Radiation from Cell Phones vs Other Electronic Devices

I like this for the bigger perspective it puts on the issue. Cell phones are but one source, and certainly not the worst (tanning beds are very likely worse, X-rays, PET scans, CT scans - definitely more damage caused by those). The jury's still out on whether they measurably, directly cause significant problems - the research continues.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... A_facebook
Radiation from Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices [Graphic]
A special online-only addition to August 2011's Graphic Science
August 1, 2011

Controversy has arisen again about whether holding a cell phone next to the head for too many minutes a day threatens the brain with electromagnetic radiation. As the graphic above shows, the radiation emitted in this region is nonionizing: it may heat molecules in the body but does not ionize them (that is, set electrons free).

Sorry CG, yes they didn't link to a specific study (it's a pre-article for this issue ). You can go to Pubmed and search for cell phones to get back all studies involving them, not all involve looking for direct links to cancer/problems caused by cell phones so you have to parse out the articles in which you are interested only.

Here's the results of my search: 2,732 publications found total http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=cell%20phones

Here are a few of the recent ones involving cancer

1. J Carcinog. 2011;10:18. Epub 2011 Jul 19.
Cell phones are as carcinogenic as coffee.
Kovvali G.

PMID: 21799662

2. Department of Genetics, Rutgers University, 145 Bevier Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8082; Carcinogenesis Foundation, 614 Overdell Drive, Sugar Land, TX, USA.
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2011 Jul 27. [Epub ahead of print]
Cell Phones, Cancer, and Children.
Boice JD Jr, Tarone RE.

PMID: 21795667

3. Epidemiology. 2011 Jul;22(4):608-9.
Cell phones and parotid cancer trends in England.
de Vocht F.

PMID: 21642782

4. JAMA. 2011 May 25;305(20):2067; author reply 2067-8.
Cell phone activation and brain glucose metabolism.
Nordström CH.

Comment on: JAMA. 2011 Feb 23;305(8):808-13.

PMID: 21610235

(Good thing humans genitals are a lot further away from their heads than rats' are!) :thumbsup:
5. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2011 May;21(5):262-5.
Hypospermatogenesis and spermatozoa maturation arrest in rats induced by mobile phone radiation.
Meo SA, Arif M, Rashied S, Khan MM, Vohra MS, Usmani AM, Imran MB, Al-Drees AM.

Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the morphological changes induced by mobile phone radiation in the testis of Wistar albino rats.

METHODOLOGY: Forty male Wistar albino rats were divided in three groups. First group of eight served as the control. The second group [group B, n=16] was exposed to mobile phone radiation for 30 minutes/day and the third group [group C, n=16] was exposed to mobile phone radiation for 60 minutes/day for a total period of 3 months. Morphological changes in the testes induced by mobile phone radiations were observed under a light microscope.
RESULTS: Exposure to mobile phone radiation for 60 minutes/day caused 18.75% hypospermatogenesis and 18.75% maturation arrest in the testis of albino rats compared to matched controls. However, no abnormal findings were observed in albino rats that were exposed to mobile phone radiation for 30 minutes/day for a total period of 3 months.

PMID: 21575531

6. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2011 Apr 5. [Epub ahead of print]
Correlation between cellular phone use and epithelial parotid gland malignancies.
Duan Y, Zhang HZ, Bu RF.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.

(But look! It definitely is hazardous if you walk and talk on your phone at the same time!) :VeryScared: rofllol (I can't believe they actually had to get hard numbers for that - what a waste of research dollars) :faint:
7. J Safety Res. 2011 Apr;42(2):101-7. Epub 2011 Mar 1.
Distracted walking: cell phones increase injury risk for college pedestrians.
Stavrinos D, Byington KW, Schwebel DC.

University of Alabama at Birmingham Injury Control Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294–2041, USA.

This definitely sounds dangerous...for the patient! :VeryScared:
Perfusion. 2011 May 18. [Epub ahead of print]
2010 survey on cell phone use while performing cardiopulmonary bypass.
Smith T, Darling E, Searles B.

SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, USA.
Abstract

Cell phone use in the U.S. has increased dramatically over the past decade and text messaging among adults is now mainstream. In professions such as perfusion, where clinical vigilance is essential to patient care, the potential distraction of cell phones may be especially problematic. However, the extent of this as an issue is currently unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to (1) determine the frequency of cell phone use in the perfusion community, and (2) to identify concerns and opinions among perfusionists regarding cell phone use. In October 2010, a link to a 19-question survey (surveymonkey.com) was posted on the AmSECT (PerfList) and Perfusion.com (PerfMail) forums. There were 439 respondents. Demographic distribution is as follows; Chief Perfusionist (30.5%), Staff Perfusionist (62.0%), and Other (7.5%), with age ranges of 20-30 years (14.2%), 30-40 years (26.5%), 40-50 years (26.7%), 50-60 years (26.7%), >60 years (5.9%). The use of a cell phone during the performance of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was reported by 55.6% of perfusionists. Sending text messages while performing CPB was acknowledged by 49.2%, with clear generational differences detected when cross-referenced with age groups. For smart phone features, perfusionists report having accessed e-mail (21%), used the internet (15.1%), or have checked/posted on social networking sites (3.1%) while performing CPB. Safety concerns were expressed by 78.3% who believe that cell phones can introduce a potentially significant safety risk to patients. Speaking on a cell phone and text messaging during CPB are regarded as "always an unsafe practice" by 42.3% and 51.7% of respondents, respectively. Personal distraction by cell phone use that negatively affected performance was admitted by 7.3%, whereas witnessing another perfusionist distracted with phone/text while on CPB was acknowledged by 33.7% of respondents. This survey suggests that the majority of perfusionists believe cell phones raise significant safety issues while operating the heart-lung machine. However, the majority also have used a cell phone while performing this activity. There are clear generational differences in opinions on the role and/or appropriateness of cell phones during bypass. There is a need to further study this issue and, perhaps, to establish consensus on the use of various communication modes within the perfusion community.

How does this even happen? You can't possibly scrub them well enough to get all the germs off of them, then you are contaminating the OR????!!!! WTH!
J Indian Med Assoc. 2010 Oct;108(10):700.
BlackBerries in the operating room? Let's leave them outside!
Touval A.

PMID: 21510563

No. I couldn't believe it either. One more thing I'll be asking my doctors if I ever have to go in for surgery! "Excuse me, but if you use your cell phone while monitoring me, or cutting me open, and I die, does my spouse have permission to bludgeon you to death with it?"

How do you wash the nooks and crannies of the keys of a Blackberry without ruining the phone? Does it get hermetically sealed inside a bag and they type through it?

See, this is why we have to make stupid laws about things that should be common sense! They even admit it has negative effects on performance, but they do it anyway!

Safety concerns were expressed by 78.3% who believe that cell phones can introduce a potentially significant safety risk to patients. Speaking on a cell phone and text messaging during CPB are regarded as "always an unsafe practice" by 42.3% and 51.7% of respondents, respectively. Personal distraction by cell phone use that negatively affected performance was admitted by 7.3%, whereas witnessing another perfusionist distracted with phone/text while on CPB was acknowledged by 33.7% of respondents.