The double edged sword of technology

I remember the moment so vividly.

I answered my front door to find my husband's friend standing on the steps. In his hand was a bright, shiny, slightly newer iTouch, and he was giving it to me.  Up until that moment, it never occurred to me that a small, thinnish piece of technology would drastically improve my life, but it did. Oh how it did.

I am one of many mothers who managed to survive endless hours of rocking, breastfeeding, and soothing in the dark with nothing to entertain myself but a random thought of dinner or could I possibly sneak out and put her down. I wasn't resentful, I was just lacking entertainment.

When he handed me that iTouch, he opened up a portal to the world. No longer did I have to nurse my 4th baby for hours on end with nothing to stare at but the wall. And don't get me started on the wonders of the app store. I've never been the same since. Mousewait, Huffington Post, Youtube. Bliss.

Of course, I progressed through the ranks of new technology quite quickly after that, and now I have a choice of what to pick up when I want to go and rock the little guy to sleep. Generally I choose my iPhone 4 over my iPad,  just for the fact that its small and easier to hold. I think though, I may be opting for the iPad more often now.

The World Health Association, in a study recently submitted for your consideration, showed that cell phones may be emitting radiation that is the same league as shoving your face near the car exhaust or smoking. This is bad news for anyone as addicted to Smart phones as most of us are. Although they have stated that further study is needed, it is a wake up call for many who have their cell phone attached to their hip.

In a recent article posted on HULIQ, the amount of radiation emitting from various cell phones was analyzed and a list of the best and worst cell phones was compiled:

* Side note: For comparison purposes, the Apple iPhone 4, 8G emits 0.974 and did not make the top 20 for highest amounts of radiation

Cell Phones that Emit the highest amount of radiation

1 Motorola Bravo 1.59
2 Motorola Droid 2 Global 1.58
3 Sony Ericsson Satio (Idou) 1.56
4 Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro 1.55
5 Kyocera Jax S1300 1.55
6 Motorola i335 1.53
7 Nokia Astound 1.53
8 Motorola Defy 1.52
9 Motorola Grasp 1.52
10 ZTE Salute 1.52
11 LG Rumor 2 1.51
12 Motorola Droid 1.49
13 Sanyo Vero 1.49
14 Motorola Droid 2 1.49
15 HTC Desire 1.48
16 LG Chocolate Touch 1.47
17 Motorola Atrix 4G 1.47
18 Kyocera Wild Card M1000 1.46
19 Kyocera X-tc 1.45
20 Motorola i576 1.45

Cell Phones that Emit the lowest-radiation cell phones

1 Samsung Blue Earth 0.196
2 Samsung Infuse 4G 0.2
3 Samsung Acclaim 0.29
4 Samsung Replenish 0.3
5 Huawei Ideos X5 0.34
6 T-Mobile Sidekick 4G 0.34
7 LG Quantum 0.35 8 Samsung Haven 0.41
8 Samsung Evergreen 0.41
9 Samsung Captivate 0.42
10 Samsung Smiley 0.43
11 HTC Surround 0.439
12 Doro PhoneEasy 410 0.445
13 Motorola Devour 0.45
14 Motorola i890 0.45
15 Kyocera Neo E1100 0.479
16 Samsung Contour 0.49
17 HTC Imagio 0.498
18 Motorola Flipside 0.5
19 Samsung Flight SGH-A797 0.505

So how serious is this, and what does it mean for parents who rely on these phones as their main source of communication? There are three things you can do right now to mitigate your exposure to radiation from your cell phone:

• Use earphones when talking on the phone: Apple ships the iPhone 4 complete with a set of ear buds that work as both ear phones and a headset when driving. Don't hold the headset to your ear when talking, use your ear phones. The possibility of radiation transmission will be lower.
• Keep the phone away from your body: When in use, put the phone on the seat beside you or on your desk. Don't put it in your pocket. You can actually feel the little black box heating up, which can't be good for radiation risk.
• Use it for texting and surfing, not talking: Most of us still have home phones, so you don't have to use your cell to talk inside your house. Pick up your home phone and use it whenever possible. The study showed increased radiation when using cell phones for talking, not necessarily texting.

It remains to be seen whether or not the World Health Association will place cell phones in a category along with gasoline fumes and smoking. At the very least, you owe it to yourself to decrease whatever risk may be out there, and that includes putting down the phone once in awhile.