Despite all the media coverage of yesterday’s report in the Journal of the American Medical Association that 50 minutes of cell phone use increases brain glucose metabolism in the region closest to the antenna, there is no cause for alarm.
Even if a change in brain glucose metabolism truly is caused by extended cell phone use, this is a mere transient physiological effect, not an adverse health effect.
The researchers couch this conclusion as follows:
This finding is of unknown clinical significance.
But as “further research” will be undoubtedly be called for, the finding will most certainly be of financial significance to the researchers.
For more on the cell phone scare, check out JunkScience.com’s Debunkosaurus.
Cell phones transmit at 0.6 to 3 watts. CB radios transmit at 4 watts. The two way radio in the government truck I used for 40 years transmitted at 50 watts. And the light bulb I read by which is located near my head uses 70 watts. Oh my God!
The study says electromagnetic radiation causes increased brain activity. Maybe it is a good thing.
I don’t think there were conversions; the phone was just turned on. But it would be good to see the study to see exactly what they did. I could not find that link.
50 minutes? How did they come up with that exposure? How many people regularly talk for 50 minutes a time? I don’t even think my cell phone can go that long before the battery is drained. Also, where’s the control group that had a 50 conversation face-to-face to eliminate that activity as the cause? And is such a small increase in metabolism really a big deal. Natural variations are much greater I think, so the results may not even be significant. But this so-called study sure got a lot of headlines everywhere.