Cancer from your mobile: Do you believe in it?

johngalway · 24-07-2011 02:36PM

Maybe, because as starbelgrade said, everything gives you cancer now :rolleyes: I honestly don't care though, I have one because it's mostly useful.

Mike 1972 · 24-07-2011 03:17PM

Zapho wrote: »

My favourite NO O2 MAST HERE sign was placed on a tree just outside O'Briens Bridge, Co Clare - right across the road from a GIANT cross-country ESB pylon. .

AH answer: Maybe they had a point. It would have made more sense to put the aerials on the pylon than on the tree :pac:

Serious Answer: Older readers may remember the row outside various Garda stations when Esat (now O2) did a deal with the cops allowing them to site their aerials on existing police two way radio masts.

Seemingly ten watt mobile phone transmissions are more carcniogenic than four hundred watt police communications signals.

Sticky_Fingers · 24-07-2011 03:27PM

Naikon wrote: »

No real credible evidence in support of this theory. I am going to say "No".

No real evidence to suggest that it's a load of tosh either. I voted maybe because we just don't know.

landsleaving · 24-07-2011 03:35PM

Sticky_Fingers wrote: »

No real evidence to suggest that it's a load of tosh either. I voted maybe because we just don't know.

Truly, this is a great day for scientific investigation.

krudler · 24-07-2011 03:37PM

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Phones -Possibly (but only with heavy use) but unlikely
Masts -No way

Anyone who protests the construction of mobile phone masts while owning a phone themselves is an idiot.

one of the biggest facepalm calls I ever took working for phone customer care was a woman who was complaining her group texts werent sending due to lack of coverage, the reason for the group texts? to organise a protest against a new mast being put up the in area to improve the coverage, what an idiot.

Sticky_Fingers · 24-07-2011 03:40PM

landsleaving wrote: »

Truly, this is a great day for scientific investigation.

Thanks for your support, perhaps we can help those who voted yes/no without any real reason other than a gut feeling or a slight tingling behind their ear

TiGeR KiNgS · 24-07-2011 03:43PM

Everything gives you cancer according to every scientific report coming from the 'daily fail'. Too much of X, too much of Y....... Honestly if Hitler were alive today they'd say he gives you cancer.

landsleaving · 24-07-2011 03:43PM

Gut feeling you say? Probably bowel cancer from eating too many mobiles.

Tingling behind the ear you say? I just checked behind there and found a coin, which I then handed to an appreciative child while a small gathered crowd cheered.

Wait, what were we talking about again?

bnt · 24-07-2011 03:43PM

Here's food for thought: the power of radio waves follows an inverse square law: it drops off sharply over distance. If it's 1W at 1m from the transmitter, it's 1/4W at 2m, 1/9W at 3m, 1/400W at 20m, and so on.

This has two implications:

The power put out by your phone is not constant: the further you are from the mast, the more your phone has to crank up the power. You don't really need to worry about the transmitters, ever.
In some situations, your phone is transmitting with quite a bit of power - 1W, maybe more - and you're holding the transmitter next to your brain.

So while I don't think "phones -> cancer", because of all the variables: the idea of holding a variable-power gigahertz range radio transmitter next to my head is never going to sit entirely comfortably with me ...

Sticky_Fingers · 24-07-2011 03:58PM

bnt wrote: »

So while I don't think "phones -> cancer", because of all the variables: the idea of holding a variable-power gigahertz range radio transmitter next my head is never going to sit entirely comfortably with me ...

I suppose you also have to factor in the improvements in the technology over the last few years. When I first got a phone (the Mitsubishi Trium) my ear used to be roasting hot after only 5 minutes talking. The case of the phone was cool but my ear was scorched though I've never had that problem with more modern phones.

Turtwig · 24-07-2011 03:58PM

No. They. Don't.
Correlation =/= Causation.

/CloseThread.

Mike 1972 · 24-07-2011 04:00PM

bnt wrote: »

Here's food for thought: the power of radio waves follows an inverse square law: it drops off sharply over distance. If it's 1W at 1m from the transmitter, it's 1/4W at 2m, 1/9 at 3m, 1/400 at 20m, and so on.

Bear in mind you are living in a country where its only very recently that (very) basic science has started to be taught as a core subject at primary level.

The vast majority of the Irish public are scientifically illiterate and wont have a clue what youre talking about.

