On the 26th of June 1996, Irish investigative journalist, Veronica Guerin was fatally shot as her car paused at a red traffic light on Dublin's Naas Road. Guerin, one time personal assistant to Irish Prime Minister Charlie Haughey had trained as an accountant before entering journalism, so she was well qualified to research the dealings of the drug gangs who had a fearsome reputation in Dublin's inner city. At her post-mortem they found severe burns in the region of Guerin's right ear. As a journalist she was a heavy user of the mobile phone. This posed some momentary questions about the safety of these devices.
The technology that made hand help mobiles possible was developed in the 1970s. Commercialization of the technology appeared in the 1980s and the expectation in the United Kingdom was skeptical with an anticipation of 10,000 of the devices selling worldwide. This figure was way off the mark. In 2006 worldwide shipments exceeded one billion; it was estimated in 2010 that there were 5.2 billion cell phones in operation on planet Earth. The calculated world population is just over 7 billion. It would therefore be safe to postulate that market penetration has been enormously successful. In some countries it exceeds 100%!
A mobile or cell phone is a small radio. They are called cell phones because for the radio to operate it has to broadcast its signal to cell towers. Most of the planet has been divided up into cells of approximately 10 square miles in radius. The different phone companies all have a "Mobile Telephone Switching Office" in every population area. It is from here the signal is fed to the numerous transmission towers that dot the landscape. The system works because every phone company has a specific five figure identification number called a SID. When a device is turned on regardless of whether you are making a call or not it is constantly picking up the SID that is being beamed from the nearest tower. The mobile phone company is also transmitting to your phone a signal on specific channels that it is programmed to tune into. In Thailand the situation is relatively lax but in some countries you have to register the phone with your personal details. That means the whereabouts of the user can be tracked.
With five billion sets worldwide; the mobile phone as an electrical device, emits photons creating an electromagnetic field. The electronic radiation is in the high frequency microwave range. In effect the caller is holding the equivalent of a microwave oven to the ear whilst chatting. No wonder Veronica Guerin had burn marks on the right side of her brain! Numerous studies have produced contradictory results, but many experts consider the risks related to phone usage to be very real indeed! The World Health Organization has categorized mobile phones into group 2b on the IRAC scale. This gives them the dubious tag of being "possibly carcinogenic". The report continued by saying that further research was required.
We live in a wireless saturated environment surrounded by modulated frequencies that are growing ever more complex due to the information that is being transmitted to mobile and smart phones as well as the all pervasive Wi-Fi network. The ensuing EMFs are largely untested, and nobody really knows what the effect of all this electronic smog is having on the human population. Olle Johannson of Stockholm's Karolinska Institute claims we are in the midst of "the largest full scale experiment ever." The question that remains to be answered is what happens when we allow ourselves to be whole body irradiated by new EMFS, 24 hours per day for the rest of our lives? Published media reviews are contradictory. Much of the research is carried out by the mobile phone industry and not surprisingly the results are skewed in their favor.
Already we know that the risk of getting a brain tumor on the side of the head where the phone is placed increases by 40% for adults. Even more disturbing data calculates the rate of getting a cancer increase fivefold for those who started using mobiles before the age of 20. In order to protect ourselves a little, it is better to limit cell phone use. Keep conversations brief and to the point. You can always use a landline for the longer and more personal calls. Or a better idea is to use a hands free connection, which means you do not have to hold a microwave device next to the head. Have you ever asked yourself why your ear grows hot after a long chat?
As far as the ever growing waves that penetrate our bodies, you can protect yourself by buying Q link pendants or orgonite protectors that are available locally. Oh, be sure to switch the Wi-Fi off overnight!
Alister Bredee
December 2011
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