Exposure Limits: The underestimation of absorbed cell phone radiation, especially in children

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.environmentalhealthtrust.org/content/press-release-new-study-shows-cell-phones-exceed-fcc-exposure-limits-much-double-children

PRESS RELEASE: New study shows cell phones exceed FCC exposure limits by as much as double for children

A scholarly article on cell phone safety published online October 17, 2011, in the journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine reports the finding that cell phones used in the shirt or pants pocket exceed FCC exposure guidelines and that children absorb twice as much microwave radiation from phones as do adults.

The paper, titled “Exposure Limits: The underestimation of absorbed cell phone radiation, especially in children,” notes that the industry-designed process for evaluating microwave radiation from phones results in children absorbing twice the cellphone radiation to their heads, up to triple in their brain’s hippocampus and hypothalamus, greater absorption in their eyes, and as much as 10 times more in their bone marrow when compared to adults.

The paper’s authors include three team members at Environmental Health Trust: Devra Davis, PhD, MPH, Founder and President; L. Lloyd Morgan, Senior Science Fellow; and Ronald B. Herberman, MD, Chairman of the Board.

The existing process is based on a large man whose 40 brain tissues are assumed to be exactly the same. A far better system relies on anatomically based models of people of various ages, including pregnant women, that can determine the absorbed radiation in all tissue types, and can account for the increased absorption in children. It allows for cell phones to be certified with the most vulnerable users in mind—children—consistent with the “As Low As Reasonably Achievable” (ALARA) approach taken in setting standards for using radiological devices.

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http://www.saferphonezone.com/a-summary-exposure-limits-the-underestimation-of-absorbed-cellphone-radiation-especially-in-children/

A Summary Exposure Limits: The underestimation of absorbed cellphone radiation, especially in children

October 16th, 2011

This paper describes how cellphones are certified to meet the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) exposure limit for the maximum amount of microwave cellphone radiation that will be absorbed in the head or other parts of the body of a cellphone user. The only trouble is that the industry-designed certification process so under-estimates the actual absorption of cellphone radiation that all cellphone users who keep their cellphone in their pockets absorb cellphone radiation above the FCC exposure limit. Further, even if not kept in pockets, when held next to the head, 97% of the population will exceed the certified level of absorbed radiation, and even more so for children who will absorb more than two times the certified cellphone radiation.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that this paper describes an alternative FCC approved process already used extensively within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The alternative process uses MRI-scans of a set of real human beings to determine the amount of radiation absorbed in every tissue. It is called, the “Virtual Family” and includes a 5-year old girl, a 6-year old boy, an 8-year old girl, an 11-year old girl, a 14-year old boy, a 26-year old female, a 35-year old male, an obese male adult and 3 pregnant women at 3rd, 7th and 9th months of gestation, allowing for appropriate cellphone certifications for the most vulnerable cellphone users.

In contrast, the existing cellphone certification process uses a plastic mannequin head, SAM, of a very large man with a liquid inside the mannequin which assumes all tissues in the head are identical. A robot positions a sensor within the liquid and calculates the maximum Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) with a tolerance of +30%. The FCC exposure limit is SAR=1.6 Watts per kilogram of tissue (1.6 W/kg). Because of the wide tolerance range, SAR values can be as large as 2.08 W/kg, 30% higher than FCC exposure limit.

The paper provides a history of how exposure limits have been developed over several decades and continues with an exposition of chronic cellphone health effects (humans, animals and human cells) reported in science papers. It then describes the two FCC-approved processes for cellphone certification: the existing cellphone process (exclusively used) and the MRI-based computer simulation process (never used for certification). Next it compares the efficacy of the two processes.

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http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2011.622827

Exposure Limits: The underestimation of absorbed cell phone radiation, especially in children

Posted online on October 14, 2011. (doi:10.3109/15368378.2011.622827)

Om P. Gandhi¹, L. Lloyd Morgan², Alvaro Augusto de Salles³, Yueh-Ying Han⁴, Ronald B. Herberman^2,5, Devra Lee Davis^2
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
²Environmental Health Trust, Teton Village, Wyoming, USA
³Electrical Engineering Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
⁴Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Health Sciences and Practice, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA
⁵Intrexon Corp., Germantown, Maryland, USA
Address correspondence to L. Lloyd Morgan, Environmental Health Trust, P.O. Box 58, Teton Village, WY 83025 USA; E-mail: [e-mail]

The existing cell phone certification process uses a plastic model of the head called the Specific Anthropomorphic Mannequin (SAM), representing the top 10% of U.S. military recruits in 1989 and greatly underestimating the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for typical mobile phone users, especially children. A superior computer simulation certification process has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) but is not employed to certify cell phones. In the United States, the FCC determines maximum allowed exposures. Many countries, especially European Union members, use the “guidelines” of International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), a non governmental agency. Radiofrequency (RF) exposure to a head smaller than SAM will absorb a relatively higher SAR. Also, SAM uses a fluid having the average electrical properties of the head that cannot indicate differential absorption of specific brain tissue, nor absorption in children or smaller adults. The SAR for a 10-year old is up to 153% higher than the SAR for the SAM model. When electrical properties are considered, a child's head's absorption can be over two times greater, and absorption of the skull's bone marrow can be ten times greater than adults. Therefore, a new certification process is needed that incorporates different modes of use, head sizes, and tissue properties. Anatomically based models should be employed in revising safety standards for these ubiquitous modern devices and standards should be set by accountable, independent groups.

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[KurtNYC]

1. K&R Wired Headsets: $6

Totally worth it. Must be a wire -- not Bluetooth.

Prevent elbow pain. Frees your hand. Good for talking on cell phone in the rain (with the phone dry inside your coat). Makes a nice gift for someone you care about.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/80077/i.html