The report details that radiation transmitted by cell phones is potentially carcinogenic, based on an increased risk for a malignant type of brain cancer associated with wireless phone use. What most people don’t realise is that there is solution to dramatically lower the exposure – using hands-free devices!
Just as people aren’t going to stay indoors because they are afraid of sun damage, they won’t stop using cell phones due to fear of radiation. With over 5 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, cell phones have become a part of our daily routine for communicating with others and are here to stay. Using a hands-free device can reduce the exposure to radiation by a factor of eight hundred, drastically lowering the exposure from max 2 watts from cell phones to 0.0025 watts max output for Bluetooth hands-free devices and zero watts for corded devices.
New survey results, sponsored by Jabra, a provider of hands-free solutions, show that despite the potential risk, people are not concerned with radiation in their daily lives. Twenty five percent of survey respondents said that radiation doesn’t concern them at all and sixty one percent said that it concerns them a little bit or to some extent. However, when informed that it is a scientific fact that using a Bluetooth
(wireless) headset actually reduces exposure to phone radiation, 53% said they would use a hands-free device.
“People are concerned about radiation from their cell phones but they don’t care enough to stop using them and aren’t aware that being hands-free lowers the exposure,” said Anne Raaen Rasmussen, Senior Vice President of the Mobile division at Jabra. “We are here to inform them that Jabra offers many hands-free devices that provide a solution for concerned consumers who want to lower their own or their children’s exposure to mobile phone radiation.”
A press release issued by the IARC recommended reducing exposure through the use of headsets stating, ”Given the potential consequences for public health of this classification and findings, it is important that additional research be conducted into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones.
Pending the availability of such information, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure such as hands-free devices or texting." (Source:
http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2011/pdfs/pr208_E.pdf)