# Cell Phone Causes Cancer? I Now Know The Truth!



## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

I have posted this thread to help all of you keep from having to go through what I'm going through.

I recently had been diagnosed with skin cancer (basal carcinoma).
It's not malignant and it's easily treatable.
It started when my wife found a weird mole on my chest and repeatedly asked me to go get it checked out.
I am glad she did because it was cancer.

I had it cut off and a few days later, the biopsy came back positive.
I went back in, they scraped it all out, then burned away all the surrounding tissue with a laser (smelled like burning hair) and then told me to come back in six months for a checkover.

During the one month healing process, literally overnight, another spot popped back up again at the leading edge of the healing area.
SAME DAMN LOCATION!
I wondered why only that location on my skin since I had other areas that received much much worse exposure to the sun in my 34 years living in Phoenix, AZ.
When this new one popped up so quickly in the very same area, I became even more concerned since again, there was no skin cancer anywhere else.

I finally realized what’s been causing it about two nights ago.
I wear pocket T-shirts for work everyday and that is where I have kept my cell phone for the last 3-4 years.
I have been literally microwaving that specific location of my skin with the transmissions (that carry on almost continuously) of my cell phone which would have been only separated from this very spot by the thickness of my T-shirt material.
I never thought anything of it because every report says cell phones are safe; well “they” are wrong.

From now on, I am going to carry it in my work bag.
I will never carry my cell phone directly on me for long periods of time ever again.
FWIW.
Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR

Pic#1 1st cancer prior to removal
Pic#2 returned cancer at the edge of the healing area.


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## douggiestyle (Apr 29, 2008)

Hey man, I wish you well, and thanks for sharing. It never hurts to be more careful.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

douggiestyle said:


> Hey man, I wish you well, and thanks for sharing. It never hurts to be more careful.


Thanks Dougie. 

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## upperguy (Jul 31, 2009)

You should probably know by now that with enough money, research can prove anything. I'm glad that it was spotted early and you were able to take care of it, I hope everything works out for you.


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## TOOSTUBBORN2FAIL (Jan 31, 2011)

That sucks, and I hope you recover well. I honestly dont want to sound like an ass, but I dont know if I would say for sure it was the cell phone. I have mine in my left pocket all day long, and that has been the spot I've carried it for as long as I've owned one. So figure 10 years of it being in my pocket for 8-12 hours a day, every day. I have never had any problems in that area. (ive also had a ton of x-rays.)

That said, there are millions of variables, different cells, different dna, different enviroments, etc. Its perfectly possible. I just dont know for sure that was it.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

TOOSTUBBORN2FAIL said:


> That sucks, and I hope you recover well. I honestly dont want to sound like an ass, but I dont know if I would say for sure it was the cell phone. I have mine in my left pocket all day long, and that has been the spot I've carried it for as long as I've owned one. So figure 10 years of it being in my pocket for 8-12 hours a day, every day. I have never had any problems in that area. (ive also had a ton of x-rays.)
> 
> That said, there are millions of variables, different cells, different dna, different enviroments, etc. Its perfectly possible. I just dont know for sure that was it.


We all have skin that reacts differently.
We all use different cell phones.
Mine is an LG Dare with Verizon Wireless.
I checked the cancer's location to where the cell phone's internal antenna would line up, and it's dead on.

All I can do is speak for myself.

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## WLDock (Sep 27, 2005)

I hope all is well with you and this is all behind you.

There was a lot of uncertainty about cell phones when they were all higher power analog devices. I was working for Ameritech Cellular during the change over from analog to digital. It seems the phone companies were relived and assured the public that digital phones would put the topic to rest.

However, it is STILL not clear about the effects of exposure....recent study has raised more questions.

So the best one can do is KEEP THE PHONE AWAY FROM YOU AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!

1.) When at home take it off of you.
2.) When in the car take it off of you and have some type of dock or mount. Use a hands free kit a wired earpiece.
3.) When at work take it off of you and sit it on a docking station on your desk or keep it stored somewhere and check it during the day for calls if you don't work at a desk job.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

WLDock said:


> I hope all is well with you and this is all behind you.
> 
> There was a lot of uncertainty about cell phones when they were all higher power analog devices. I was working for Ameritech Cellular during the change over from analog to digital. It seems the phone companies were relived and assured the public that digital phones would put the topic to rest.
> 
> ...


x10!
I am walking proof.
Thank you for posting.

