In San Francisco, cellphone retailers must post information about radiation. Jim Wilson / The New York Times |
WARNING: Holding a cellphone against your ear or storing it in your pocket may be hazardous to your health. This paraphrases a warning that cellphone manufacturers include in the small print that is often tossed aside when a new phone is purchased. Apple, for example, doesn't want iPhones to come closer to you than 1.5 centimeters; Research In Motion, BlackBerry's manufacturer, recommends 2.5 centimeters. If health issues arise from cellphone use, the implications are huge. Voice calls - Americans chat on cellphones 2.26 trillion minutes annually - generate $109 billion for the wireless carriers. Devra Davis, an epidemiologist who has worked for the University of Pittsburgh, has published a book about cellphone radiation, "Disconnect." The book surveys scientific research and concludes the question is not settled. Brain cancer is a concern that Ms. Davis examines. Over all, there has not been an increase in its incidence since cellphones arrived. But the average masks an increase in brain cancer in the 20-to-29 age group and a drop for the older population. "Most cancers have multiple causes," she says, but she points to laboratory research that suggests low-energy radiation could damage cells that could possibly lead to cancer. Children are more vulnerable to radiation than adults, Ms. Davis and other scientists point out. Radiation that penetrates only five centimeters into the brain of an adult will reach much deeper into the brains of children because their skulls are thinner and their brains contain more absorptive fluid. No studies have yet been completed on cellphone radiation and children, she says. Henry Lai, a research professor in the bioengineering department at the University of Washington, began laboratory radiation studies in 1980 and found that rats exposed to radiofrequency radiation had damaged DNA in their brains. Ms. Davis recommends using wired headsets or the phone's speaker. Children should text rather than call, she said, and pregnant women should keep phones away from the abdomen. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
警告:將手機貼在耳邊或者塞在口袋里可能有害健康。 在消費者購置新機后,常對手機廠商印在不起眼位置的小字警告不以為然。例如,蘋果公司提醒稱iPhone手機距離人體至少要有1.5厘米,黑莓手機生產(chǎn)商RIM公司建議最小距離為2.5厘米。 如果手機使用可導(dǎo)致健康問題,后果將很嚴重。美國每年手機通話的時長共計2.26萬億分鐘,這些語音通話為無線運營商帶來了1090億美元的收入。 匹茲堡大學(xué)的流行病學(xué)專家德芙拉?戴維斯出版了一本有關(guān)手機輻射的書《關(guān)機》。這本書對有關(guān)科學(xué)研究進行了調(diào)查,其結(jié)論是:這個問題還沒有定論。 腦癌是戴維斯女士研究的輻射后果之一??傮w而言,自手機出現(xiàn)以來,腦癌發(fā)病率并未上升。但這一平均率掩蓋了如下事實:腦癌在20至29歲年齡群體中的發(fā)病率增加,而在老年人群中的發(fā)病率下降。 她說:“大多數(shù)癌癥具有多種病因?!钡赋?,實驗室研究表明,低能輻射會損害人體細胞,而這又有可能導(dǎo)致癌癥。 戴維斯女士及其他一些科學(xué)家指出,兒童比成人更容易受到輻射的影響。由于兒童的顱骨更薄,而且大腦中含有更多易吸收輻射的液態(tài)物質(zhì),因此滲入成人大腦僅5厘米的手機輻射能夠滲入到兒童大腦內(nèi)更深的區(qū)域。她表示,手機輻射對兒童影響方面的研究目前還不完善。 華盛頓大學(xué)生物工程系研究教授賴亨利自1980年開始進行輻射實驗研究。他發(fā)現(xiàn),受到射頻輻射的實驗鼠腦組織DNA會受損。 戴維斯女士建議大家使用有線耳機或手機揚聲器,兒童應(yīng)盡量收發(fā)短信而不是打電話,而懷孕婦女應(yīng)將手機遠離腹部。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Julie 編輯:馮明惠) |
Vocabulary: small print: the details in a contract or other document, often indicating restrictions or other disadvantages.(協(xié)議或法律文件中易于被忽略但重要的)小號字印刷的附加條款 incidence: the rate or range of occurrence or influence of something, esp. of something unwanted(發(fā)病率) |