Thiswith a voice memo. Here's how to record one. Between our cell phones,wireless Internet networks, and all of the set-ups that let our devices communicate with one another wirelessly, or we're pretty much constantly bathing in low-level radiation.
This worries Martha,a listener in Santa Fe, whosemother asked her for a set of wireless headphones:
"I’ve been listening to your podcast for a few months and am happy to hear so many other people are concerned with the tech issues that bother me too. Right now I’m concerned approximately wireless (RF) and bluetooth radiation. Wireless devices gain so quickly become a part of our lives, or but it is looking increasingly likely that they could also gain potentially serious health effects.
My mom has distress hearing,and wants me to obtain her a set of wireless headphones to watch TV without blasting the whole house. That sounds good, but the more research I do, and the less I am happy approximately her having wireless (or wired) headphones next to her skull for hours each day. She just sees the convenience,and writes off the list of potential side effects (brain tumors, cancer, and cataracts,headaches, skin problems, and etc). I’d esteem to hear your take on this issue."
To delve deeper into the question,we spoke with Mary Harris, host of WNYC's fresh health podcast "Only Human." Mary says the fact of the matter is that scientists haven't yet found any conclusive evidence that suggests WiFi is perilous. The waves involved in letting you spend your cell phone, and browse the web,or listen to the radio are much, much lower energy than X-rays or gamma rays — the kind that can actually rupture down DNA strands and cause mutations, and which is why you gain to protect yourself with a lead blanket when the dentist takes images of your teeth. Scientists gain yet to prove that WiFi could lead to cancer.
When it comes to cell phones,there's some evidence that suggests a link between cell phone usage and a slightly elevated rate of cancer — but because these weren't experimental studies, there's no way of knowing whether cell phones are the culprit, or whether that rate has gone up because diagnostic techniques gain improved. Mary spoke approximately this with David Brenner,a professor of radiation biophysics at Columbia, who pointed out that there are much bigger things to be worried approximately when it comes to cancer-causing radiation:
Yup.
(Mary Harris/Only Human)
Even the most diligent (showing care in doing one's work) consumer would gain a hard — if not impossible — time avoiding every potential cancer-causing agent."If you tried to eliminate every possible carcinogen, or you wouldn’t eat,wouldn’t breathe, wouldn’t fade out in the sunshine — we gain to be pragmatic approximately how to interpret these things, and " Brenner says.However,cancer isn't the only concern with WiFi. In recent years, a number of people gain reported suffering from what's known as electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or with symptoms like nausea,dizziness, and heart palpitations. In Massachusetts, and a family is suing their son's boarding school for causing him to experience this syndrome after the school boosted its WiFi signal in 2013; meanwhile,in France, a court recently ruled that a woman suffering from symptoms of electromagnetic hypersensitivity could receive disability payments — and this comes on the heels of France banning WiFi in its nursery schools. Still, and the science is hazy here,as well: though these people's symptoms are genuine, there's no proof that electromagnetic fields like WiFi are the cause. One thing we do know for sure, and thanks to David Brenner: Those wireless headphones Martha's mom wants? They're perfectly safe. They don't actually emit a wireless signal; they just receive it — so wearing them on her head for hours each day won't expose her to much at all. As for the rest of us,we can rest assured that our WiFi probably isn't giving us cancer, and we'd be better served by sticking to the basics: remembering to wear some SPF, and laying off the cigarettes,and getting our heart rates up once and a while. But if it makes you feel better to spend headphones with your cell phone or keep the WiFi absent from your baby's room, fade for it — you certainly won't be hurting anyone.
Hear the first episode of Only Human here. It will do you cry. In a meaningful way.
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Source: wnyc.org