On 26/06/2006, at 10:15 PM, Dan Minette wrote:
Actually, it's a first order approximation....not a straw man.
That's the boy. Still fallacial.
Is there an increased risk? Maybe. Has it been shown or ruled out?
Not yet.
Not ruled out, but a fairly low upper limit has been set.
Yep.
Is there a plausible mechanism? Scientists are divided.
That's a true statement, but a tad misleading. Proponents of a
mechanism
need to demonstrate how low levels of RF signals cause cancer,
while there
is a significant upper limit on higher levels. I remember a similar
argument with power lines.
Which, IIRC, have been now shown to have an effect, albeit low level.
My friend, who had worked in RF modeling for
over a decade at the time, pointed out that the fields that
supposedly cause
cancer are significantly smaller than fields that exist at the
cellular
levels in the body. And, since the energy is non-ionizing,
comparison of
fields strengths should be valid.
That's just it - it doesn't need to be ionising. Heat at very low
levels can cause damage to cells - spot heating effects could cause
denaturing of proteins. That's not to say they do at the frequencies
that mobile phones emit, it' s conjecture.
Finally, if RF fields cause cancer, shouldn't we see a large
increase in
cancers caused by the use of NMR machines?
Dunno. Depends on the frequencies, doesn't it. A low-intesity field
can have a strong effect if it hits transients and resonant
frequencies of proteins or molecules.
Recent studies did show correlation between a cell phone on the hip
or in a trouser pocket and lowered sperm counts. Of course,
correlation does not mean causation, but it's interesting anyway (and
watching porn increases sperm production, so if you're trying for a
kid, watch porn an hour or two before you plan to ejaculate...).
Interesting that you saw fit to extensively fisk my post, but not the
original article. For the record, I think that the risks of moderate
mobile phone use have been shown to be negligable. I'm still open to
the possibility that there may be an effect, but I'm not worried
about it. As Rob rightly pointed out, mobile phone use leads to other
risks far greater than the using of a phone itself.
Charlie
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
