Mother, May I Use My Cell Phone?

Sorry ? What did you say? I missed that ... I was texting...

Del

As far as the hospital setting goes, there are some (very few) pieces of medical equipment that are susceptible to interference from cell phones. But you remember the bag phones, about as big as two bricks and about as heavy? Those suckers had a 3 watt output and would actually cause interference, but with the different frequencies, digital signals and quadruple the towers the phones today don't need to be that powerful.

The people who set policies don't know any different, seven years ago there was somewhat of a danger so there must still be now...right?! Not quite. There would be only a handful of places that I would not use a cell phone- MRI suite, older Flouro rooms, OR suite, near a ventilator, basically places you wouldn't want to be on the phone anyway.

Those hospital issued cell phones mentioned are on a certain bandwidth outside of the dedicated medical bandwidth to make sure of no interference. It's kind of like an airbag; seat belts save lives, but an airbag is an expensive device to keep you from hitting the steering wheel. Hope this answers some questions.

I invite the attention of readers to the publication

http://www.environmentaloncology.org/node/201

to learn more about the hazards of electromagnetic radiation from cell and hand free phones

As a pretty well-informed EMC engineer who also worked for years in the mobile sector, I agree with the growing concern over cell-phone use, especially by kids.

The existing limits have been set based on energy levels required for heating by RF energy...but pay no attention to much subtler effects which are probably going on at a molecular level.

I found the comparison to the asbestos issue (which wasn't just i manifested in mining communities but also in schools, other publich and commercial buildings and the power industry) especially compelling.

Truth is, we just don't know (because measuring the effects is extremely difficult), and since the things have become ubiquitous, people should probably use them with a certain amount of caution.

RF_G

Well said.
I like the asbestos analogy.

Del

Hello All,

I'd like to add a comment regarding Medical Equipment and RF issues. I work for a Medical Equipment manufacturer and one of the most difficult things we have to do is pass Electromagnetic Compatibility Testing (EN 60601-1-2). We manufacture a Class B medical device and have to pass Conducted Radio Disturbance testing (where the instrument is subjected to an external RF field) along with a battery of other tests.

In my opinion, if a device such as a cell phone that generates something over a flea-fahrt of power has ANY impact on our device, I would want to know about it! I am not saying that reasonable precautions to avoid the use of devices that generate RF fields should not be taken in proximity to life-sustaining equipment, but in general we engineers have gone to a lot of trouble to avoid this sort of thing so by all means, if you have a real need to use a cell phone (other than for general Bovine Scatology), that use should not be restricted - period.

On the other hand, there is no reason for the average person to be using a cell phone in most of the situations that arise during the average hospital visit, but that is a different matter altogether.

Regards,

Ron

We already live in a world full of electronic smog so true the amount of EM produced by a cell phone will not make much difference to properly designed medical machines. However, Canada has already put out health warnings on cell phones advising children under 8 should only use cell phones in an emergency and many brain surgeons have stopped their children using them because of the type of brain tumors appearing on the side most used by that particular person for their cell phone.

The same arguments are being used for cell phone use as were being used for smoking by those with with an investment in cell phones, including those used for passive smoking. With all the electronic smog around the passive effects from cell phones looks small but should we take the risk? Then we come to the most annoying part, the noise pollution through the loud mouthed goons showing off how big they are using cell phones and this alone is a good reason for banning cell phones around sick people. People who are sick and their worried families should not have to put up with loud mouthed posers within any medical establishment. Banning really has nothing to do with EMF it has to do with caring about people.

When I worked freelance it was extremely important that I answer calls for work. At the time I always carried a pager. When I rode the train from Manhattan to Rochester to visit my daughter once a month, I often lost jobs because I could not get to a phone. It irked me that they didn't have payphones on the trains. I feel the same way about it regarding cell phone use on planes. Whatever laws or regulations that are made that inhibit my own, or others like me, to make a living, I will object to. Certainly those passengers on the hijacked planes of 9/11 needed to use their phones, and certainly the use of the cell phones didn't cause the catastrophy.