# The scary electro-crackle from cell phones **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scary-electro-crackle-from-cell-phones/300109 "2005-04-19T19:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scary-electro-crackle-from-cell-phones/300109/1 "2005-04-19T19:29:11Z")
Dearies, When my (or other people’s for that matter) cell phone rings, why do computer screens & televisions sometimes flicker? Sometimes, when filling in for a secretary at work, I use her phone headset and a cell rings and I hear (instead of see) the flicker. This strikes me as highly dangerous stuff. I’m sure I’ll hear that it isn’t, but what’s going on here? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scary-electro-crackle-from-cell-phones/300109/2 "2005-04-19T19:45:19Z")
Cell phones are radio transmitters. RF (radio frequency) radiation causes interference in electrical devices, not surprisingly considering it is electromagnetic radiation. (NB do not be scared of that word “radiation” - it is only “radiation” in the same way that light is radiation). No it is not dangerous to you. You are continually being bombarded with electromagnetic radiation anyway. ---
**Author:** ![guinnog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@guinnog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guinnog)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scary-electro-crackle-from-cell-phones/300109/3 "2005-04-19T20:19:44Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Cell phones are radio transmitters. RF (radio frequency) radiation causes interference in electrical devices, not surprisingly considering it is electromagnetic radiation. (NB do not be scared of that word “radiation” - it is only “radiation” in the same way that light is radiation). > > No it is not dangerous to you. You are continually being bombarded with electromagnetic radiation anyway. Are you sure? Not all E-M radiation is alike. Some, like UV and gamma rays are pretty dangerous. AFAIK the science on mobile phone use has been pretty undecided about any possible health risk. Do you have better info you can share here? John ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scary-electro-crackle-from-cell-phones/300109/4 "2005-04-19T20:27:16Z")
Just when I was feeling safe… I’ve heard what **guinnog** has heard–meaning that cell phone science is about as exact as tarot cards at this point. This particular issue might have been answered by **Colophon** , but in general, I have a sneaking suspicion we’re on our way to impotence or tumors or something quite frightening. I’ll take off the tin foil hat now. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scary-electro-crackle-from-cell-phones/300109/5 "2005-04-19T23:50:09Z")
> [@guinnog](#): > > Are you sure? > > Not all E-M radiation is alike. Some, like UV and gamma rays are pretty dangerous. AFAIK the science on mobile phone use has been pretty undecided about any possible health risk. > > Do you have better info you can share here? > > John No, not all EM radiation is alike. But UV and gamma rays are both towards the short-wavelength, high-energy end of the spectrum. Radio waves, such as those emitted by cellphones, are towards the long-wavelength, low-energy end of the spectrum. [Diagram of the EM spectrum](http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html). Low energy is at the top. In order to cause cancer, you need to damage DNA. To do that, you need to break chemical bonds. Yes, some EM radiation can do that - but ONLY high-energy radiation, i.e. “ionising radiation”. The lowest energy ionising radiation is UV light. Visible light sits just below the threshold. Look on that diagram. Cellphone radiation is situated roughly between microwave and FM radio bands - in other words FAR lower energy than even visible light. Cellphone radiation has a wavelength of about **one foot**. UV light by comparison has a wavelength of about **0.00001 inches**. Your cellphone is not going to be ionising your DNA, so don’t panic! ;j [Here’s some more reading.](http://skepdic.com/emf.html) ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scary-electro-crackle-from-cell-phones/300109/6 "2005-04-20T00:00:43Z")
Just don’t get [this paranoid](http://www.lessemf.com/) about it.