Boomers and beyond: Crash course in Bluetooth
Did I hear the newscaster right? Did he really say that our “can’t-do-without-‘em” Bluetooth cell phones are putting us at increased risk for brain cancer?
Just what is Bluetooth, anyway? Maybe it’s time we had a better understanding of it, now that all those handy little devices using Bluetooth technology stand accused of generating unacceptably high levels of dangerous electromagnetic radiation (EMR), and are implicated as a major health hazard.
Bluetooth is merely the name of the technology that makes possible short-range, wireless (no cords and cables) communication among all of our portable, fixed devices – cell phones, computers and laptops, mouses (mice?), printers, Blackberries, iPods, and so forth. And, as they utilize the same technology – Bluetooth technology – they’re all compatible.
Why the name – Bluetooth? In 1994 the Ericsson company in Sweden designed Bluetooth wireless technology to end office clutter and to unite computer devices and telecommunications. In 1998 five companies formed a Bluetooth Special Interest group to further the technology’s acceptance industry-wide. Obviously, they were – and continue to be – wildly successful.
But the queer name, Bluetooth was inspired by King Harald Bluetooth, 10th-century King of Denmark and Norway, who united the warring factions of Scandinavia. (He loved blueberries … hence bluetooth.)
It was last week when the news broke about research concerning a suspected connection between the prolonged use of cell phones and an increased the risk for brain cancer. Some newscasters commented that safety concerns about cell phones may be an overreaction, while others noted that the technology is not old enough to judge long-term effects. (10 years is not long enough?)
Since then, however, the airwaves have been silent on the subject.
For sure, the biohazards of electromagnetic radiation have been known since the 1970s and possibly earlier. In 1985, W.O. Becker, M.D., wrote a fascinating book about electricity and the body – “The Body Electric.” Becker spoke about the effect electromagnetic frequencies have on life, saying “these unfamiliar energies produce changes in nearly every bodily function so far studied.” And he adds the most disturbing data come from study of “the central nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine, and growth control systems.”
Despite worldwide studies on the possible health risks associated with electromagnetic radiation, the subject remains an enormous controversy.
Last weekend, I went to several electronics stores to see what they could tell me about cell phone radiation dangers. When asked, the salesperson looked at me as if I had just asked for a personal levitation device. “Huh? Radiation?”
So, what else could I do? I headed for Internet, laptop radiation and all!
There are 3 billion people worldwide using cell phones, and current consensus among many researchers is the industry has not shown the technology for PCS frequency-pulsed microwaves to be safe for humans.
Two researchers from University of Washington, Seattle, Drs. Lai and N.P. Singh, and another from Telstra, a communications conglomerate in Australia, both linked serious health effects to the type of electromagnetic radiation emitted from PCS frequency-pulsed microwave systems, such as in the Bluetooth technology.
Dr. Vini Khurana, a leading brain surgeon from Canberra, Australia, concurs with their findings and feels they highlight an emerging global health concern. He cautions that given the long incubation period (5-10 years) for manifestation of adverse effects, people should minimize their exposure to mobile phones now by using land lines in preference to a mobile or cordless phones. Use the “speaker phone” mode and place mobile phone on the table. When in the car, use a hands-free speaker. Minimize the amount of time spent using current Bluetooth devices, cordless phones and unshielded headphones. He further suggests we restrict use of mobile and cordless phones by children to emergency only.
In the last 25 years our lives have become so mechanized that we live in a sea of ambient electromagnetic radiation – it even radiates from the cord that connects the lamp on the end table where we sit and read while perhaps resting our feet rest on a heated, electric foot massager.
Unless we go live in the forest, in a hand-hewn wooden cabin and without electricity, far away from civilization and all its electromagnetic radiation, we can’t escape the hazards of modern life. Would we want to go back to those times, or perhaps join an Amish community and live with few if any modern conveniences?
Most of us like our modern lives and would not want go back to the “simple” days before electromagnetic radiation. At least not much longer than for a camping weekend.
Are these electromagnetic radiations really all that harmful? Is the prevalence of cancer today really linked to their major presence in our everyday lives? It is food for thought, all right, and it’s downright scary.
But, of course, it depends upon who one listens to and if one chooses to listen. (But don’t be surprised if shielded headphones are soon a hot item.)