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| The Wireless Quandary | | | Dr. Pragya Khanna
It is miraculous that in just a mere 25 years the world has gone from ZERO cell phone users to more than half of the world's population. Today it's getting harder and harder to imagine a world without wireless technology.Yes! Connectivity is the latest 'InThing'. While appreciating all the technological advancements, I took to writing this piece to express my concern regarding the transformation of the physical and cultural landscape owing to the modern Wireless Age.Cell phone towers are so ubiquitous and pervasive they are now even a recognizable feature on the Himalayas.Today whether you choose to own a cell phone or not, it's really a moot point. RF (Radiofrequency) emitting devices and transmitters are factually everywhere, continually bombarding our bodies with electro pollution.
The question is whether the radio frequency exposure from thousands of minutes a month of cell phone calls in addition to the continuous exposure from millions of wireless networks, hot spots, cell towers, and antennas pose serious health problems?
Radio signals are part of everyday life, emitted both by natural sources like the sun, the Earth and the ionosphere, and by artificial sources such as: 4G LTE cell tower base stations, broadcast towers, radar facilities, remote controls, medical, electrical and electronic equipment. The radio frequency sources include transmitting towers such as AM, FM radio towers, TV towers, Cell phone towers, etc. emit radio frequency/ microwave radiation continuously. The level of EMF from sources has risen exponentially, by soaring popularity of wireless technology such as smartphones, cordless phones, Wi-Fi (Wireless Internet) Wi-max and other wireless devices. The Smartphone and its base station communicate using a two way radio communication. This radio communication produces Electro-magnetic fields.
There are abundant documents of scientific evidence showing the increased incidence of childhood leukemia, brain tumors, and neurological impairments, leaking of blood brain barrier, learning disabilities, ADD (Attention deficit disorder), compromised immunity, hormone disruption, Alzheimer's disease, enzyme syntheses and genetic damage due to coming in continuous contact with different electromagnetic radiations. It also provides overwhelming evidence implicating electromagnetic radiation as a significant risk factor for both childhood and adult cancers.
While the warnings from reputable scientists and researchers grow louder with each passing day, they offer no real solutions. Reducing cell phone use or using a speaker offers little solace when we live in a wireless environment, which relentlessly exposes all of us to ever-higher levels of dangerous electromagnetic radiation.
A colleague of mine recently mentioned availability of some devices that claim to block RFs from phones. But, on little research on the same I found out that a true 'blocking' device would make your phone inoperable. Blocking radiation would mean blocking the signal between transmitter and receiver. However, we all know that there is more to it than we can imagine, the telecommunications industry has its way today and is constantly moving ahead,and the day is not far when we will all be bathed in a sea of artificial radiation from nonstop EMF exposure.
It is no surprise that cell phone and Cordless phone chargers also emit radio frequency power even when not in use. The pulsed digital signals are more damaging than the analog signals. What is more alarming is that variety of appliances that we have been using all our lives like refrigerators also contribute their share in creating electro pollution. The backs of refrigerators produce large electromagnetic fields which go through walls, so if a family room shares a wall with the refrigerator, the sofa should not be against that wall. It is also recommended to stay out of the kitchen when self-cleaning ovens, chimneys etc. are operating; these oven settings use very high wattage to burn debris off the oven walls. The laptop maybe called a laptop, but it should be kept off the lap especially by the pregnant women. Since it exposes the foetuses to electro-pollution in the womb, a foetus spends 40 weeks essentially floating in a sack of water (a well-known conductor of electricity), and is particularly vulnerable.
What is needed is the understanding that the human body is naturally electrified. From the organic computer that is your brain, which sends out sensory messages like hunger and pain; to the energy that pumps your heart and makes your muscles contract; electricity powers your body. This innate electromagnetism within you is so critical to your daily functioning that modern medicine uses it in diagnostic testing (including electrocardiograms and MRIs) and, increasingly, to heal. There is a big difference between the body's natural electricity and the man-made electromagnetic frequencies that surround us 24/7 today.Living cells interpret such exposures as part of our normal cellular activities (think heartbeats, brainwaves, cell division itself, etc.). The problem is, manmade electromagnetic exposures aren't "normal." They are artifacts, with unusual intensities, signaling characteristics, pulsing patterns, and wave forms. And they can misdirect cells in myriad ways.
The bottom line is that electropollutionfrom cell towers, computers, cordless and mobile phones, PDAs, Wi-Fi, even the electrical appliances and wiring in our homes, offices and public buildings continuously disturbs the sympathetic nervous system. This, in turn, elevates the body's fightand flight response, raising levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Fluctuations in cortisol lead to a wide range of health concerns ranging from belly fat and thinning skin to accelerated aging, blood sugar imbalance, cardiovascular problems, erratic sleep patterns and mood disturbances. Dr. Stephen Sinatra elaborates on this issue in his new book, Earthing.
Today, an estimated 31 million kids are on their cell phones close to four hours a day. Mobile phone companies are even marketing phones to pre-schoolers. Gittleman writes,"The trouble is, kids absorb 50 percent more electropollution than adults. One study finds that a cell phone call lasting only two minutes can cause brain hyperactivity that lasts up to an hour in children. Because their skulls are smaller and thinner than adults, EMFs penetrate much deeper into children's brains. Kids' brains are also more conductive due to their higher water and ion concentration".
The Precautionary Measures that need to be taken to avoid these radiations include:
- Wi-Fi Routers /Boosters should be placed at a distance.
- Switch off the Data Pack on mobile and Wi-Fi when not in use.
- While sleeping keep all the cordless devices at a safe distance from you
- Communicate through SMS as an alternate to calling.
- Use Wired Headsets for long conversations.
- Mobile Phones having 'SAR' value less than 1.6W/kg should be bought.
- Avoid placing mobile phones directly over pacemakers
- Keep distance. Hold the cell phone away from body to the extent possible
- Use a headset (or ear bud) to keep the handset farther from your head.
- Use a wired headset
- Limit the length of mobile calls.
- Use text as compared to voice wherever possible
- Put the cell phone on speaker mode. If the radio signal is weak, a mobile phone will increase its transmission power.
- Find a strong signal and avoid movement. Use your phone where reception is good.
- Metal & water are good conductors of radio waves so avoid using a mobile phone while wearing metal-framed glasses or having wet hair.
- Let the call connect before putting the handset on your ear or start speaking and listening. A mobile phone first makes the communication at higher power and then reduces power to an adequate level. More power is radiated during call connecting time
- If you have a choice, use a landline (wired) phone, not a mobile phone.
- When your phone is ON, don't carry it in shirt or pant pocket. When a mobile phone is on, it automatically transmits at high power every one or two minutes to check the network.
- Reduce mobile phone use by children as a younger person will likely have a longer lifetime exposure to radiation from cell phones
- People having active medical implants should preferably keep the cell phone at least 15 cm away from the implant.
Love them or hate them!Cell phones and the ever expanding and intrusive Wi-Fi world is here to stay. The responsibility lies with each one of us to take the pre-emptive steps that will protect us, our family and future generations. |
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