Mobile phone masts linked to suicide

kevmy

There are many things wrong with that report, which as a scientist on a first pass, I'm shocked they published it.

First the only thing linking the suicides to the mobile masts are the location. Why not blame the water or the air pollution or the school they all went too? More than likely this horrible suicide pocket is young people not being able to deal with the trauma of seeing their friends committing suicide and it spiralled out of control. People like to blame outside factors for things they can't understand.

Secondly as for that town being closer than the average to mobile masts well of course it is. All towns are closer than the average. Each cell can only deal with so many calls at one time so the mobile phone companies put more masts and therefore more cells in the more populated areas. Out the country I'm fairly sure most people would live outside of the average distance from the masts.

Thirdly there has been nowhere near concrete evidence that mobiles cause any ill-effects to people. Also any hint of an effect has come from people who used mobiles heavily from the early days of the technology. Back then there was less regulation and less masts. Because they were further from masts the power output of the early phones was huge and using this for long periods could have been dangerous. Ironically most people assume the further you live from a mast the safer you are when the opposite is true as there is less power required to make the call.

Fourthly such radiation as this is around everywhere. Mobiles use frequencies which are pretty close to radio frequencies (between radio waves and microwaves on the EM spectrum). This is why it interferes with your radio when you get a call/text. Now radio has been used for years with no ill effects and nobody thinks about it and probably sleep with a radio pretty close by. Just because mobile tech is relatively new people are afraid of it. I'm fairly convinced it's safe. If you want to be sure then text don't talk, when you talk don't do it for long and when you talk for long swap ears (as mobile wavelengths are on the order of a few cms long it doesn't penetrate far into your head)

Peteee

My name is URL wrote: »

I dunno about the suicide link but it's naive to believe that masts that emit radiation are in no way harmful

Its non ionising radiation. Ionising radiation (Like X-Rays and stuff) is the stuff you need to be scared of.

johnny_knoxvile

...beyonce's music has been linked to self-harm.

I bite my lip every time i walk into a shop and i hear "a diva is female definition of a G"!?? WHAT?!

she should be shot for crimes against music.

delta_bravo

The Daily Express is worse than using the Daily mail for sensationalist ridiculous threads. This is nonsense

ScumLord

I'm sure they where delighted they had full reception though.

Caoimhín

Peteee wrote: »

Its non ionising radiation. Ionising radiation (Like X-Rays and stuff) is the stuff you need to be scared of.

No, it is witches we should worry about.

And Warlocks, in case I am accused of sexism/witchisim..

antodeco

More electrical radiation comes from a hair dryer than a mobile phone. Circuits with electricity flowing through them emit "ionising radiation". I cant wait to see the Jackass episode when they are on the phone whilst drying their hair!

The Mad Hatter

Daily express linked to paranoia.

A7X

tobias_wolf wrote: »

i doubt it, but i do kinda believe magnetic feilds cause cancer even though there is no evidence to prove it,

You are having a laugh right? You are currently standing in a gigantic magnetic field.

My name is URL

Peteee wrote: »

Its non ionising radiation. Ionising radiation (Like X-Rays and stuff) is the stuff you need to be scared of.

Microwaves also produce non-ionizing radiation, but if somebody suggested that placing your head inside of one that's set to the same frequency as cellphones is not dangerous, you'd laugh at them.

Even if the effects of exposure are small or unnoticed doesn't mean there is no effect. It's too early to determine what the long term hazards of exposure to Pulsed RF may be.

A number of studies have shown that reproduction is affected in fruit-fliys who've been exposed to intermittent pulses of radio frequencies.

Other studies have found links between cellphone usage and brain tumors.

http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/64/9/626.pdf

Even if there aren't any concrete pieces of evidence to suggest the links between Pulsed RF and health problems, it's only reasonable to assume that it may cause physiological defects

chrisp2281

What a load of crap. Everyone is beside masts giving our these waves all day every day. I personally live right beside one and i'm not depressed. Stuff like this causes mass hysteria so well done on adding to that

b28 wrote: »

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/49330/Suicides-linked-to-phone-masts-

This frightened me, sent shivers down my spine! I do believe there is some truth to this.

I think in a way technology is great and all the rest, but it's killing not only traditional values and ways of life that are now considered "old school", but OUR HEALTH.

I tend to text more than make calls, and I certainly hope that that's healthier!

minidazzler

Eh. This is simply bull, it's all it can be really.

These kids are more likely Offing themselves because it is now cool to do so. Once you off yourself everyone was your BFFE.

On a side note, "experts" in teenage psychology will tell you that one of America's large spate's of male Teenage suicide was actually the result of Auto-erotic asphyxiation. Whereby Parents would find there kids naked handing from the closet or whereever, with a big wad of dead sperm around them. Alot of parents dressed there kids, made it look....intentional at least.

