Earth's Magnetic Field vs Cell Phone EMF

[Ratfish]

If the Earth's magnetic field as measured on the surface of the Earth is somewhere between .3 and .6G and cell phone doses are around 2mG, is it then absurd to be at all concerned with even heavy exposures to the kind of low grade doses that cell phones and other electrical devices produce?

I recently purchased a "tri-field meter" for fun and I found that everything with an electric motor in the home produces far more EMF than a cell phone, even right next to it during a call. The highest reading I got was from a corded electric hair clipper. That pegged the scale, which goes up to 100 mG. While I'm not too concerned about the cell phone, I wonder about other devices. An MRI is something like 10,000G, so I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that it could have some effect, although even at that strength it's doubtful that it could ever alter DNA like a standard ionizing radiation X-ray can.

Any thoughts?

 

[marcusl]

First, your meter does not register radio frequency fields and is therefore of no use in characterizing the radiation from cell phones. Depending on the type of service, a phone radiates in the UHF (GSM, 900 MHz) or microwave (CDMA, PCS at 1900 MHz). Second, body interactions are frequency dependent. Very low frequencies mostly pass right through. Bluetooth headsets, on the other hand, radiate in the unregulated ISM band that is also shared by microwave ovens, where the body absorbs virtually 100% of the energy.

BTW, emf is different than magnetic field.

 

[dnp33]

Bluetooth headsets, on the other hand, radiate in the unregulated ISM band that is also shared by microwave ovens, where the body absorbs virtually 100% of the energy.

The energy of the photons your body absorbs is still much less than that of the sun. You'll do more harm standing outside than using a Bluetooth headset.