Monday, January 23, 2012

The radiation debate continues...

http://bit.ly/wc0pSh And it's still going. The 1980s, when the cellphone industry was born, started a fury of debates on radiation. Are cellphones safe? What about the radiation they emit? Ever since, it's been on and off... Until this month, when the World Health Organization placed mobile phones in the carcinogenic hazards category. The world knows that cellphones are dangerous, but top mobile phone companies cannot lose business to mobile phones being deemed as causing cancer, so a debate forms against anyone who demotes cellphone usage, and the companies who dominate the cellphone market and do not wish to stop their rising ladder to excessive wealth. 

Diagram of the head with and without
exposure to harmful cellphone radiation.

Image from photobucket.com.
The debate involves many key players. Even people like me, who possess but an opinion, take part. While some think that fear of radiation medically and in society is overblown, I think not. My opinion? We need to be educated, and protect ourselves.



I believe that any type of radiation is dangerous. The cellphone market knows this, and so does the company that makes money off of it. As I was saying, the threat doesn't only lie on EMR. There is also a question of nuclear radiation (more info here), which is a big threat today as well. Radiation is dangerous, and it's important to spread the message.

Nowadays, we know just how dangerous radiation really is, based on seeing studies on radiation causing cancers and brain tumors being published and deemed correct, and studies which deny any relationship of cellphone radiation to the human body being deemed flawed. I think that the real issue in today's modern society is getting the message out. At this year's CES in Las Vegas, there were many products for EMR protection, but with all the attention the issue is getting, people are still denying. Why? Because they refuse to believe! Why would such a great product be released by companies if it were unsafe (I'll be discussing this in a future post)? Overall, the main reason the debate is occurring is because people deny. If we get others educated, then cellphone companies will be truly powerless and outnumbered, and have no choice but to find methods of protection so they can still continue to generate enough profit (see methods of protection in an older post of mine here).

As well, in many countries where there are an abundance of resources and support available for children, the debate reaches an outage point. Child skulls and scalps are thinner. Because of this, radiation can penetrate deeper into the brain of children and young adults. Their cells are dividing faster rate, so the impact of radiation can be much larger. Especially nowadays, when there is concern for childcare and health, we cannot be letting children use mobile phones and expect them to be well and happy when they are in their senior years. 

On the other hand, there are some positive things that EMR offers to our world. A great communicative device which enables us to be up to date, as well as being able to microwave our food, these are both achievements which would have not been possible without the use of EMR. Like for every debate, one must think: do the advantages outweigh the costs?  

As Postman said in his first and second ideas in his "Five Things We Need To Know About Technological Change", (to see his speech click here) for every disadvantage of technology there is an advantage, and vice versa. This first idea leads to the second, in which he states that these disadvantages and advantages are spread equally among the population. Paralleling this example with the current topic, then, allows me to say that some people are 'losers' of EMR technology, and some are the 'winners', much like the 'losers' and 'winners' of the Internet. Do you agree? Does EMR send ripples in our society to allow some to gain from it and some to suffer? 

So what are your thoughts? Which side do you take? Comment so we can compare our variety of opinions. More to come, stay tuned.

-EMRadiation

(Follow me on Twitter @em_radiation)

3 comments:

  1. This is a very interesting topic and you have enlightened me. I have never really thought about this before. I think you are right that people are denying this - I think cellphones are just too convenient and helpful in our daily lives for people to even think this could be true.

    Very interesting. I have just come across your blog but will come back and catch up your archives.

    Thanks for sharing (and enlightening!)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! I believe the threat of EMR is right in front of our eyes and that we need to get others educated. It's hard to realize that a device you have been using for so long and have become so accustomed to is potentially dangerous to your health. I will keep blogging and Tweeting on EMR related topics here and on my Twitter (@em_radiation). Keep checking my blog for more!

      -EMRadiation

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