Concerns about the danger posed to human health by radio waves are misplaced — and increasingly irrelevant. The use of phones while driving is far more likely to cause harmAlthough the myth that mobile phones cause cancer has been laid to rest, an implacable minority remains convinced of the connection. Their fears have been aggravated of late by bureaucratic bickering at the World Health Organisation (WHO). Let it be said, once and for all, that no matter how powerful a radio transmitter — whether an over-the-horizon radar station or a microwave tower — radio waves simply cannot produce ionising radiation. The only possible effect they can have on human tissue is to raise its temperature slightly.In the real world, the only sources of ionising radiation are gamma rays, X-rays and extreme ultra-violet waves, at the far (ie, high-frequency) end of the electromagnetic spectrum — along with fission fragments and other particles from within an atom, plus cosmic rays from outer space. These are the sole sources energetic enough to knock electrons out of atoms — breaking chemical bonds and producing dangerous free radicals in the process. It is highly reactive free radicals that can damage a person’s DNA and cause mutation, radiation sickness, cancer and even death.To read this report in The Economist in full, see:
www.economist.com/node/21527022