Power Down for Healthy Brains and Bodies

by Lisa Cline

I write here and there about protecting your kids from wireless radiation. The response is big. Many readers want to know more. But there's a lot to know. So let me break it down into single, simple steps. One device at a time.

This week: cell phones.

As you may know, the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends limiting exposure to cell phones. And just this past Spring, the World Health Organization published a detailed explanation of their 2011 determination that cell phone and other wireless radiation was a "possible human carcinogen."

In a new publication, Santosh Kesari, M.D., Ph.D., chief of neuro-oncology at the University of San Diego, notes that studies of people who began using cell phones as teenagers develop between four to eight times more malignant brain tumors than those whose use start in their 20s.

Until things change with the government watchdog agencies regulating wireless radiation in this country, it is incumbent upon us to watch out for ourselves. Here’s how:

1. First, look up the SAR rating on your phone. Here are the lowest and highest: http://cellphones.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=003054#20Highest. Sorry, iPhone users, the news is not good for you.

2. Get a safer phone, if you are able.

3. follow these rules of thumb:

• Turn it off at night, or whenever you don’t need it.

• Turn off the wireless function when your kid is using it for play.

• Never hold it to your head. It heats your brain tissue. In fact, check your phone’s user manual for a real surprise. Apple advises that iPhones be used at least 10 millimeters away from your body. Blackberry users are told to keep phones an inch from the body and avoid exposure to the pregnant or teenaged abdomen.

• Use speaker.

• Better yet, text.

• Don’t carry your phone next to your body. Especially if you are pregnant. Experiments produced by NATO-supported teams led by Nesrin Seyhan in Turkey have also found that offspring of rabbits, rats and mice exposed in utero to cell phone radiation have damaged brains, liver, skin and eyes.

• Get an app that tells you when you are in a “hot spot.” I have Tawkon, for Android phones. There’s also one called Cell Spacer. These are two of a number of growing apps that beep or light up to warn users when their devices exceed approved exposure limits.

Next, I'll walk you through ditching the cordless phone in your house. It's bad news, too.

Until then….