http://www.care2.com/greenliving/green-girl-blocks-laptop-radiation.html
Green Girl Quashes Laptop Radiation!
By Lily Berthold-Bond
Ah, college. I’m sitting here right now, on my bed, which is quite high off the ground (that’s where I work–I’m not really a library person). In fact, my two friends Hannah and Mollie are sitting right here with me. This is where we spend most of our time. And we are never (or, at least, rarely) seen without our trusty Macbooks on our laps. Whether it be for essay writing, sudoku, Facebook, a housing search, online TV, or writing blogs (that one only applies to me), we are constantly here with our laptops inches above our uteri (uteruses?).
But, I mean, my desk is really messy; my laptop barely fits on it. It wouldn’t work out so well to keep my laptop off my lap. Plus, my desk chair is quite hard and unappealing. I can’t really sit on it, because there’s a pile of about 20 books on it.
Point being, college students rarely use their laptops anywhere else but upon their laps. They’re called laptops for a reason, after all. But oh, our poor uteri. Hannah, in fact, believes that her uterus has been so burned by the electromagnetic radiation emitted from her evil laptop that she is not sure she has any eggs left. They’re all disintegrated. Your lap gets hot after a while, with your computer’s hard drive two inches from you. You can’t help but feel as though your reproductive organs are burning away.
So what’s the validity of this? Can your laptop actually make you infertile? Well, the answer seems to be yes. Laptops and other electrical appliances emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs) over a distance; as the distance increases, the amount of radiation decreases. So at a distance of zero inches? Laptops are basically emitting EMFs at their greatest power directly at your reproductive organs, not to mention a huge amount of heat. This can, in fact, cause some pretty intense issues. Infertility is a definite possibility: this added heat has been shown to kill sperm and leave men infertile. Women should watch out, too; while the science isn’t crystal clear yet, EMF radiation has been linked to cancer (in particular leukemia), birth defects, damage to reproductive organs, tumors, stress, miscarriages, and heart problems.
Well, learning this, I have been driven to buy a lap shield! Made by Winston Technology, these lap shields supposedly shield 99.9 percent of radiation from laptops and only cost around $25. I just received mine today and am already feeling much less of the heat radiated from my laptop. It straps onto the bottom of my computer and is very un-burdensome and not unattractive at all. I’m a fan.
Note to self: Don’t want to be infertile. Use lap shield at all times.
Lily Berthold-Bond grew up in a chemical-free zone and has struggled her whole life to understand and accept this non-commercial lifestyle. Now a freshman at Tufts University, she has embraced her green life and hopes to share its possibilities with the rest of her generation.
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19 comments
add your comment »There is an excellent article in "The Walrus", Sept. 2008 edition, called "Cellphones and Brain Tumours" that is worth reading for the scientific research done re: radiation.
Joanne's post: I and friends find that exposure to EMR's causes a stabbing pain/headaches/tingling rather than a rash (this from laptops, GPS devices & cell phones) & it sounds as though yours may be a synthetic sensitivity? more specifically rayon/bamboo/polyester? which feature in clothing, bedding, towels, soaps, shampoos, detergents, toilet paper, and fem products, or the dioxins/formaldehyde/dyes which may be there as well?
Perhaps the fire retardants/heavy metals present in the laptop meant your system reached its chemical load capacity, and a sensitivity manifested itself.
There is hope in the way of organic cotton textiles (no bamboo), vitamin and herbal supplements, natural & unscented products, and as Pal V. suggested, using your laptop on desk.
Also, radiation illness in Japan after WWII & Heroshima was treated successfully using miso, ume plum, and certain sea vegetables ("Let Food Be Thy Medicine"); these can ease headaches after too much EMR exposure.
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Your organs are worth more research on this subject !
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While I applaud your desire to work to keep young people healthy I am concerned that you may, in well intentioned ignorance, be providing false security recommending these shields as protection of your most awesome feminine parts !
I found it a bit disturbing that you used the word "supposedly" regarding the ability of a $25 shield to protect you from radiation ( and even a bit more disturbing that you linked to it ) In the comments from readers, one seemingly well informed man tried explaining why these shields might not solve the problem, but the interface of this blog has a character limit and posts top down.... thus making his response hard to understand.
We are all busy and looking for easy answers but I think more research is in order before making recommendations like this. Many young people are not very critical readers and will read what they want to hear in an article like the above.
While a $25 shield may protect you from heat, and may make you feel better about having your macbook in your lap, neither heat, nor feeling better is the issue or concern with radiation. Moreover, the cell and laptop industries are enormous, it is not likely we will hear much negative press on this subject anytime soon.
With the little I have read here I have now moved my beloved macbook to a desk, I had to clean it, and will begin my own research on this subject. Have a great year at school and please work to maintain very high standards with this blog. Your organs are wor
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To give an idea of a Gaussmeter of an aluminum Macbook Pro, it reads at 5.5 milligaus at the keyboard, because the processor is inside and not separate. A Gaussmeter reading for a desktop computer is 3 milligaus at the harddrive, but you can sit far enough away from it so you get a "zero" reading, and there is a 0 reading for the keyboard and mouse. A battery operated mouse operating on radio waves: 3.5 milligaus; and infrared mouse: 1.5 milligaus. Apparently in Europe, children exposed to over 1 milligaus of EMR have a higher incidence of cancer, supposedly only 1 milligaus is safe. The best thing to do would be to use your laptop on a desk, an attached mouse and the attachable keyboard to reduce your exposure (even using a lap shield, you are still absorbing EMR through the keyboard). Take a look at this link: http://www.dirtyelectricity.ca/EMF and alzheimers disease.htm , a study by USC that suggests "Prolonged exposure to electromagnetic fields may increase Alzheimer's risk "
which does document illness from high EMF exposure from sewing machines, suggesting motors could be separated and reduce exposure, (ie. in computers, the desktop computer with a separated harddrive).
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I appreciate everyone's comments on the topic
but I've yet to find any proof on them
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I appreciate everyone's comments on the topic. Has anyone heard of using bipolar magnets for a similar purpose (they are supposed to help deflect the electromagnetic waves around your body rather than allow them to pass through?) I've yet to find any proof on them, but I'd be interested in hearing opinions.
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Hello I am 5 months pregnant and just purchased a laptop should I be concerned for radation for me and my baby? Could it hurt her at all?
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Green Girl-- I took your advice and checked out the LapShield. I did some investigating of my own with a gaussmeter, which measures EMF. I found that the only thing it blocks is wireless transmissions, not the dangerous EMF.
I looked around a little more and found a product called HARApad. It's a hard plastic pad you place under your computer, and after measuring it with the Gaussmeter, it was a significant reduction in EMF exposure. They have more information on their website, which is www.harapad.com.
Just thought I'd share!! Thanks for keeping us all safe and green out here!!
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One last thing: the reason I brought cell phones into the laptop discussion has to do with the fact that a lot of the EMF problem with laptops is the wireless networking feature (a little microwave transmitter) which most of them have now. The point is that cell phone EMF radiation issues are similar to wireless-enabled laptops (well brain vs. gonads, but whatever). Also don't forget the household portable phones, and wireless PDAs, and Bluetooth earphones, and all kinds of cool wireless gadgets.)
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OK, almost done . . . Scientific Literacy part 3>
For a solid scientific case about what the potential risks are and why it should be studied much more and probably regulated should look at the report at
http://bioinitiative.org/
Personally, I think there's going to be a huge cancer epidemic due to cell phones in another ten years or so, when the roughly 20 year latency period for typical malignancies has passed (since the beginning of very widespread use.) They're already recommending against cell phone use by children in Europe.
-Rob L.
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