ARE CELL PHONES REALLY FRYING OUR BRAINS??? By Mac Eckert

Transcription

1 ARECELLPHONESREALLY FRYINGOURBRAINS??? ByMacEckert Whatisradiation? Radiationisenergythattravels.Eventheradiationlogototheright showsthis.itisasymbolofaparticlethatisemittingenergyinall directions. Whatarethedifferenttypesofradiation? Allradiationwillpassthroughvariousmaterials.Non ionizingradiationdoesn taffectthe materialsthatitpassesthrough.lightandradiowavesaretypesofnon ionizingradiation. Whenyoushineaflashlightthroughyourhand,itdoesn taffectyourbody.also,radio wavespassthroughyourbodyallthetime(sothatwecanlistentomusic: ). ThemoredangeroustypeofradiationiscalledionizingradiationbecauseitDOESaffect thematerialthatitpassesthrough.itcreateschargedparticlesinthematerialscalledions. Gammarays,x rays,cosmicrays,lasers,andraysfromthesunarealltypesofionizing radiation.thisiswhyyougetatan.fun. Highvoltageelectronicdevicescreatealotofionizingradiation,whichiswhyyouwillseea radiationsymbolliketheoneaboveonthem(cd/dvdplayers,x raymachines,tvs,smoke detectors,etc.). Whatisbackgroundradiation? Backgroundradiationistheionizingradiationthatisnormally producedbyourenvironment.itismostlygammaraysthatcome fromouterspace(cosmicrays)orfromtheradioactivematerials aroundusandintheearth. Forexample,concretebuildingsemitmoreradiationthanwood buildings.ifyouliveincolorado(usa),thereismorebackground radiationbecausethereismoreradioactiverockunderneaththe Earthinthatpartoftheworld. Whatisaradiationdosimeter? Aradiationdosimeterisadevicethatcanmeasureionizingradiation. Someexpensiveoneshavescreensthatshowyouexactlyhowmuch radiationisproduced.otherones,liketheoneiamusing(from Russia),measureradiationusingbeepsandblinkinglights.

2 WhatisthenormalbackgroundradiationinCambridge? InCambridge,wehaveabout0.15µSv/hr(microsievert/hour). Whyshouldyoubeawareoftheionizingradiationaroundyou? Simple.Becauseourbodiescan tdetectit,yetitcancauseseveredamagetoourhealth. Asaresult,peoplewhoworkwithradiation,suchasdoctorswhouse radiotherapy,labworkers,nuclearpowerplantworkers,andhazmat teamshavetowearradiationdosimeterstomeasurehowmuchradiation theyabsorbsothattheycanensurethattheydon tabsorbtoomuch. Theseradiationdosimetersareusuallybadgesthatyoupintoyourshirt andlookliketheonetotheright.thebadgescontaincrystalsthatabsorb radiation.attheendofeachday,theytakethecrystalsoutofthebadge andspinthemaroundveryfastuntiltheygiveoffaflash.thebrightnessof theflashtellsushowmuchradiationthatthepersonabsorbedduringthe day.ifitistoomuch,thentheworkerisusuallytoldtostayhomeforafew daysanddrinklotsofwatertoflushanyradiationthatcollectsinthe kidneys.also,thetotalamountofradiationabsorbedbythepersonis monitoredcarefullytoensurethattheydon tgooverthemaximumyearly limitof20msv/yr(whichisthesameas20000usv/yr). Cellphonestodaycandomuchmorethanjust makephonecalls.theycanbrowsetheinternet, send sandtextmessage.plus,theykeep gettingfasterandmorepowerful.asaresult, manypeopleareworriedtodaythatcellphone radiationisbadforyourhealthsincecellphones todayhavehighvoltageradiotransmitters(see picturetotheright). Thesetransmitterscancreatesomeionizing radiationclosetothephone(whereyouputyour head!).fasterphones(i.e.3g)havemuchmore powerfultransmitters,andcanproducemore ionizingradiation. IrememberreadinganarticleonGoogleNews aboutcellphoneradiationafewmonthsago,and thereisanorganizationcalledwww.ewg.orgthatwarnedpeopleaboutusingcertaintypes ofcellphoneslikeblackberries.

