Friday, April 17, 2009

Keep Cell Phone Chargers at a Distance

The Ministry of Environmental Protection warns that a mobile phone charger or any small transformer should be kept at least a half a meter away from the human body to avoid the risk of radiation.

The warning comes in the wake of hundreds of queries from residents asking about radiation exposure when recharging their cell phone. A sample check carried out by the Environmental Protection Ministry showed that most of these residents sleep while charging their cell phones next to their beds.

The head of the Noise and Radiation Abatement Division in the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Dr. Stelian Ghelberg, says that placing a transformer less than half a meter away from the body in general and the head in particular is tantamount to sleeping under a tension line. "Extended average exposure to more than 2 milligaus," says Dr. Ghelberg, "is linked to an increased risk of cancer. Exposure to power frequency magnetic fields at night may disrupt the production of melatonin, a hormone which is considered vital to the immune system"

Background magnetic field levels exist inside every house or apartment and the radiation radius to the cell phone charger, when the phone is shut off, reaches about 0.4 milligaus at a distance of 2 meters, which is of negligible impact.

At the same time, the magnetic field right next to a transformer (such as that in a cordless phone or clock-radio) or a mobile phone charger reaches 1,000 milligaus. At a distance of 30 cm from the transformer, the magnetic field reaches some 3-4 milligaus and at a distance of half a meter, it is reduced to less than 2 milligaus. Therefore, the minimum recommended distance from a transformer is half a meter.

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