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April 4, 2006: Cell Phone Radiation May Cause Visual Damage

There's a scary article on cell phone radiation causing permanent damage on parts of the eye.

When I wrote my cell phone radiation article several years ago (in 2001), there were no conclusive studies on the subject - cell phone radiation was just too new and long term effects could not be measured.

According to this article, there have been recent studies performed on animals (!!) that showed microwave radiation, at the very least, to lead to an increased risk of developing cataracts in the eyes. This is due to the fact that part of the microwave radiation absorbed by the eye's tissues is converted to heat - and "that even a slight increase in temperature close to the lens (as low as 3 degrees Celsius) can increase the risk of developing a cataract." (ISRAELI RESEARCH: CELL PHONE RADIATION MAY CAUSE VISUAL DAMAGE, http://www.isracast.com/tech_news/250705_tech.htm)

Meanwhile, another study was performed by the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion - this one focused on using male calf eyes (obtained from a slaughterhouse), placing them in an incubator, and launching microwave radiation at the eyes. While I'm not sure how feasible this study is (the eyes are technically dead, right?), after being exposed to the radiation for numerous periods of time, the eye lenses produced obvious eye damage in "optical quality." In addition, small bubbles popped up on the surface of the eye lenses, which the researchers concluded was the result of small amounts of friction between the microscopic cells in the eye lens. While the optical quality damage showed some slight signs of repair, the bubbles did not.

Of course, the test was not conducted on humans and the results may not be the same. However, these studies do raise some questions as to how much is actually known about microwave radiation, and especially the type emitted by cell phones.

And for the record, CNET reports that the top 10 highest-radiation cell phones are:

1. Motorola V120c
1. Motorola v265 (tied for first place)
3. Motorola V70
4. Motorola P8767
4. Motorola ST7868
4. Motorola ST7868W
7. Motorola A845
7. Panasonic Allure
7. Treo 650 GSM
10.Sony Ericsson P910

Have to watch those Motorolas.

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