I was wondering, after reading a recent article about cell phone
radiation moving up a hands free cord, if there is one way to use a
cellphone, that is considrered the safest.
Some questions
One idea I heard was to use ferrite beads on the hands free cord, but 
1) can that stop cell phone radiation which is emitted through the antenna?  
2) is bluetooth an alternative, doesnt it create radiation just like a
cell phone when transmitting information?
3) is there anyway that using a hands free kit can actually make radiation worse?

---

Clarification of Question by happy_cow-ga on 28 Jan 2005 22:28 PST

Article I read that caused me some concern
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4203077.stm

also, I dont want an article saying cell phones may not be dangerous
to begin with, Im assuming, to be as safe as possible, that cell
phones do emit dangerous radiation and that I want to know the best
way to use one and receive as little as possible.

You can purchase a head set to use with your cell phone that way your
head is no where near the phone.

Example.
http://www.ahernstore.com/mx150.html

the whole point of my question is whether that will help or make matters worse.

A recent artice posted below, says radiation can travel through or
outside the headset wire, so they wouldnt do a lick of good.  Does
bluetooth create the same radiation as a cell phone?  is there any
alternative besides just letter writing?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4203077.stm

Just to clarify -- you do appreciate that ?radiation? is radio waves
and not what the layperson perceives as radiation, ie that which
emanates from a radioactive substance? I ask this because of you say
...

1) can that stop cell phone radiation which is emitted through the antenna?

The ?radiation? is kinda essential. Guess you know this and I?m just reading wrong.

Anyway, ferrite beads on leads will do nothing significant and could
even slightly increase extraneous radiation. I shan?t go into the
intricacies of ferrite characteristics and applications other that
they are a vital component in electronics. But virtually all the
?ferrite bead? panaceas depend upon ignorance to extract money from
the pocket.

Blutooth is lower power, ergo potentially less dangerous, but the jury
is still out on hazard versus frequency.

Indeed it is possible that some hands-free could ?conduct? local
radiation but not to the same extent as having the antenna right next
to your head. If you are worried, go with hands-free. Be assured that
other things are likely to kill you first :-)

Best

Thanks for the comment.

I do mean the radiation emitted as a result of the cell phone
transmitting signals, not the signal its self.

So, if a handsfree set can " ?conduct? local
radiation" then is it still a safer bet than bluetooth?

thanks

Assuming that the levels of radiation are indeed deleterious, it is
likely that cable connected hands-free will radiate less than
Bluetooth. Though the transmissions can to a degree ?leak? up the
cable, it will not be effectively radiated. Efficient radiation
demands matched feeder and antenna system, and it would be improbable
for a this to be obtained by accident. This is why the ferrite bead
can worsen the situation but there would be no way of predicting.
Reading the link you provided only makes me question the expertise of
some ?experts?. You can?t just willy nilly slap on ferrites and expect
instant benefit -- especially at gigahertz frequencies where most
ferrites just don?t work. However Bluetooth radiant power is very low,
see links :-

http://www.memorysuppliers.com/jafrbtfornon.html

http://bluetooth.epox.com/htm/presenter_why_in.htm

As stated, this is two orders of magnitude less than mobile phones.

Relatively little research has been conducted upon accessory spurious
radiation because this is not encompassed in the certification of the
transmitters and other equipment. Indeed, there are many instances
where type approval is granted for equipment (such as printers) and
the standard mains and data cables are not submitted for the test. I
confess to having been nominally party to this.

Ultimately though, the only way in which you can determine the degree
of radiation (at the ear) is to conduct the tests yourself.
Combinations of various mobiles and hands-free kits will furnish
largely unpredictable results. These tests are not easy or cheap so
all I can advise is to select those which manufacturers make
authoritative claims for.

As you said, write a letter -- but DON?T LICK THE STAMP :-)

Best

Hi happy_cow-ga,

  Here are my suggestions to help reduce the effect due to
cellphone radiation, while using hands free headsets:
i) If you are using the phone while driving, having an external
antenna(located in the farthest corner from you) and connecting
it to the cellphone antenna jack(most of them have one) could reduce
the effects considerably. You could do this easily using a diy kit.
ii) If using a wired headset, the ferrite beads could reduce the effects
effectively when close to the headsets(basically the ferrite beads introduce
a lossy high impedence to the high frequency radio waves, while adding
negligible inductance to affect the high current low frequency audio).
The ferrite beads are more effective if the distance between the physical
wire from its surface is as small as possible, which means using headsets
with thinner wires. Also making few turns of headset wire(to form a coil) over
the clipon ferrite is more effective than a straight wire passing through
the ferrite bead.
iii)If you are really paranoid of the radiation picked up by the hanging wire
due to close proximity of the phone antenna, you could try using a double
shielded cable for the headset wire(this could be done easily with little
soldering experience). You could also use this with the ferrite beads for
additional. protection, if somehow the rf signal leaks through audio ckt.
iv)Also try to use non-metallic headsets where the speaker is well isolated
from direct contact with the ears by means of non-coductive foam(not rubber).
v)You could also try using fancy quater wave stubs with pure resistive
termination over the entire length of the headset(Sorry I could not elaborate
in detail).You need to know the operating frequency of your cellphone service
for this.

Hope you find my suggestions helpful.

Regards
ldavinci-ga