Cell Phone Danger

The cell phone industry has been crowing for ages that none of the major health agencies have issued any warnings about their products. That ended yesterday when the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report (actually a review of many studies and reports) warning that cell phones are "possibly carcinogenic" and cautioned about their use. Since we've only had cell phones for about two decades the real long-term dangers are yet to be seen.

There's a reason that San Francisco passed an ordinance requiring all cell phones sold in the city to display the amount of radiation they produce. We probably need to have that made a national law, consider it a kind of truth in packaging.

Children are especially vulnerable to radiation since their bodies are smaller, their skulls are thinner and their brains are still growing. Parents should insist on a wired ear piece for their kids, require that the phone not be near their bed at night and suggest texting instead of talking on the phone (kids prefer it anyway).

Cell phones are one ingredient in what Dr. Martha Grout calls "electrosmog" that threatens our health today. Her new book An Alphabet of Good Health in a sick world covers cell phone radiation and many other useful topics.

Use your cell phone at your own risk!