The head of a U.S. cancer centre is urging that children not use cellphones, except in emergencies, because of a growing body of literature pointing to possible adverse health effects, including cancer.

This is an issue that I think deserves more attention. I have never been comfortable placing a cell phone against my head for prolonged periods of time but now with a 9 and 11 year old, I take the warnings very seriously.

Obviously the mobile phone companies and service providers say that mobile phones are perfectly safe but then the tobacco companies said the same for 30 or 40 years.

So have these new warnings changed your thoughts about whether to let you child have a cell phone?

Please note the latest warning are for kids so please keep that in mind when posting.

Interesting articles for those that would like to read more.

Largest study of mobile phone safety finds no risk

The British study did note
Listening to cellphone warnings

Recent article in the Star which summarizes a number of studies and WHO study that is delayed in being released


Experts Revive Debate Over Cellphones and Cancer

Another interesting article

I have to agree with the warning but for another beneficial reason.

I wonder how many visits to the ER are logged in Canada each year for children who are not paying attention to their surroundings while chatting or texting on a cell phone? We already know adults + cars + phones don't mix.

When the day comes that I'll have to get a cell phone for our kids I plan to get one that is prepaid and only has our numbers preprogrammed.

So if the bus doesn't kill you the long term exposure will!

a) Why does a 9 to 11 year old need a cell phone?

b) Where is this growing body of evidence? Seems to me like it is erring on the side of caution with no evidence available, which is an entirely different issue. If something was bad, it would be worse for children of course. But unlike smoking, cell phones don't fill your brain with tar and toxic chemicals that lead to cancer 40 years later.

You are receiving far more non-ionizing radiation from your microwave. That's a 1kW+ transmitter right in your home, and there's not even any shielding execpt on the front! A digital cell phone is typical 1-2 watts or less. Older analog phones are 3-4 watts. The effect this has on your brain bucket is far less than being out in the sunlight.

Finally, no one can say for sure because no one has looked at heavy cell phone use for more than about 10 years. But I'll go back to my point (a) above. Why would a 9 to 11 year old be using a cell phone for hours a day? (because even if there is some effect, you're not going to get it from using a phone once a week for 5 minutes when the kid is at a friends house).

Why don't you ask them? Why does every adult seem to feel they need one? The point here is not to discuss whether they should have a mobile phone but the potential health effects of having one, so please lets stay on topic.

My kids don't have them because they don't need them but I suppose in another few years when they reach high school that might change.

This is off-topic but let me clarify for you. Metal reflects microwave radiation. The oven cavity is metal. The door is transparent (so you can see inside) with a metal grill. The grill is small enough to block the 2.45GHz radiation.

If the oven was made of plastic (like a cell phone) then we would have a problem.

There is a lot of leakage from microwaves nonetheless. I have seen time scans in residental neighbourhoods of the 2.4-2.5 GHz band and you can clearly see when someone turns on a microwave. Usually because it saturates its range. Cordless phones are usually the next biggest. Especially when they are searching for an available channel when its being saturated by a microwave, haha, or other cordless phones. Microwaves are generally measured from the door and they never do check for leakage on the sides or above and below. Metal is reflective and it is probably providing 20dB, and at the very most, 40dB of reduction (and the cheaper the microwave, the thinner it is). That would mean 0.1W to 10W of leakage power. No wonder you can detect them miles away.

This thread is about the safety of mobile phone use among children.

It is NOT about microwave ovens and their abilty to shield radiation. Next off-topic post will be deleted.

There is no proven link between non-ionizing electromagnetic waves and cancer. That includes children. I deal EM radiation safety in my line of work and am very interested whenever the subject comes out. The subject warning does not have a scientific basis. It is cautionary only in the sense that "what you don't know might hurt you". That is the bottom line. Anything else is fearmongering or attention-getting or possibly a random attempt to predict the future "I told you so years ago even though I had no proof".