3 MyHypothesis: Ithinkthatcellphonesgenerateionizingradiationwhentheymakephonecallsorbrowse theinternet. Ialsothinkthattheamountofradiationgeneratedwilldependonthetypeofcellphoneand whetherthecellphoneismakingaphonecallorusingdata(i.e.browsingtheinternet, texting, ing).accordingtobellcanada,usingdataonyourcellphonegeneratesmore traffic.asaresult,ithinkthatusingdatasuchasbrowsingtheinternet,willgeneratemore ionizingradiationtoo. Sincenewcellphonesaremuchmorecomplexthanoldcellphones,Ialsothinkthatnewcell phonesemitjustasmuchradiationasoldonesorevenmore. Materials: Todothisexperiment,youneedtohavethefollowing: Aradiationdosimeterthatmeasuresionizingradiationbyproducingbeepsand/or blinkinglights(iamusingakvartsmodeldrsb 01) Astopwatch(orastopwatchprogramforyourPC/Mac) Lifeinsurance Abunchofcellphonesfromyourfriendsandfamily.Hereisapictureofthephonesthat Iamtesting:

4 TheyallhaveInternetaccessexceptfortheMotorolaClassicII(anold brick cellphonethat Iwantedtoincludetoseeifoldercellphonesproducedmoreorlessionizingradiation). Thesize(height,width)ofeachphonecomparedtoeachotherinthesepicturesareabout thesameasinreality.themotorolaclassiciiisextremelyheavyandabout5yearsolder thanme: ) Procedure/Method: Tomeasurethebackgroundradiationproduced,dothefollowingsteps: 1) Turnontheradiationdosimeterandholditintheair. 2) Setyourstopwatch(orfreestopwatchapplicationonyourPC/Mac)tocountdownfrom 10seconds. 3) Startthestopwatchcountdownwhilelisteningtotheradiationdosimeter. 4) Recordthenumberofbeepsproducedduringthe10secondcountdown. 5) PerformSteps1 4twomoretimes. 6) Taketheaverageofthethreenumbersthatyourecorded(addthemupanddivideby3). ThisnumbershouldrepresentthenormalbackgroundradiationinCambridge(which wealreadyknowisabout0.15µsv/hraccordingtotheinternet). Tomeasuretheionizingradiationmadebyphonecalls,dothefollowingstepsforeach ofthecellphonesthatyouwanttotest: 1) Turnontheradiationdosimeterandholditnexttoacellphone back to back (theback oftheradiationdosimetershouldbeheldtothebackofthecellphone). 2) EnteryourhomephonenumberonthecellphonebutdonotpresstheSendbuttonyet (makesurethatnooneishomesothatitkeepsringingduringtheexperiment). 3) Setyourstopwatch(orfreestopwatchapplicationonyourPC/Mac)tocountdownfrom 10seconds. 4) Atthesametime,presstheSendbuttononthecellphoneandstartthestopwatch countdownwhilelisteningtotheradiationdosimeter. 5) Recordthenumberofbeepsproducedduringthe10secondcountdown. 6) PerformSteps1 5twomoretimes. 7) Taketheaverageofthethreenumbersthatyourecorded(addthemupanddivideby3). Thisnumbershouldrepresenttheradiationthatwasdetectedbytheradiation dosimeterduringthephonecall. Tomeasuretheionizingradiationmadebydata(browsingtheInternet),dothe followingstepsforeachofthecellphonesthatyouwanttotest: 1) Turnontheradiationdosimeterandholditnexttoacellphone back to back (theback oftheradiationdosimetershouldbeheldtothebackofthecellphone). 2) OpentheInternetwebbrowseronyourphoneandtypeintheaddresswww.ebay.com (whichtakesmorethan10secondstoload),butdonotpressthego/searchbuttonyet. 3) Setyourstopwatch(orfreestopwatchapplicationonyourPC/Mac)tocountdownfrom 10seconds. 4) Atthesametime,presstheGo/Searchbuttononthecellphoneandstartthestopwatch countdownwhilelisteningtotheradiationdosimeter. 5) Recordthenumberofbeepsproducedduringthe10secondcountdown. 6) PerformSteps1 5twomoretimes.

