I’m hoping to keep the radio waves (microwaves?) out of my head when I use my cell phone and most articles I have read recommend using an earpiece to do this. Do the radio waves continue to be broadcast from the phone, or do they travel right up the cord and broadcast out of the earpiece?
That’s the question. I know that the jury is still out on cell phone damage and that the radiation is non-ionizing and that the heat is minimal, but some studies are scary. I think most DNA damage happens during replication and not as a result of ionizing radiation. I don’t want to give it any more help than it has.
I’ve been involved on GSM mobile telephony projects, and from my experience and knowledge I’d say no. Cell phones have a built-in aerial for transmitting signals: this will be in the body of the phone or protruding out the top, and electrically the RF (radio frequency) components are completely separate from the audio output.
I think it is highly unlikely that any cellphone would use the cable to the earpiece as an auxiliary aerial (although some personal radios do this for receiving signals), because it will have no advantage over the permanent aerial in the phone (unlike the personal radio you’d still need a built-in aerial for non-handsfree operation), would create interference, and would complicate the design.
Here’s some information about mobile phone architecture:
Ok, at your request I will skip talking about cell phone ‘radiation’… but know that it is really hard for me.
Anyway, the radio waves the phone uses to talk to the towers come out of the phone itself. The earpiece is just a speaker and a microphone attached to a cord. Of course, the speaker uses an electromagnet to move the diaphragm, but magnetism is supposed to be good radiation… If you are really concerned you should probably not use the cell phone at all. If you are using an earpiece you will most likely keep the phone on your belt… where it spends all its time next to your reproductive organs.
Well, I don’t actually have one of those uber-cool belt thingys, but I’ll trust in your advice and use my earpiece. I’m not sure I buy the cell phone only uses its internal antenae argument - aren’t you putting a lot of faith in the phone directing its radio waves? Couldn’t any antenae-like thing (i.e. thing with metal that is attached) convey a signal? Or, and I am a fan of this, would the metal in the cord behave like metal in a microwave and heat right up (to about 0.01 degrees above normal).
I will continue to err on the side of caution - just because frequences don’t ionize and don’t heat doesn’t mean they don’t cause interference. We really don’t know much about how the brain works and how radiation specifically affects every part of normal cell functioning.
Now, on to tackling the radiation from my monitor and the diesel fumes from the trucks near my house! Best of luck with the tumors!
The wire in the earpiece will tend to act as an antenna of sorts, so it will pick up radio waves from the air (generated by the cell phone). Chances are a small amount of RF will get through to the earpiece by travelling through the circuits themselves. Either way, the signal is going to be so small that it’s not worth worrying about.
Think about it this way. If the earpiece absorbed a significant amount of the RF waves, it would cut down the range of the cell phone rather dramatically. Since this obviously doesn’t happen, not much of the radiation is going up the earpiece wire.
I am however wondering where exactly you are holding this phone now. Seems to me that no matter where you hold it, it’s still going to be close to some part of your body.
If you want to avoid radio waves, you will also have to avoid supermarkets and other stores with automatic door openers, stores with anti-theft devices, and the beltways of most major cities. If it makes you feel any better, if this stuff really was as dangerous as some people think, folks would be dropping dead like flies. You’re exposed to RF radiation all over the freakin place.