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

That sucks, I wish you the best. I've spent hundreds of hours hanging right in front of active cell antennas on towers. I don't know how many times I've gotten the metallic taste in my mouth and a fatigue that very few can imagine. I was assured that it's perfectly safe of course but I'm a little afraid of what might be in store for me later on in life. In the immediate future I'm worried I might not be able to have children.

Since you're obviously sensitive to radiation, it's probably a good idea to test the area around your house since you have a tower on the property. The levels are usually extremely low but you never know.


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## XaznKewLguyX (Sep 5, 2007)

wow.. tahts crazy.


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

I've worked in this business too. It is possible, but largely the same radiation that is used in microwaves that is pretty harmless in small amounts. The real question is take a look at the battery in your phone. Its not magic, they run digital phones because they take less power and that means longer battery life and smaller batteries. And also they can run more calls/data per frequency band they have. The energy these phones put out is very small is the point I'm making. Another thing is the antenna radiates 360 degrees, that means each degree gets a piece of power and the more degrees you take up the more you adsorb. So even the difference between 0 inch and 1 inch is a large reduction in power. Of course the phone emits the most power when you talk, it does little when not on a call.

If someone can get something from a phone, I think they are very reactive to it. Typically that radiation causes heat and nothing else, just like a microwave. It can cook things that are not cooled like your eyes and nads, just like the clear yolk of an egg in a pan. For that to happen you typically have to be in front of a radar or tower antenna while it is powered up. You might feel heat, it is similar to the sun.

I'm not going to say no you can't, but I would look at other things like chemicals from the phone case or on the case from handling, vapors from the battery, etc. kind of things. The reason a lot of people say this is because old analog phones put out considerably more power all the time and it is hard to find issues from them. Today's phones can put out a smaller signal, and only go max when they have to. The ones I worked with cut power constantly until the tower told it to boost, to save power every second. Actually many times a second. That is why batteries are tiny now and last a long time, and not because the batteries have that much more power density.

But hey, the best to you and glad you took care of it...whatever it is from.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

Just had the battery "explode" in mine yesterday. Unbelievable how much energy is stored in one of these things. The phone started malfunctioning, I took the battery out to reset it. Battery was very hot, so hot I dropped it on the sidewalk. It literally shot a flame out along with a ton of smoke and shot itself into a dead bush at my parents' house. I already had the hose and water on getting ready to wash the car so I let it go to see what it would do. This thing released more fire and smoke than I ever imagined it could. It caught the bush on fire which I quickly put out with just enough water to stop the fire. Then it started all over again. Total burn time was about a minute and the amount of smoke was unreal for such a small item. It was enough that a couple neighbors came over to see what was going on. After looking at it, it looks like there are two cells, I guess that's what the second show was.

I usually keep the phone between my legs in the car, in my pocket when I'm out, and on the night stand at night. No more after seeing what one of these can do.

I know this is off topic but these things could easily burn a house down.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

BuickGN said:


> Just had the battery "explode" in mine yesterday. Unbelievable how much energy is stored in one of these things. The phone started malfunctioning, I took the battery out to reset it. Battery was very hot, so hot I dropped it on the sidewalk. It literally shot a flame out along with a ton of smoke and shot itself into a dead bush at my parents' house. I already had the hose and water on getting ready to wash the car so I let it go to see what it would do. This thing released more fire and smoke than I ever imagined it could. It caught the bush on fire which I quickly put out with just enough water to stop the fire. Then it started all over again. Total burn time was about a minute and the amount of smoke was unreal for such a small item. It was enough that a couple neighbors came over to see what was going on. After looking at it, it looks like there are two cells, I guess that's what the second show was.
> 
> I usually keep the phone between my legs in the car, in my pocket when I'm out, and on the night stand at night. No more after seeing what one of these can do.
> 
> I know this is off topic but these things could easily burn a house down.


Imagine if you were asleep or it was in your pocket.
OMG!

Bret
PPI-ARTCOLLECTOR


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Couple years ago Sony had a whole bunch of laptops that blew up, that Li-on is a little more finicky. Wait until they start blowing up in cars. Just saying you measure battery current in those phones in milliwatts. The first bag phones had a bag of batteries because they used around 6X the signal output constantly that a current phone will use only if it is on the edge of coverage and powered up to max output, something that seldom happens like maybe if you have one bar on the phone. I had a nokia on sprint pcs that would last all week in town on pcs making calls every day, it would last 15 minutes with a call up on analog and less than a day with no calls. It could make 600mw signal analog where it used full power (the phone would actually get warm lol), a bag phone was 3w, or 3000mw, IIRC. A sector on a sprint tower here I was told were only 8w, though some other technologies can use more such as nextel. I bought a huge battery for the nokia, it had two cells in it of similar size to a C cell battery. I had to make calls in analog back then now there is no analog. I could go a couple weeks plus in town without charging it, that was cool.


