UNOFFICIAL Radiation Guide for IT Workers and Consumers
Radiation is all around us. The sun produces it as do our electronics; but how much radiation can a person of a given age be exposed to until said exposure results in adverse health effects (whether immediate or long-term and experienced some time down the road).
OSHA radiation spectrum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
DISCLAIMER:
This is a blog post by an IT Worker and Tech Consumer intended to provide general thoughts about possible ways to theoretically improve one’s life, and is not intended to be used as medical advice or nutritional guidelines in any way, shape, or form. Please consult a physician, nutritionist or official government authority such as Health Canada‘s Healthy Food Guide, CMA, AMA or the CDC, along with numerous other sources to get a wider perspective, before making any life-altering decisions.
There are two types of radiation to worry about, namely: ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.
Non-ionizing radiation is a product of natural sources such as cosmic and atmospheric radiation , the largest of which is the sun which cause minimal damage as long as they are taken in limited daily doses (you are likely to burn your skin from ultraviolet light rays so bad that you’ll have to get out of the sun, before you harm yourself from the sun’s natural non-ionizing radiation). Airline pilots, stewardesses and other workers as well as military personnel and other frequent flyers tend to be exposed to elevated levels of cosmic radiation, which after enough accumulation (typically in terms of years), could cause some long-term health problems.
On the other hand, Ionizing radiation rays are the product of unnatural sources such as X-Rays, MRIs, Body Scanners at airports and assorted electronics, cause the most harm to the human body and have effects that reach to the genetic and molecular level.
Consumers
Almost every electronic product we use today emits some kind of Electro-Magnetic Frequency (EMF), Heat or Electricity output. From cellphones to computers and from Refrigerators to Microwave Ovens. While the average Consumer’s electronics give off very low levels of Ionizing radiation, some are obviously much worse culprits than others. For mobile phones (cellphones) in particular, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provides a measure called the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) which measures values for cell phones (and other wireless devices). SAR is a measure of the rate of RF (RadioFrequency) energy absorption by the body from the source being measured. The following is a table of some of the top selling cellphone brands with both sales figures and SAR exposure rates shown:
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BC$ = Behavior, Content, Money
The goal of the BC$ project is to raise awareness and make changes with respect to the three pillars of information freedom - Behavior (pursuit of interests and passions), Content (sharing/exchanging ideas in various formats), Money (fairness and accessibility) - bringing to light the fact that:
1. We regularly hand over our browser histories, search histories and daily online activities to companies that want our money, or, to benefit from our use of their services with lucrative ad deals or sales of personal information.
2. We create and/or consume interesting content on their services, but we aren't adequately rewarded for our creative efforts or loyalty.
3. We pay money to be connected online (and possibly also over mobile), yet we lose both time and money by allowing companies to market to us with unsolicited advertisements, irrelevant product offers and unfairly structured service pricing plans.