By B.N. Frank

Those of us who are old enough remember that there were no “Smart” phones in 1996.  There were cell phones for making calls — that’s it.  Most people didn’t own them.  Parents certainly weren’t giving them to their kids.

U.S. safety limits don’t apply to today’s cell phones and other wireless devices.  They don’t apply to the way most people are exposed to them either.  It’s not surprising that the Chicago Tribune discovered that various smartphones exceed the FCC safety limits.  What’s unfortunate is that these limits have offered no protection to any of us for many years now.  Some people simply tolerate this better than others.

“Some researchers say safety efforts have not kept pace. ‘These days,” said Om Gandhi, an early researcher of cellphone radiation at the University of Utah, “exposure is from cradle to grave.'”

“These testing methods didn’t address the anatomy of children and that of other vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women, said Joel Moskowitz, a cellphone expert at the University of California at Berkeley.”

More details about safety limits from Environmental Health Trust:

1. FCC exposure limits are based on the assumption that wireless signals at a human body from a distance are from only one transmitter antenna.
   
   
   
   • In the 21st century, we are not exposed to one Wi-Fi transmitter antenna. One typical school classroom might have dozens of radiation streams from dozens of transmitting antennas: 30 laptops, 30 cell phones, a wireless printer, a wireless security system, an overhead internet access point and a cell tower located in line of sight outside the window.
   
   
   
   


2. FCC “standard operating positions” do not reflect the way we use our devices today.
   
   
   
   • FCC regulations specify what are called consumer “standard operating positions”, such as that laptops are distanced at least 20 cm (8 inches) from the user. Placing a laptop on the lap is then in violation of this “standard operating position”. Devices are radiation tested at these distances, and when we violate these “standard operating positions” we can be exposed to radiation levels in excess of the FCC exposure limits. Women now place cell phones in their bra or tucked against their abdomen under spandex exercise pants. Men have cell phones in front pockets of jeans. None of these common positions are in accordance with the FCC’s regulations.
   
   
   
   

More from Dr. Joel Moskowitz of Electromagnetic Radiation Safety:

American Academy of Pediatrics and other health experts warn that children are particularly vulnerable to harm from exposure.  Animals are vulnerable too.