I realise I got that from the Fight Club book, but it's probably right.

Ostrom

b28 wrote: »

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/49330/Suicides-linked-to-phone-masts-

This frightened me, sent shivers down my spine! I do believe there is some truth to this.

I think in a way technology is great and all the rest, but it's killing not only traditional values and ways of life that are now considered "old school", but OUR HEALTH.

I tend to text more than make calls, and I certainly hope that that's healthier!

Consult some papers on the cluster phenomenon (R.E. suicides) and console yourself.

Also distinguish correlation from cause. Complete nonsense, you can make infinite correlations with selective data

Ostrom

johnny_knoxvile wrote: »

...beyonce's music has been linked to self-harm.

This rock keeps tigers away

rsynnott

So called electrosensitivity, where people are effected by the presence of mobile phones or wifi or whatever, turns out to be a real problem with physical symptoms.

The only catch is, the symptoms appear if the person is simply told that there is a mobile phone present; whether there is one or not is irrelevant.

Capt'n Midnight

The radiation dose you get off a phone mast at ground level is lower than you can get from a phone stuck up to your ear. And when it's not at your head it's probably in your pocket beside your genitals.

The Nordic countries have a history of strict safety regulations, the US has the most lawyers and still no proven link to health risks even though 60% of the worlds population now have mobile phones. Note: in the 1960's the stats for lung cancer and TV aerials were similar , but no cause-effect was ever found and we all know that Global Warming is caused by a lack of pirates.

Most dangerous thing about a mobile phone is using it when driving. Such people have no right to complain about the radiation.

Any device that blocks phone radiation is guaranteed to INCREASE your radiation dose, because the phone will simply increase it's power to talk to the base station if the signal is reduced in any way. And you will have reduced battery life.

Also bluetooth headsets use higher frequency radiation so is likely to be more damaging at the same power level.

Elliemental

Hmmm... Is there anything bad that phone masts haven't been linked to?
Imo, it's one of two things, or both.
It's the media scaremongering (again), or it's another excuse for nimbyism.

Capt'n Midnight

My name is URL wrote: »

Microwaves also produce non-ionizing radiation, but if somebody suggested that placing your head inside of one that's set to the same frequency as cellphones is not dangerous, you'd laugh at them.

When you use your phone for a long time you may notice it getting a little warmer, or maybe you don't even notice it. Comparing a phone to microwave ovens this way is like comparing the warming effect of a phone with sticking your hand inside an electric kettle while it was on. And yes energy out put is comparable in both cases.

Also microwave ovens use higher frequency energy which is chosen for its ability to heat biological material.

How many people complain about RTE ?
Mobile phone masts puts tops 100 Watts
RTE are chucking out 100,000 Watts per channel on some transmitters

They were using 60,000 Watts in Athlone since 1932,
The early spark gap transmitters across the atlantic used similar amounts of power, so much that Marconi bought a bog to have fuel to power it. We've had high power transmitters here for over a hundred years, you'd think someone would have made a connection by now.


if you want info on your local mast look up the map
http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/View_Mobile_Sites.36.LE.asp

Capt'n Midnight

Found the link
70 people employed full time and 200 part time to harvest turf to power the transmitters 100 years ago. Even had a light railway to carry there was so much of it. Massive doses of RF radiation is not something new and the levels used are statistically safer than any lots of things we tolerate like stairs, cars, aeroplanes, shoelaces, pets, alcohol, DIY, FastFood, etc.

http://www.galwaycity.ie/GeneralNews/NewsArchive/FileEnglish,3994,en.pdf

marcsignal

Heard about this on the BBC world service last night

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8056284.stm

you can listen to an amplified version of 'The Hum' here

A7X

rsynnott wrote: »

So called electrosensitivity, where people are effected by the presence of mobile phones or wifi or whatever, turns out to be a real problem with physical symptoms.

The only catch is, the symptoms appear if the person is simply told that there is a mobile phone present; whether there is one or not is irrelevant.

Well then it's a load of bull!

Poor Uncle Tom

Daily Express........
tried to wipe my ass with it one time,
wouldn't work, nothing would stick to it,
there's enough crap on it already.!:D

A7X

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Daily Express........
tried to wipe my ass with it one time,
wouldn't work, nothing would stick to it,
there's enough crap on it already.!:D

Thats just like having a shíte and then wiping your arse with the shíte that you just took.

Joe Public

I suppose a person would need to be a little closed minded not to think that radio magnetic waves can affect humans and animals. The whole body system works on electric signals and we don't come armed with metal plating to ground external electric signals so some do get through.
If you only believe what you are taught through proven science then who is discover new stuff?