort is afoot in San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom wants his city to be the nation’s first to require the warnings."
how about... (Score:4, Informative)
Who gives a flying leap? We're inundated with all sorts of things as we wander around this planet, and I for one think its a bunch of bollocks.
And really --
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16059841 [msn.com]
If 420k danes dont have cancer from cell phone use, then nobody will.
Re:insanity (Score:5, Informative)
no real studies confirm the notion
Not stopping there, there is at least one major study [slashdot.org] that shows no significant link between cellphones and cancer -- not just a lack of any confirmation.
They should keep these sort of 'warning' labels to items that have solid, reproducible evidence of significant increases in risks of cancer -- like cigarettes. If they start slapping them on everything that they (in their position as 'a legislator') think might cause cancer, these sort of warnings will lose all meaning.
Re:the sky is falling! (Score:2, Informative)
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/ [mit.edu]
Re:Just like California (Score:5, Informative)
Ironically, those LN2 tanks DO present a danger that is worth warning about. But the warning isn't that "nitrogen may be present," obviously. The issue is that a leaky LN2 tank in an enclosed space may wind up making nitrogen the ONLY gas present, which is extremely hazardous. You can pass out without feeling anything abnormal in advance, and then quickly suffocate. Nitrogen asphyxiation has been advocated as an execution method for this very reason, in fact. Two people died in a nitrogen asphyxiation accident at NASA some time ago. The second tried to rescue the first without first understanding what went wrong, and then succumbed himself (if I am remembering the story properly).
Forgot basic science? (Score:1, Informative)
Microwaves heat things by depositing kinetic RF energy into the molecules of your food. Microwave is higher wavelength than visible light (i.e. lower energy per photon). Cell phones use microwave bandwidth. Anyone who gets an MRI might feel a slight warming sensation due to RF energy deposited, but this is known without dispute to NOT cause cancer. You can get multiple MRIs without any radiation exposure, because RF energy is lower energy per photon than visible light.
UV, x-rays and gamma rays deposit more energy per photon (they are shorter wavelength than visible light) and instead of just depositing energy elastically into the molecules of your cells, they can physically break molecules that bond your DNA. That is what leads to cancer from radiation exposure.
Cell phones don't do that.
-Medical Physicist / Biomedical engineer
Re:Just like California (Score:4, Informative)
Note that the burning sensation that we associate with suffocation is actually triggered by excessive CO2 levels.
Hence the acute danger of asphyxiation when a compressed gas (other than CO2) is displacing the atmosphere – you don’t feel anything.
Re:Just like California (Score:4, Informative)
Re:the sky is falling! (Score:3, Informative)
Isn't that true of all people on government? All of the laws that we really need were written hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago.
Re:the sky is falling! (Score:3, Informative)
If the studies aren't convincing enough, just read up on the physics [reddit.com] to see why cell phone radiation is not dangerous.
Re:the sky is falling! (Score:2, Informative)
Problem is, cell phone signals are *nowhere* near ionizing.
Common sense does go a long way. But you have to have at least a basic grasp of the concepts involved.