Cellphones. Wireless internet. Baby monitors. Do you know how much wireless technology your child is exposed to on a daily basis? WiredChild, a new UK-based organization, is working to raise awareness about the connection between wireless technology and the detrimental health effects on children.
We caught up with WiredChild to ask a few questions about their organization.
Please tell us about WiredChild.
As parents of young children, we started to ask ourselves whether we were convinced by all the reassurances that mobile phones and wireless gadgets are safe. A little digging around showed us that the picture the manufacturers want to paint doesn’t reflect the scientific evidence emerging. This shows there might be serious health risks when children use mobile phones and when they use or live with wireless devices.
We found out that lots of scientists are worried about the health effects of wireless products because they give off a type of radiation that is known to be damaging, especially for children. We discovered that this radiation is thought to cause cancer and that some scientists fear a big rise in cancers amongst the kids growing up in this new wireless age.
If these products were medicines or even cosmetics, they would have had to be extensively tested before going on the market, but this new technology isn’t.
The more we found out, the more we realized that a lot of this information is hidden from the public. There’s even a UK government health warning that under-16s should avoid using mobiles, but none of the parents or teenagers we talked to knew about it. Many governments are giving health warnings and the French government is introducing a raft of measures, including a ban on advertising mobile phones to children. But parents and schools don’t seem to know that there is a concern.
We set up WiredChild to raise awareness of the health concerns so parents and schools could make informed choices.
What are the dangers associated with wireless technology?
Most of the science looking at the safety of mobile phones have investigated the link with brain tumors. We found that all the independently funded studies of longer-term use found an association between mobile phone use and these cancers. But studies also indicate that the type of radiation which mobile phones and wireless give off may be associated with a host of other symptoms, including impaired fertility, pre-natal damage and an increased risk of a range of illnesses like lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer and Alzheimers. Sometimes, the radiation produces short-term symptoms like headaches, nausea, sleep disturbance and depression.
There have been a number of studies that have shown higher levels of a range of symptoms amongst those living near mobile phone masts. Two studies have found significantly higher rates of cancer.
Why are we just hearing about these dangers now?
A lot of the health damage only happens after long-term exposure. Lung cancer is thought to take between 15 and 35 years to manifest, and it is thought that the health effects of microwave radiation may be similarly long-term. This means that the effects are only just starting to show up in studies, and it may take much longer to see the full effects.
What is “electrosmog”?
Electrosmog is the invisible pollution or "smog" in the form of electro-magnetic fields from the now widespread microwave-emitting devices such as mobile phones, their masts, wireless routers and DECT phones. Just as 'normal' smog is the pollution from car exhausts that causes breathing problems and other health problems, electrosmog is the equivalent pollution from our wireless age.
Why are children more vulnerable?
Research shows that radiation penetrates more deeply into a child's head and also that children’s thinner skulls absorb much more radiation than an adult’s. One study found that children who had used a mobile phone before they were 20 had five times more chance of getting a brain tumor later in life. That five times greater risk might be the tip of the iceberg because there is every chance the risks increase the longer the phone is used. The increase in risk could turn out to be much greater when the full long-term effects have been studied in the future.
Additionally we do not yet know how significant the impact of exposure to other new radiation sources, like cordless phones, wi-fi, Bluetooth, baby listening monitors and games consoles, will be or how the different sources interact in their effect on children's bodies. These now ubiquitous products add to the radiation “load” experienced by children growing up today but the effects of long-term exposure to them are unknown. Many scientists fear for the impact this will have when today’s children grow up.
So when you piece together all the studies, there is a strong indication that this radiation is unsafe at levels our children are being exposed to. How dangerous, and how big the impact on our children’s long-term health, is unknown.
Why are there so many misconceptions about the 'safety' of wireless devices?
Firstly, the telecoms industry has funded many scientific studies and most of these indicate the technology is not harmful, while the independent studies tend to indicate harm. Often these studies are taken by the media and by governments as a green light for expansion of the technology and uncertainties about safety become obscured. While our health protection agencies pay lip service to a precautionary approach, in practice the economic benefits of the technology, and the tax revenues, seem to get in the way of the government protecting the public. Time and again we have seen that governments are resistant to recognizing health risks until they are proved beyond a doubt, even though the risks could be very serious.
What should parents know about wireless devices?
As well as the evidence emerging about mobile phone risks, scientists are also worried about children being exposed to cordless phones, digital baby monitors, wi-fi and wireless computer games, which emit the same type of radiation. Some scientists think it might be very damaging especially if children are using these gadgets regularly, sleeping with them nearby or are exposed all day at school.
What do you tell parents that don't feel they can manage without wireless technology?
It really is easier than you think to reduce your children’s exposure and you don’t have to give up the technology altogether. Some small changes can make a big difference. Here are some easy ones that can cut children’s exposure dramatically:
Make sure at least one phone in the house is corded (not cordless) and make sure children use this phone for any long calls.Encourage children to limit their use of mobile phones to texting and emergency calls only.
Make sure children turn off mobile phones at night and ideally when not in use.
Make sure there is no wi-fi point or cordless phone in your child’s bedroom or in an adjacent room. If possible turn off at night.
Replace digital baby monitors with analogue versions.
Limit time playing on wireless computer games and turn off the console when not in use.
Do you think wireless technology is going to ever go away?
It’s certainly hard to imagine life without it now and I don’t think it will go away. At WiredChild, we recognize the benefits of the technology and we are focusing on realistic ways of reducing children’s exposure, rather than on eliminating the technology.
Visit: www.wiredchild.org
written by Adam Davis , September 28, 2009
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The problem has been well known within the industry for years, but it has been pushed under a stone, and will be until a suitable (profitable) alternative is developed and marketed.
I will give you a few basic examples of the (known) problem…Cellphone user manuals warn customers to keep the cellphones away from the body even when they are not in use.
BlackBerry 8300 warns, “When using any data feature of the BlackBerry device, with
or without a USB cable, keep the device at least 0.98 inches (25 mm) from your body,” and “SHOULD NOT be worn or carried on the body.”
Motorola V195 GSM warns, “keep the mobile device and its antenna at least 2.5
centimeters (1 inch) from your body.”
An area even more concerning is digital cordless phones in peoples home – the (vast) majority of consumers are totally unaware that their cordless is transmitting 24/7 even if they are not making a call. To give you an illustration of this being a known problem is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warning for cordless phones in the States. In all user manuals (well hidden) is this statement ….
“This equipment should be installed and operated with a minimum distance of 20 centimetres [almost 8 inches] between the radiator (the phone) and your body.”
How many of us are quite happy to hold their DECT cordless phones to their heads for hours!
There are workable low radiation alternatives, but the industry is happy to keep us in the dark. Isn’t it time we woke up before it’s too late?
written by Richard Cameron , September 12, 2009