Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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Cell Phones and Brain Cells
January 21, 2008 1:38 PM
It's enough to drive you crazy. You can't see the signals from a cell phone, you can't feel them, and for 20 years now there have been all sorts of lingering fears that they're doing you harm.
The latest finding: a small study suggesting that cell phone calls before bedtime somehow interfere with sleep. The work was done in Sweden and the U.S., published online in a small forum--and is getting all sorts of play in Britain (look HERE and HERE), Asia (look HERE) and Australia (HERE).
“The study indicates that during laboratory exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals, components of sleep, believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear, are adversely affected,” the researchers wrote.
But it turns out that "small" is, in this case, very small and not very reliable. There were 71 volunteers who were exposed in a lab to three hours of the kind of radiation that comes from some cell phones (do you make a three-hour call before bed?). After that, they lost an average of eight minutes of REM sleep -- but the standard deviation (essentially the level of uncertainty) was 28 minutes. I've asked our medical unit about it, and they say the study is inconclusive.
The study got funding from the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, an industry group based in Brussels that has an obvious interest in selling phones (though presumably an interest as well in not getting sued). They're also quoted as saying the study was inconclusive.
Here's something the World Health Organization posted in 2004: "To date, no adverse health effects from low level, long-term exposure to radiofrequency or power frequency fields have been confirmed, but scientists are actively continuing to research this area." The rest is HERE.
Still, the story is getting around--understandably, perhaps, because cell phones have become so ubiquitous (in the U.S., population 300 million, there are more than 240 million handsets--and we rank lower, per capita, than many other countries).
So on we go. One medical consequence of cell phone use is clear: worrying about them can make you nuts.
January 21, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (17)
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One would think that since cell phones are used world-wide, that the effects, if any, should be more or less uniform through out the world. I wonder if anyone has done a more broad-spectrum analysis of the effects of cell phone usage. If the effects are there, how would anyone know? I must admit, though, that given the state of the world right now, we may be witnessing the effects of sleep deprivation on certain world leaders.
Posted by: Andy | Jan 21, 2008 2:02:03 PM
This isn't surprising.
It is easy to show, using elementary physics, that RF (radio-frequency radiation) should tend to hyperpolarize cell membranes, especially active membranes such as muscle or nerve membranes.
Because most of the human brain is inhibitory, allowing only selected activities to occur at any one time, this hyperpolarization should tend to reduce the inhibition (in a priori unpredictable ways). Therefore, excessive activity should be caused by RF, particularly by high-frequency radiation from cell phones and wireless gear of all kinds. Sleeplessness!
Posted by: John Williams | Jan 21, 2008 3:12:06 PM
More blah, blah, blah from a scientific study.
Posted by: Ted | Jan 21, 2008 3:18:02 PM
Where do they come up with this stuff? Is there not anything better to report?
Posted by: philip | Jan 21, 2008 3:43:49 PM
Why is this a major news story if it is "inconclusive"??? WHO CARES?!
Posted by: Amanda | Jan 21, 2008 4:05:45 PM
There probably IS something to this report. Years ago, when I worked for a radio station, I had to take transmitter readings once a week, which meant AT the towers of a 5000-watt station. When I drove to the towers, the signal was so powerful that even with the radio in the station truck turned off, the electromagnetic radiation would make the speaker loud enough to hear the station! And, believe it or not, I never fell asleep while taking those readings!
Posted by: rmberryman | Jan 21, 2008 4:18:40 PM
i happen to talk on the phone,
ALOT!
sometimes up until the minute i go to bed.
it doesnt seem to have any affect on me tho.
Posted by: halesterrr | Jan 21, 2008 4:28:05 PM
John Williams: If "it is easy to show...", why in the world do you need a phrase like "should tend" in your comment. Either it's easy or it's not. My guess would be "NOT"!
Posted by: robert041159 | Jan 21, 2008 5:37:24 PM
bees die from cell phones.
cell phones are bad for us
Posted by: ... | Jan 21, 2008 7:13:30 PM
... if you 'swat' a bee with a cell phone, it's going to die. If your a model with a temper and you throw your cell phone at your assistant, then you go to jail.
That's bad! But,I'm not losing any sleep over either.
Posted by: discgoffer | Jan 21, 2008 8:07:59 PM
Why is this a news story? I just wasted 2 minutes of my life.
Posted by: dough | Jan 21, 2008 11:04:42 PM
if it would be made up--it wouldnt be on the news. its good stuff to know about. its better to be aware. -and to keep away from it, as much as possible. i know people that put a rat in a cage that had a cell phone near by, and it died cuz of it! -of course, humans are stronger and live longer but slowly--those cell phones --they harm us more and more
Posted by: ... | Jan 22, 2008 12:53:12 AM
Actually, it sounds like the commenters are mostly cell phone lobbyists trying to tilt the slant, not unheard of on the internet. I wrote on my own blog and linked to foxnews and upi article on this indicating there may indeed be a scientific basis linking cell phone presence (not usage) -- that is being powerred on as it's constantly transmitting -- is enough to disrupt sleep and cause mental illness.
Posted by: Rob Wilkens | Jan 22, 2008 10:07:15 AM
I think the results of the study have been misinterpreted. It's my contention that it isn't the electromagnetic radio waves emitted by cell phones which caused the study participants to lose REM sleep, but rather the aggravation of conducting inane conversations before bedtime!
Posted by: chuck | Jan 22, 2008 1:41:44 PM
I believe this will show someday with ill health effects on many folks. I am also worried about the EMF's emitted from Television tubes and small children sleeping near them.The magnetic fields are bad near TV's
Posted by: Dee | Jan 23, 2008 6:42:35 PM
I'd be more interested in the growing evidence of brain tumors in people who have used cell phones for an hour or more a day for 10 years on the side of the head where the phone is held. If it takes around 10 years for a tumor to grow, what steps are being taken to handle a possible world-wide epidemic as wide-spread cell phone usage becomes more than 10 years old? Who gives a damn about 8 minutes of sleep when people could loose 8 years or more of life?
Posted by: Tobey | Jan 25, 2008 3:05:26 AM
this is so cool
Posted by: Dick Clark | Jun 5, 2008 10:38:57 AM
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