5 ms·

How could it be? The radiation wavelength is far too high to cause any sort of chemistry. I know there are those that will still believe it does though.

• leumon 2y ago
  I think it depends on the amount of the radiation. While non-ionizating radiation doesn't have the ability to remove electrons, it still can heat up surfaces. Microwave ovens for example use non-ionizing radiation to heat up food, but this amount of radiation could potentially be dangerous if exposed to, because it could destroy human tissue.
  • moi2388 2y ago
    Wouldn’t it then hypothetically also kill the cancer cells? And due to increased water and blood flow, in an even higher rate compared to healthy cells?
    • ghodith 2y ago
      Unless you happen to be irradiating a tumor, then your going to be damaging a lot more healthy cells than cancerous ones
  • vel0city 2y ago
    You're right, it is entirely possible to get RF burns at the UHF frequencies involved here. I wouldn't want to hang out near a 1kW UHF antenna! But let's look at the scale of emissions here. A microwave oven is going to be radiating anywhere from 800 to 1600 watts of energy into a box designed to focus most of the energy where the food is. A phone is going to emit maybe 2W of power at its peak transmission power omnidirectionally. Meaning a lot of that 2W isn't going anywhere near your head.
• awelxtr 2y ago
  It's not about the wavelength, it's about the power. I use shorter or higher wavelengths (depends on the channel in question) to cook my food every day but my phone sure doesn't emit 700W
  • __alexs 2y ago
    Getting cooked is also not cancer. There is also not evidence for a link between burn injuries and cancer anyway.
    • fosk 2y ago
      I am not a doctor, but.. ..let’s assume that a specific area of our inner body is “micro-cooked” constantly, the body will certainly try to repair that area with higher frequency and therefore there would be a higher risk of cancer, wouldn’t it?
      • SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
        I guess we should consider heated seats dangerously carcinogenic then. They put out far more power than a cellphone. Same with heating bags and homes without air conditioning.
        • fosk 2y ago
          For sure it can’t be good to put our heads on a heated seat for hours a day, every day for decades.
    • hereme888 2y ago
      No evidence is needed. Tissue damage is damage and genetic stress. It can increase the risk of a local cancer. In fact, when the healing occurs, keloid scars can form, which is a benign growth.
      • buran77 2y ago
        > No evidence is needed. Tissue damage is damage and genetic stress. It can increase the risk of a local cancer. "No evidence needed" works if you want to be an astrologer. Then everything causes cancer (and death really) by means of break, bruise, bump, burn, cut, prick, sprain, tear, etc. Where evidence is needed is if you want to show a statistically significant result of your analysis that something indeed causes injury, and does it often enough to cause cancer within a person's lifetime.
• noja 2y ago
  Will that ever change? i.e. is 5G as undangerous as 2G?
  • SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
    Well, based upon some Googling, 2G's wavelength is ~33cm and 5G's is ~80mm, so that's a big increase, but the kicker is that ionizing radiation's wavelength starts at ~100nm, so we're still a huge distance away from dangerous. We're not even at visible light yet (~700nm). 5G has less potential for damage than your computer screen.
• pton_xd 2y ago
  What's the mechanism by which UVA and UVB radiation cause cancer?
  • Arch485 2y ago
    Ionization
    • stvltvs 2y ago
      The non-ionizing range of UV still poses a cancer risk.
  • etskinner 2y ago
    From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionizing_radiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionizing_radiation : >Exposure to ionizing radiation causes cell damage to living tissue and organ damage. >Gamma rays, X-rays, and the higher energy ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum are ionizing radiation, whereas the lower energy ultraviolet, visible light, nearly all types of laser light, infrared, microwaves, and radio waves are non-ionizing radiation In other words, the UV causes cancer because it's in the ionizing range of the spectrum. Radio waves don't because they're not.
    • pton_xd 2y ago
      Aren't UVA and UVB the low energy / non-ionizing parts of the UV spectrum?
      • etskinner 2y ago
        You're right! But also, it's effectively the same as ionizing: "UV-A and UV-B are technically non-ionizing, but all UV wavelengths can cause photochemical reactions that to some extent mimic ionization. For example, ultraviolet light, even in the non-ionizing range, can produce free radicals that induce cellular damage and can cause skin cancer." https://radiation.ncdhhs.gov/NonIonizing/UVRad.htm#:~:text=UV%2DA%20and%20UV%2DB%20are%20technically%20non%2Dionizing,and%20can%20cause%20skin%20cancer https://radiation.ncdhhs.gov/NonIonizing/UVRad.htm#:~:text=U....
• gruez 2y ago
  AFAIK "cellphone cause cancer" proponents moved to more vague mechanisms like localized heating and/or "inflammation".