I know some of you feel overwhelmed by the amount of dos and don’ts when it comes to protecting yourself from cancer-causing substances and environments. It seems that everywhere we turn, there is a warning of “Do this and you will be at a higher risk for cancer.” It all seems like so much.
Most of it is stuff you get. You know you need to eat well, exercise and stay away from fumes that make you react (cough, gag, wheeze, etc). Done. But there are those other things that always seem to come out of the blue and you just aren’t sure what to even do to avoid them. Like most people, you probably resign yourself to just getting on with your life because you can’t possibly alter your circumstances or it’s just not worth it to you.
But let me tell you something you MUST be aware of and do something about: radiation exposure. I’m not talking about the radon testing that happens in homes. I’m not talking about the radiation you get from X-rays (which you all know to avoid while you’re pregnant, right?). I’m talking about the radiation that you are being exposed to right now as you read this.
Radiation is broken down into two categories: ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation. Ionizing is what occurs naturally in our environment and small doses of it is fine. Non-ionizing radiation is waves that carry energy from one thing to another and is also called EMFs (electromagnetic fields). Think anything in your home that uses waves to make energy: microwaves, mobile phones, computers, Wi-Fi, TV, radios, etc. Yeah, it’s pretty much everywhere. This is what is a big problem.
So how big a problem? So big a problem that European & Asian countries are encouraging children to not use cell phones. So big a problem that the KNOWN effects of overexposure (which we are all subject to just by virtue of living in a highly EMF-charged nation) are “a wide variety of ill effects in children, including delayed growth, small head size, mental retardation, nervous system damage, behavioral problems, and cancer.”(1) In fact, the World Health Organization credit non-ionizing radiation as “carrying the same risk level for cancer as chloroform, gasoline fumes, and lead.”(2) Now, would you expose yourself to those things on a constant and regular basis? Would you?
OK, so enough of the problem – what to do about it? Check out these tips from Green Child Magazine’s article, “Radiation: What Every Woman Needs to Know” about how to lessen your exposure from something you carry everyday, all the time – your cell phone.
- Keep your cell phone as far away from your body as possible during use. Put it on speaker phone, or use a wired headset. Texting is also fine!
- Avoid carrying your phone on your body. If you can’t avoid it, then make sure the back of the phone is facing away from you. Better yet, turn it off or put it on airplane mode. And don’t carry the phone in your bra – there have been reported cases of cell-phone induced breast cancer in women who do.
- Limit the length of your cell calls. Reserve your phone for quick communications, and switch to a land line for longer calls.
- When possible, text instead of calling.
- If you have to hold the phone to your head, switch sides frequently.
- Avoid using your phone in a moving vehicle, or where the signal is weak, since it works harder and emits more EMFs in these situations.
- Choose a “safer” phone. The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is a measure of the amount of energy absorbed by the body when using a particular phone. A lower SAR indicates less radiation. For more information, visit the Federal Communications Commission’s SAR page.
- If you are pregnant, invest in a radiation barrier. In south Asia when a woman is pregnant she is immediately given a pregnancy smock. In the U.S., you can purchase one for yourself. One popular brand is Belly Armor.
As for all of the other EMF-emitting items you are surrounded by, turn them off when not in use and just stay as far away as you can. Prefer to relax in your den while reading – and that’s where your Wi-Fi, TV, radio and computer all sit? Move to another room. And honestly, if you’re a woman, man, mom or dad, what’s the harm in following these guidelines anyway? I think we could all use a little break from the radiation in our lives.
Green Parenting is published every Friday. For questions, please email Elise Jones.
Thank you to Green Child Magazine for allowing us to share these tips. For more indepth coverage and more answers about non-ionizing radiation, please check out their current issue and article found here.
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The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog contributor’s. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Writers may have conflicts of interest, and their opinions are their own.
