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What is RF Radiation?

RF 101 

The word radiation is often thought of as referring to the emanations from radioactive material and x-rays. However when scientists use the word radiation they are usually referring to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) which can be emitted from such sources as radio cell phones, TV  transmissions, light from the sun as well as x-ray machines.

Electromagnetic radiation has electric and magnetic field components and passes through space at the speed of light – about 300,000,000 metres per second (186,000 miles per second).

electromagnetic wave

Microwave (MW) and radio frequency (RF) radiation is electromagnetic radiation that is lower in frequency and therefore longer in wavelength than infrared radiation. “Radiofrequency” is the name given to that section of the electromagnetic spectrum from frequencies of 300 kHz to 300 GHz. In general the section of the electromagnetic spectrum from frequencies of approximately 300 MHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths of approximately 1 meter (m) to 1 millimeter (mm) are called microwaves. Although some consider microwaves not to include lower frequencies and to start at 800 MHz with a wavelength of 37.5 centimeters (cm).

The term “microwaves” can be misleading. The wavelengths are not really “micro” in size because they range from 1 meter to the shortest which is 1 millimeter not 1 “micro” meter. (See also Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) and Electromagnetic Fields (EMF’s)

electromagnetic radiation spectrum

Sources of radio frequency and of microwaves are primarily:

• Radio and television broadcast antenna
• Communications equipment such as cellular & PCS, satellite, etc.
• Cooking (microwave ovens)
• Civilian, police and military radar
• A variety of industrial inductive and dielectric heating devices
• Medical devices such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and diathermy devices

RF Health Concern Classifications 

The primary health concern of microwave radiation is adverse effects associated with whole or partial body thermal exposure. A clear example of a thermal exposure situation is the heating of animal tissue (e.g. hamburger) in a microwave oven. The microwave electromagnetic radiation “cooks” the animal tissue. Avoiding damaging thermal exposure levels is accomplished by keeping one’s exposure below recommended maximumspecific absorption rates (SAR). However since SAR is difficult to determine, safety standards have also adopted maximum allowable power density exposure limits measured in units of watts per square meter (W/m2). 

New studies suggest hazards exists at Non-thermal levels of rf exposure. This should be a great concern for cell phone users who want to maximize their safety.

https://www.rfsafe.com/rf-radiation/

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Cell phone cancer lawsuit Israeli man paid 400k by cell phone company Partner Communications

CELL PHONE RADIATION

Partner Communications, which operates in Israel under the name Orange, will pay NIS 400,000 to a customer who contracted cancer in his ear.

Partner Communications, which operates in Israel under the Orange brand name, has reached a settlement with a customer who claims he contracted cancer after using one of their devices.

The customer, who is in his 50s, sued Partner in May, claiming that intensive use of the device resulted in an aggressive lymphoma near his left ear. Partner agreed to pay NIS 400,000 in an out-of-court compromise settlement.

The customer is an attorney who had converted the secure room – a reinforced room that doubles as a bomb shelter and is common in most new Israeli homes – into an office. He claimed that he conducted a great deal of phone calls and business from the room, where cellular reception was low. In places without good phone reception, such as elevators and secure rooms, the electromagnetic radiation from cellular phones is higher than usual.

Partner’s settlement is a rare act. The company says they opted to pay the customer as a humanitarian gesture, saying in a statement, “The company is very meticulous about adhering to the guidelines of the World Health Organization, the Health Ministry, the Communications Ministry and all the relevant bodies. No scientific or medical basis was found to the claim and it was rejected by the court. Beyond the letter of the law, in light of [the man’s] personal story, the company decided on an exceptional humanitarian gesture. We wish him good health.”

Regardless of their statement, the customer’s lawsuit included a medical opinion linking mobile phone use and his disease, which raises questions about Partner. Was it concerned the opinion would be legally validated if the case when to court? Was it worried about a precedent? Did it prefer to sign the compromise agreement to save face in the media?

Israel’s other cellular companies have less to fear from lawsuits because their rules are relatively strict when held up alongside international standards. Every device comes with a brochure detailing safety precautions, which include using an earpiece and refraining from taking in locations with poor reception.

Israelis are among the heaviest cell phone users in the world. According to a Partner report issued last week, its customers speak for 450 minutes a month on average. Customers with unlimited packages speak for about 700 minutes a month.

The debate about radiation damages has been around since the establishment of the cellular companies. Until now most of the battle has been over radiation from antennas. The present compromise is unusual because it focuses on radiation from the cellular device itself. Two months ago a survey found increasing evidence of the link between the use of cell phones and brain tumors.

This particular settlement by Partner is liable to have an effect on cell phone companies and open the floodgates to a barrage of individual and class-action lawsuits, providing plenty of work for lawyers specializing in the field. Following a ruling in the United States requiring tobacco companies to pay damages for cancer patients who had smoked, lawsuits poured in and the value of tobacco companies plummeted as a result.