Mike 1972 · 24-07-2011 04:13PM

Sticky_Fingers wrote: »

Shouldn't it correspond to the inverse cube law since we are dealing with three dimensions?

Only if the transmitting antenna is fully isotropic which of course can never be the case.

Sticky_Fingers · 24-07-2011 04:27PM

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Only if the transmitting antenna is fully isotropic which of course can never be the case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsPheErBj8

Doylers · 24-07-2011 04:45PM

What about WIMAX masts popping up? People dont give out about them. Its your average idot who doesn't know the facts that gives out about masts. One example is dunhill in Waterford. Loads gave up stink when a chap wanted to put a phone mast in because their was no reception in the village. Not one person complained when they got ripwave and another wireless broadband system in. But yet most of these people spend their days in an office which have a high chance are close to a mast. Just ignorance I think. Rant complete

stamfordbridge · 24-07-2011 04:49PM

I'd tend to believe that Phones have some impact. It's an established fact that for men, leaving phones in your pocket for prolonged periods of time unfortunately has a deteramental impact on your sperm count.

In terms of cancer, who knows - I'm sure it would be incredibly hard to find out for certain, as almost everyone and their dog has a phone nowadays. Therefore, how does one do a proper test of how cancer inducing a phone if almost everyone has access to one, even indirectly? It would not be reliable to compare it to a culture who don't use phones as their other habits and way of living would be so different to western society, meaning multiple possible reasons why the cancer rate is lower there (ie diet, lifestyle etc).

Personally, my reason for believing that phones could cause some form of cancer is because of blistering headaches I used to get with using one phone in particular. At the time, it was only a temporary phone, but I used to use it for calls quite often. My head would be splitting after a 30 min call - it was obviously not aggreeing with me - it felt it was giving my a migrane after each call! When I stopped using the phone, all migranes stopped and I'm not prone to them at all since.

Hmm. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

Needler · 24-07-2011 04:53PM

Doylers wrote: »

What about WIMAX masts popping up? People dont give out about them. Its your average idot who doesn't know the facts that gives out about masts. One example is dunhill in Waterford. Loads gave up stink when a chap wanted to put a phone mast in because their was no reception in the village. Not one person complained when they got ripwave and another wireless broadband system in. But yet most of these people spend their days in an office which have a high chance are close to a mast. Just ignorance I think. Rant complete

Maybe they are lower power or at least people think they are.

Freddie59 · 24-07-2011 05:44PM

The phones are more 'dangerous' than the masts. The phone is transmitting a half-centimetre away from your brain. The mast is usually high up on a building. Personally I think the whole thing is bollocks of the highest order. Consider the number of mobiles and mobile users in the world. Number of deaths DIRECTLY related? No-one's come up with a figure after twenty years.

A meeting was held near where I live in the 90s. Lads on a stage smoking and knocking back pints going on about 'health hazards'.:rolleyes: FFS. Only in Ireland.

Freddie59 · 24-07-2011 05:45PM

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Phones -Possibly (but only with heavy use) but unlikely
Masts -No way

Anyone who protests the construction of mobile phone masts while owning a phone themselves is an idiot.

+1 to that. But people are very easily led, unfortunately.

Wasn't there a case last year where someone was going on about headaches caused by a new mast? Turned out (and it was verified) the mast hadn't even been switched on!

jive · 24-07-2011 05:54PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Phones do get warm in use.
Holding anything up to your ear will also make it feel warmer, and if you persipire it will be wetter, both conducive to the growth of microorgaisms.
When was the last time you sanitised your phone ???

You realise your skin protects you from microorganisms (but foreign and those part of the normal skin flora) right?

I do think using your phone for prolonged periods can be bad for you just because if you are on the phone for like half an hour the ear would be burned off you with the heat :pac: can't be good news!

Parsley · 24-07-2011 05:56PM

Overheal wrote: »

I reckon all the radio and microwaves we've started transmitting all over the spectrum in the last century have had to have had some impact. Not just on us but on the environment. But does that mean your cell phone is giving off enough or any ionizing radiation to give you cancer? I don't know.

radio waves and microwaves are of extremely different wavelengths. Neither of which are harmful (unless the microwaves are boiling your blood).

Capt'n Midnight · 24-07-2011 06:00PM

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Reading those studies gives you cancer.

lool at the picture https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=269512464297

Capt'n Midnight · 24-07-2011 06:03PM

GhostInTheRuins wrote: »

Yeah I believe it. In fact I'm convinced that it was using an old ****ty nokia 6610 for the last 7 years that gave me a brain tumour right behind my right ear.

