Freaky Fzx Friday - Cell Phones and Cancer

Grandma probably told you not to stand in front of the microwave and I've been told not to use my cell phone too much.  And to keep it in my pack, not my pants.

Articles have been written about cops with cancer from their radar guns.  Products are marketed to ameliorate the cancerous effects of electromagnetic waves.  Why all the fear?

When I check cancer.gov and mayoclinic.org I find carefully worded science speak that no average person could get through.  Their conclusion?

"no consensus"
"no one knows"

Scientists agree on climate change but medicine can't figure out whether cell phones cause cancer after decades of fear and studies?  Ironic.  I disagree with their conclusions.



Here are all the waves traveling at the speed of light.

Clic on the pic and you can see that visible light is like a line of demarcation between the harmless and the dangerous.  We know UV can cause cancer.  X-rays and Gamma rays too.  Mommy puts sunscreen on her baby, X-ray techs place lead aprons on our laps, and we stay away from gamma sources.

I've never heard anybody proclaim the dangers of visible light but on both sides of the visible are shadowy waves shrouded in mystery.  Nobody can see those waves so fear abounds.  One problem is that nobody understands Fzx.

Those electromagnetic waves act as particles if they collide.   Wave-particle duality comes into play here and that's why everything to the right of visible is called "ionizing radiation."  The particles they become at collision has enough energy to knock out electrons, change molecules, and scramble DNA.

Light can act as a wave OR a particle

Electrons can also be waves OR particles

Non-ionizing cannot change DNA

That's why the UV, X, and gamma waves CAN cause cancer - they are particles that ionize.  And that's why radio and IR and microwaves and WiFi cannot.  They just make thing vibrate like tuned microwaves force water molecules vibrate faster in your microwave oven.  Since the intensity of these low energy waves is generally quite low, few frequencies can cook you, and cooking you cannot cause cancer, there is no cancer risk from microwaves and cell phones.

Can Cell Phones Cause Cancer?

Derek's presentation is a bit confusing, but his conclusion is NO.  No brain cancer from cell phones.

If you've just skipped down to the bottom to see the conclusion,  CELL PHONES CANNOT CAUSE CANCER.  Microwaves can't either.  Same with radar guns and WiFi.  No cancer because those waves have to become particles with enough energy to knock electrons out of molecules.  Only UV, X-rays, and gamma rays can do that.  Nothing else.

But people will continue to think so because we fear what we cannot see, medical studies of people cannot eliminate all variables, and few people understand physics.