5 7) Taketheaverageofthethreenumbersthatyourecorded(addthemupanddivideby3). Thisnumbershouldrepresenttheradiationthatwasdetectedbytheradiation dosimeterwhenthewebpageforebaywasloading. Observations: #1 # of beeps in 10 seconds #2 #3 Average Background radiation # of beeps in 10s when making a phone call Phone #1 #2 #3 Average BlackBerry BlackBerry BlackBerry iphone 3GS Samsung Impact Nokia N Motorola Classic II # of beeps in 10s when browsing the Internet Phone #1 #2 #3 Average BlackBerry BlackBerry BlackBerry iphone 3GS Samsung Impact Nokia N

6 ResultsandAnalysis: Asyoucanseefromtheobservations,theradiationdosimeterrecordedmoreionizing radiationwhenmakingaphonecallandbrowsingtheinternetcomparedtonormal backgroundradiation(2beepsin10seconds). Also,differentphonesproduceddifferentamountsofionizingradiation(theBlackBerry 8830and8120generatedthemostionizingradiationandtheSamsungImpactgenerated theleastionizingradiation). BrowsingtheInternetgeneratedmoreionizingradiationthanmakingphonecalls.Inmy experiment,browsingtheinternetgenerated beepsin10seconds,butmakingphone callsresultedin beepsin10seconds.Foreachindividualphone,thenumberof beepswasalwayshigherforbrowsingtheinternetcomparedtomakingaphonecall. TheolderMotorolaClassicIIcellphonedidnotgeneratemuchlessradiationthanthenewer phoneswhenmakingphonecalls.itwasinthemiddle.themotorolaclassiciihadabout 4.5beepsin10secondswhenmakingaphonecall,buttheotherphonesrangedfrom beepsin10seconds.

7 Conclusion: Myexperimentshowedmethatcellphonesdefinitelygenerateionizingradiationwhenthey makephonecallsorbrowsetheinternet,andthatinternetbrowsinggeneratesmore ionizingradiationthanmakingphonecalls. Also,theamountofionizingradiationvariesaccordingtothetypeofcellphone,butoldcell phonesdon tgeneratemuchlessradiationthannewerones. Application: Itisimportantthateveryoneknowsaboutthefactthatcellphonesgenerateionizing radiationsothattheycanchoosehowmuchtheyusetheirowncellphoneorwhetherthey useitatall.also,knowingthatdifferentcellphonesproducedifferentamountsofionizing radiationisgoodtoknowsothatpeoplecanresearchtheamountsofradiationproducedby eachphoneattheenvironmentalworkinggroup( theyknowtherisksassociatedwitheachphone. However,itisimportanttoNOTFREAKOUT.Toputthingsinperspective,let scompareour resultstothelegallimitsforradiationintheworkforce.today,itisconsideredbadifyou absorbmorethan20000usvperyear. 1year= hours 20000uSvperyear/ hoursyear= uSvperhour WealreadyknowthatnormalbackgroundradiationinCambridgeisabout0.15uSvper hour(whichisabout2beepsin10secondsontheradiationdosimeterusedinmy experiement) uSvperhour/0.15uSvperhour= Sotobeverybadforyourhealth,cellphoneswouldneedtoproduceabout15timesthe normalbackgroundradiation,andyouwouldneedtobeonyourphone24hoursaday (whichmeansthatonlycertainteenagegirlsandboyswillbeaffected; ). Inmyexperiment,themostionizingradiationthatIdetectedwasabout3timesthenormal backgroundradiation(theblackberry8120had7.3beepsin10secondsforbrowsingthe Web,whichis7.3/2.0=3.65timesthenormalbackgroundradiation).

8 References(WhereIgotmyinformation): Radiationinformation: Backgroundradiationinformation: is background radiation.htm ound.htm Radiationdosimeterinformation: www naweb.iaea.org/nahu/dmrp/pdf_files/chapter3.pdf KvartsDRSB 01Manual(theradiationdosimeterthatIused) Radiationlimitsintheworkplaceinformation: sc.gc.ca/hl vs/iyh vsv/environ/expos eng.php Cellphoneradiation: radiation BackgroundradiationinCambridge,Ontario: 3VWKM6F 6&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1996&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=s earch&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchstrid= &_reruno rigin=google&_acct=c &_version=1&_urlversion=0&_userid=10& md5=02727d3685ceded1449e62284ce43e62(usedwithaccesscopyright loginfromuniversityofwaterloo) PicturesusedinmyprojectarefromGoogleimages( CoffeeusedduringmyprojectisfromStarbucks( IusedaMaccomputertotypethisupusingMicrosoftWord.Icrunchedthenumbersand madethegraphsusingmicrosoftexcel.