Mobile Phones: The Good, the Bad and the Future
We love our mobile phones or cell phones as we call them in North America. They grow smaller and have more functions each year. They are an outpost of computer technology we carry in our pockets so to speak. Talk to your friends, check your e-mail, take a picture or watch a tiny computer screen. Television? Surely available soon on your cell.
According to Jim Harris who writes in the Backbone technology magazine[1], there are 2 billion users today and the number is growing. In several countries there are more cell phones than inhabitants.[2] In countries where the traditional landline telephones were not widely available, wireless phones are a form of equal opportunity and access to communication technology for people with limited resources. In our wired world that invents new applications of computer technology steadily, the glory of mobile telephones is the connection of peoples’ minds across continents. So far so good.
There is a dark side to this wonder product, however. One issue is the rapid speed that makes cell phones obsolete. Small as they are, they are disposed of typically by being thrown into the garbage, yet cell phones are packed with poisonous substances that leak into the environment. As the life span of mobile phones is about one year, there are virtually billions of these tiny objects in dumps across the world. As there are no disposal requirements for cell phones in Canada, they are unlikely to exist in most places on the planet. Definitely not in large developing countries such as India or China. So cell phones are part of a growing environmental catastrophe. This is not a good story.
The second issue is the health hazards of the wireless technology with the broadcast “cell” sending microwaves to the phone you clutch near your ear. My cell phone manual has a note saying that the World Health Organization deems mobile phones harmless but that children’s use of the phone should be restricted. Jim Harris, however, points out the evidence of brain tumours in research animals exposed to microwaves such as found in mobile technology. Such research used levels of radiation considered safe by government standards. While the mobile industry claims those findings are inconclusive, we should consider the high stakes at play. After all, when conclusive findings may become available, it can be late for many. Moreover, the tobacco industry had also claimed for decades that tobacco was safe and research to the contrary was inconclusive. This is a matter for independent research and adjudication.
People, young and mature, spend significant amounts of time with cell phones these days. We are very likely playing with fire. You may and should minimize the wireless effect on your body by using the bluetooth or a speaker. But those are baby steps in addressing the risks and health hazards of mobile technology.
I suggest that you limit your use of cell phones, pick up a bluetooth, ask questions about safety and return your old cell phones to your dealer as opposed to tossing it out. I welcome your comments but please do call my landline.
[1] September/October 2006
[2] New York Times, October 15, 2006
