They received full
body exposure. They were immersed in the stuff. On humans, exposure is more
localized.
All in all, I’m
not too worried about brain cancer and cell phones. On the scale of things
that kill you, brain cancer is a rare one. Primary brain cancer which starts in
the brain and is presumably caused by cell phones is far more rare than
metastasized brain cancer which starts elsewhere and spreads to the brain.
Except when it isn’t, of course—but that’s true for everything.
Brain cancer
isn’t the only thing people worry about. There are other concerns.
Cell phones and
bone density
A
couple studies have found that keeping your smartphone in your pocket on
one side may modestly accelerate hip bone loss on that side.
Compared to
people without mobile phones, mobile phone users had lower bone mineral content
Another study
Cell phones and
fertility
Men can vouch
for this: our boys are sensitive. They need careful handling, almost coddling.
A lot can go wrong down there. So when you ask me to place a consistent source
of EMF directly adjacent to them, I wonder if that’s a good idea.
For years,
famous strength coach Charles Poliquin has insisted his athletes keep their
cell phones out of their pockets to maintain optimal testosteroneran an n=1 self-experimentPDFerectile
dysfunction, morphological changes to spermoxidative stress levels go up in individual sperm
Cell phones and
kids
Kids have
thinner everything. Their skulls are softer and thinner. If we’re talking
infants and 1-2 year olds, they’re practically made of cartilage (that’s why
they don’t break when you drop them). The less hard boney tissue a watt of EMF
faces, the deeper it’ll go. Some researchers are invoking the precautionary principlesuggesting
Mobile phones
are consistently linked to worse sleep in kids, causing some folks to wonder if
EMF was responsible. One recent studysleep
Links between
cell phone use and ADHD have also been proposedbecause their
symptoms improved and their parents no longer had to resort to the
phone. As this was an observational study, not an intervention, we
can’t say.
What about
unborn kids? Again, observational studies suggestobservational. They can’t make any causality claims or
account for all confounding variables. Moms who are glued to the cell phone may
have other characteristics that predispose their kids to behavioral problems.
The effects of
all this EMF, if they’re real, are relatively minor on the grand scale of
things. Keeping your phone in your pocket might gradually weaken the bone
there, but not nearly as much as failing to lift heavy things, walk a lot, get
your vitamin D, eat calcium-rich foods, and lead an overall healthy,
nutrient-dense lifestyle. While an iPhone beaming directly into your genitals
probably isn’t ideal for your sexual health, eating a bad diet, being
sedentary, carrying lots of extra weight, avoiding the sun and fresh air in
general, and flubbing dozens of other factors is worse.
I suspect there’s something going on. I just don’t think
it’s worth stressing about. You can, however, make a few easy changes to
mitigate any damage. I’ve bolded what I deem the most significant/least
intrusive: