Phone mast allergy 'in the mind'

[Daniel]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6914492.stm
Finally some good news :) I've never believed that these people have actually had a real illness other than one they invented. Funny how people want to blame any issues they have on something else other than them just not feeling right :mark:

[LotusElise]

With all the electromagnetic waves there must be everywhere, from the electrical appliances in every house, you would think that these people would feel ill all the time, not just when they can see a mobile phone mast.
The Daily Mail and the "alternative health" lot have a lot to answer for.

[Dave B]

There have been several double-blind trials with the same conclusion, but still people won't belive the evidence :rolleyes:

Not content with mobile phones, the moaners are now turning their attention to wi-fi. Some are even campaigning for schools not to have wireless networks. :\

[Drew]

I'm sure next week there will be a study that comes out and says that phone masts are dangerous and cause cancer and so on

[Hazell B]

The Daily Mail and the "alternative health" lot have a lot to answer for.

No idea about the Mail, but what 'alternative health lot' ? :confused:

Don't bunch all alternative types together like that, some are perfectly good at the job they do and some are utter rubbish - they aren't all the same :mark:

Anyway, until today I didn't know phone masts would make some people feel ill (note I say 'feel' ill rather than just ill ;) ) so was it a big worry for certain areas or something? Bet half of those complaining either drove a diesel, smoked or kept caged birds :p :

[BDunnell]

Some sort of conclusion on this issue is long overdue. The trouble is, it won't put an end yet to people being concerned about it, and local authorities and MPs having to 'understand the concerns' of people with these ill-founded worries.

Although I have no desire for aircraft to be full of people on their phones, the same goes for mobile phone usage while in the air. There is no actual evidence that shows that electromagnetic interference from mobiles and other electrical equipment does any harm to aircraft systems.


No idea about the Mail, but what 'alternative health lot' ? :confused:

Don't bunch all alternative types together like that, some are perfectly good at the job they do and some are utter rubbish - they aren't all the same :mark:

Agreed. For many people, access to alternative therapies has been genuinely beneficial, and it's a bit much to say that their growth has had anything to do with public paranoia about health hazards they read about in the papers.

[LotusElise]

For evidence of the sort of alternative health quackery I really meant, go to the website of an organisation called Powerwatch, who are one of the leading proponents of electrosensitivity in the UK. Here you can buy extortionately-priced "protection" against nasty EMF waves, such as bee keeperesque hats and £300 mosquito net things.

As I have IBS I come across loads of quacky alternative health ideas, most of which are a total waste of money and some of which are possibly dangerous. Well-meaning relatives and some of my friends are always suggesting them to me. The same people are usually the ones who don't trust doctors and like to criticise drug companies for making profits. Now, as a confirmed Lefty, I'm all for attacking big business, but why is it okay for someone like "Dr" Gillian McKeith to make a profit but not Pfizer? Grr, I'll get back on topic now...

[Tshbez]

Things like this are, I think, mostly down to the fact that people don't want "man made" things that either emit noise or are an eyesore in the viscinity of their homes. They don't mind it if these things are in the viscinity of other people's houses - just not their own. And they, of course, rely on the road/mobile phone mast/power station that they are complaining about in their everyday lives. If the phone mast/road/power station was closed they would soon be complaining when they can't drive to work/can't get any electricity/can't get a signal on their mobile phone.

[BDunnell]

For evidence of the sort of alternative health quackery I really meant, go to the website of an organisation called Powerwatch, who are one of the leading proponents of electrosensitivity in the UK. Here you can buy extortionately-priced "protection" against nasty EMF waves, such as bee keeperesque hats and £300 mosquito net things.

Ah, I see. I wouldn't class that as being part of alternative health methods, personally. Maybe my classification is a bit narrow. I always take it to mean acupuncture, herbal remedies, that sort of stuff.


As I have IBS I come across loads of quacky alternative health ideas, most of which are a total waste of money and some of which are possibly dangerous. Well-meaning relatives and some of my friends are always suggesting them to me. The same people are usually the ones who don't trust doctors and like to criticise drug companies for making profits. Now, as a confirmed Lefty, I'm all for attacking big business, but why is it okay for someone like "Dr" Gillian McKeith to make a profit but not Pfizer? Grr, I'll get back on topic now...

Very good point.

[Caroline]

There have been several double-blind trials with the same conclusion, but still people won't belive the evidence :rolleyes:

Not content with mobile phones, the moaners are now turning their attention to wi-fi. Some are even campaigning for schools not to have wireless networks. :\

Nobody knows quite what may come of having wi-fi in schools. Certainly, it is beneficial in my school but my Union is aware of staff in the UK who have 'developed' illnesses since coming into contact. Who knows? I know that it did have an effect on the hearing aids and radio mikes of a deaf pupil I taught. It caused interference at some level and although not life threatening, was truly irritating and inconvenient.

[Daniel]

Nobody knows quite what may come of having wi-fi in schools. Certainly, it is beneficial in my school but my Union is aware of staff in the UK who have 'developed' illnesses since coming into contact. Who knows? I know that it did have an effect on the hearing aids and radio mikes of a deaf pupil I taught. It caused interference at some level and although not life threatening, was truly irritating and inconvenient.

You know what they should look at in schools if they want to ease people's fears over wireless networks? Use powerline networking. Simple, cheap and effective!

[Malbec]

Although I have no desire for aircraft to be full of people on their phones, the same goes for mobile phone usage while in the air. There is no actual evidence that shows that electromagnetic interference from mobiles and other electrical equipment does any harm to aircraft systems.

They don't now but I do believe they used to in the past. Its the same for medical equipment, in the early days the radiofrequencies they used were similar and equipment could be affected by the phones. Nowadays the radiofrequencies have been separated, I think the medical equipment was modified to use a different frequency and its safe to use them next to each other. In Australia the medical staff use mobiles for communication instead of pagers like here.

Incidentally if I have my mobile phone next to my iPod, if its receiving a text or a call it changes the volume on the iPod....

On a different tack we don't yet have any evidence either way of whether mobile phone usage is linked to a higher risk of cancer, but I think its reasonable to wonder whether carrying a small constantly on radiotransmission device right next to your body will have some degree of effect. We've seen such an increase in the level of electromagnetic radiation in everyday life over such a short period of time that if there is an effect it won't be for a while, probably for decades.

[LotusElise]

Nobody knows quite what may come of having wi-fi in schools. Certainly, it is beneficial in my school but my Union is aware of staff in the UK who have 'developed' illnesses since coming into contact. Who knows? I know that it did have an effect on the hearing aids and radio mikes of a deaf pupil I taught. It caused interference at some level and although not life threatening, was truly irritating and inconvenient.

We had wi-fi in our office and it did cause a lot of stress, not through any physical means but because everyone got fed up of adjusting the routers and dealing with its problems.
The hearing aid thing is logical and has a reasonable explanation. Interestingly (sort of), my wi-fi enabled Nintendo DS interferes with my mobile phone, or appears to, if they are too close.

[BDunnell]

Incidentally if I have my mobile phone next to my iPod, if its receiving a text or a call it changes the volume on the iPod....

How interesting. I wonder if this had anything to do with my mobile deciding to start switching itself off in spite of being fully charged. Seems rather unlikely, but now you say that, it could be possible.

[BDunnell]

Nobody knows quite what may come of having wi-fi in schools. Certainly, it is beneficial in my school but my Union is aware of staff in the UK who have 'developed' illnesses since coming into contact. Who knows? I know that it did have an effect on the hearing aids and radio mikes of a deaf pupil I taught. It caused interference at some level and although not life threatening, was truly irritating and inconvenient.

When I started using wi-fi, I was aware of my hands becoming very dry while using my laptop. This seems to have stopped, but it did make me wonder for a moment whether the two things were linked. I am more of the view that it was coincidental.

[Daniel]

When I started using wi-fi, I was aware of my hands becoming very dry while using my laptop. This seems to have stopped, but it did make me wonder for a moment whether the two things were linked. I am more of the view that it was coincidental.
The wireless antenna will typcially be the screen of your laptop just so you know :)

I don't quite understand why wireless is so popular in offices and so on. It's often not that expensive to have a wired network put in and they're much much more reliable and don't interfere with anything at all :)

[LotusElise]

When I started using wi-fi, I was aware of my hands becoming very dry while using my laptop. This seems to have stopped, but it did make me wonder for a moment whether the two things were linked. I am more of the view that it was coincidental.

Had you used any chemical stuff to clean the keyboard or mouse?

[Erki]

I don't quite understand why wireless is so popular in offices and so on. It's often not that expensive to have a wired network put in and they're much much more reliable and don't interfere with anything at all :)

Better mobility maybe?

[Erki]

Incidentally if I have my mobile phone next to my iPod, if its receiving a text or a call it changes the volume on the iPod....

Any chance of that phone being an iPhone? Maybe iPod "knows" when iPod is receiving a text or a call? iPod would make a good hands-free system if coupled with iPhone, don't you think? :)

[Malbec]

Had you used any chemical stuff to clean the keyboard or mouse?

And what websites were you surfing? Were you risking being fired if they traced you?

[LotusElise]

Sorry, you've lost me there, Dylan.

[Malbec]

Any chance of that phone being an iPhone? Maybe iPod "knows" when iPod is receiving a text or a call? iPod would make a good hands-free system if coupled with iPhone, don't you think? :)

Yeah its an iPhone.... in my dreams.... its not available here yet anyway.

[Malbec]

Sorry, you've lost me there, Dylan.

Sorry I was referring to his original post....

[BDunnell]

Had you used any chemical stuff to clean the keyboard or mouse?

No. This is a problem in itself, owing to my laziness!

[BDunnell]

Sorry I was referring to his original post....

Whose, mine?

If so, the answer is no!