“After the World Health Organization warning, [Salon] asked 11 experts [they] admire from the science world for advice.” Take a look at all 11, but here are a couple that stood out:
PZ Myers, Ph. D, associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota and author of the science blog, Pharyngula:
No. We’re just swimming in electromagnetic fields all the time, so it seems silly to worry about one tiny, low-power transmitter when I live in a house with a microwave oven, a half-dozen computers, a big screen TV, and whatever other hi-tech gadget has tickled my fancy that week. It’s true, though, that thanks to the inverse square law, other sources probably have smaller effects on me — the phone is the transmitter that I hold right next to my head on a regular basis. Could it be the source of unique problem? Maybe.
K.C. Cole, a long-time science writer for the Los Angeles Times, is a professor at USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism:
Yes, of course I use precautions. I generally refuse to talk to anyone I care about if they call me from a cell phone while driving. We KNOW that inattentional blindness is a real phenomenon, that it causes (not probably) as many deaths as drunken driving. Do I worry about cell phones giving me cancer? Please. Of all the environmental toxins we’re exposed to every day that cause cancer (and other illnesses), cell phones don”t even make the list.