Coincidence and just bad luck? Possibly, but I don't think so.

Since most peopler are right handed and hold phones up to their right ears this would have been spotted in the statists years ago.

Even if you took in to account the citogs and people using the other ear it's hare to believe that no one could confirm a link when cancer research is spending billions a year.

Turtwig · 24-07-2011 06:06PM

Needler wrote: »

Every now and then a study comes out about this but many are inconclusive. Perhaps the mobile phone industry is paying for these studies to become inconclusive because the industry suffer quite badly if it was proven that mobile phones cause cancer.

I'm not sure what to believe myself. I could take the latest study that says phones do/don't/maybe cause cancer or I could wait for the next one to come out which has a more favourable result

http://xkcd.com/882/
Or you could simply accept that there is no plausible reason to explain how a mobile phone would cause cancer and that there pretty much zero data suggesting a link in the first place.:)

Capt'n Midnight · 24-07-2011 06:06PM

stamfordbridge wrote: »

I'd tend to believe that Phones have some impact. It's an established fact that for men, leaving phones in your pocket for prolonged periods of time unfortunately has a deteramental impact on your sperm count.

Citation needed and it better take into account that tight jeans does cause an effect and having anything in your pocket will make your jeans tighter.

Personally, my reason for believing that phones could cause some form of cancer is because of blistering headaches I used to get with using one phone in particular. At the time, it was only a temporary phone, but I used to use it for calls quite often. My head would be splitting after a 30 min call - it was obviously not aggreeing with me - it felt it was giving my a migrane after each call! When I stopped using the phone, all migranes stopped and I'm not prone to them at all since.

Hmm. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

could be ultrasound from the ferrites used in voltage regulators in the phone, or just a bad loudspeaker , who knows.

Humans are very good at recognising patterns, but we do have lots of false positives

Capt'n Midnight · 24-07-2011 06:09PM

jive wrote: »

You realise your skin protects you from microorganisms (but foreign and those part of the normal skin flora) right?

It's supposed to , but I cuts on a regular basis.

If there no problems associated with skin flora then we wouldn't need to wash :pac:

I do think using your phone for prolonged periods can be bad for you just because if you are on the phone for like half an hour the ear would be burned off you with the heat :pac: can't be good news!

The heat is more likely to come from the phone being a heat source like all electrical devices or because it's acting as insulation.

Honey-ec · 24-07-2011 06:17PM

jive wrote: »

I do think using your phone for prolonged periods can be bad for you just because if you are on the phone for like half an hour the ear would be burned off you with the heat :pac: can't be good news!

Dude, hold a coin between your ear and your hand for half an hour and see how hot it gets. Do you think that's giving you cancer?

I worked in the construction department of one of the networks for a few years in the late 90's/early 2000's and my boss regularly had to attend protest meetings in areas where we had masts planned. Half the time you couldn't even see the audience with the fug of cigarette smoke in the hall, but they were all convinced the mast was going to give them cancer/brain tumours/erectile disfunction whatever. On one memorable occasion, the local councillor had a ten minute rant on how the mast was going to microwave all their brains, then finished with "And anyway, your coverage is sh1te!". How the hell do you argue with that "logic"???

You could also pretty much guarantee that whenever we physically built a mast, but before it had been connected to the network, that we'd get compensation claims in for dead sheep/cattle/medical bills from people, all as a result of the "microwaves" :rolleyes:

Raging_Ninja · 24-07-2011 10:56PM

This sums up my opinion:

http://www.xkcd.com/925/

AnneElizabeth · 24-07-2011 11:11PM

Well I'm not a doctor and have no knowledge of radiation.. so maybe is the only option really.

Solnskaya · 24-07-2011 11:27PM

Re the giving you cancer thing, not sure. re the masts being harmless:LOL.
I did work for a bit as a training contractor to a company that erects phone masts and esb pylons, and the workers who had to climb live masts were STRICTLY limited as to the time they could spend up there, and when the tranceiver units were replaced(the things that send/receive the signal) they are treated as hazardous waste due to the radioactivity present. So somhow I doubt if the masts are the cuddliest things to live next door to. Bit like the auld esb pylons and high tension lines won't bring much positive health benefits to you and yours if you live too close.

Cancer from your mobile: Do you believe in it?

Comments