Bjorn Reddington on his cellphone (Photo – Vahe Simonyan).
The smart phone revolution has almost completely taken over the human race, rendering most people into neck-bent zombies hungry for their next dosing of information or messages from friends, family or colleagues.
By Ethan Elkind
But maybe there’s a downside to the technology, too: harmful radiation.
A few years ago, California’s Environmental Health Investigations branch assessed the risks of cellphone radiation and offered recommendations for public use. But the branch kept the supposedly “draft” document under wraps, until my UC Berkeley Law colleague Claudia Polsky and the school’s environmental law clinic students sued to have it released, on behalf of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
Claudia and her clinic students just won the case in superior court, and she appeared on CBS San Fransisco (click for video) to discuss it.
Mobile Dangers (Photo – maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com).
Advice for those worried about cell phone radiation?
Keep the phone out of your front pocket or bra and keep it as far from you as possible while you sleep — especially for children.
Better safe than sorry!
Ethan Elkind directs the climate program at UC Berkeley Law, with a joint appointment at UCLA Law. His book “Railtown” was published by the University of California Press in 2014. This article was originally published on ethanelkind.com.
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