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## dragonrage (Feb 14, 2007)

Sorry to hear about the cancer... but radio waves are all around us, whether we have cell phones or not. Radio and TV waves are far, far stronger than even a cell phone right next to you. I won't tell you to leave your phone there but I vote coincidence.

Personally, I'd sooner blame all the chemicals in our food, plus incredibly dangerous chemicals like Teflon and styrofoam used around food. Styrofoam should be banned completely and Teflon should be banned from kitchen/food-related things. And there are tons more examples to be found.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

BuickGN said:


> That sucks, I wish you the best. I've spent hundreds of hours hanging right in front of active cell antennas on towers. I don't know how many times I've gotten the metallic taste in my mouth and a fatigue that very few can imagine. I was assured that it's perfectly safe of course but I'm a little afraid of what might be in store for me later on in life. In the immediate future I'm worried I might not be able to have children.
> 
> Since you're obviously sensitive to radiation, it's probably a good idea to test the area around your house since you have a tower on the property. The levels are usually extremely low but you never know.


Regarding my tower, it's not built yet because AT&T is focused on the T-Mobile merge and not expanding their network until they know what kind of coverage they will definitely have with the two companies combined. 
We are in a locked in contract however, and since cell service up here in the Sierras sucks unless you are along I-80 or Hwy 50, I am sure they will follow through to expand their coverage one way or another.
More than likely, two to three years down the road.
Just as long as it gets built before my oldest starts college, it's all good.

The good news is the tower location will be over 3-4 acres away from the house and behind a bluff with no direct line of sight to where we live.

Now, your post was astonishing.
You had me at the metallic taste.
Nothing is worse than going through life worried about something.
Why don't you go see your doctor and have them do a few tests to see where your sperm count is and how well they're swimming.
You'll have to wack into a cup, but the peace of mind will be worth it.
Also, once you decide to get married, you can at least be able to tell your girl if it's a problem or not.
Chances are, you're going to be fine.
Think about it and pm me on what you decide if you don't want to post about it on the web.

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

dragonrage said:


> Sorry to hear about the cancer... but radio waves are all around us, whether we have cell phones or not. Radio and TV waves are far, far stronger than even a cell phone right next to you. I won't tell you to leave your phone there but I vote coincidence.


sorry man. sucks to be the one to get hit with something like that, but I have to go with dragonrage here. considering the 1Mwatt radio , tv, radar, wifi, etc that you are exposed to everyday. the cellphone up against you is minor. cellphones dont x-mit continuously anyway. they have a check-in so the system knows they are still registered on a tower, but they x-mit very little when not in use.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

minbari said:


> sorry man. sucks to be the one to get hit with something like that, but I have to go with dragonrage here. considering the 1Mwatt radio , tv, radar, wifi, etc that you are exposed to everyday. the cellphone up against you is minor. cellphones dont x-mit continuously anyway. they have a check-in so the system knows they are still registered on a tower, but they x-mit very little when not in use.


Like GN said, I am likely just overly sensitive to it.
There's no denying the internal antenna location lined up exactly to that spot.
I remember when I was a kid, there were certain shampoos I couldn't use because my skin would get rashy.

I am going in to see my Dermotologist today and have the re-emerging spot removed.
I will post later what he said.

Thanks Min!

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## dragonrage (Feb 14, 2007)

You know, this reminds me of a (news) story from not too long ago... The Man Who Was Allergic to Radio Waves | Popular Science


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

mayb I am just overly skeptical or insenstive. but I think that is a load of crap. not unlike people in this country that claim back injury so they dont have to work, but can be seen chopping wood on cameras, lol. 

so this guy lives in the woods with NO electricity at all? if this was tru at all, he wouldnt be able to go outside either. the sun produces alot more electromagnetic soup than we do.


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Towers are not so bad unless you are very close to them, such as on the other side of the wall in a building they are on. The antenna are rather expensive and complex, they do a good job of directing the signal out to the horizon where it is needed to cover the distance. There can be more signal very near them just the same, depending on what power they run and what design antenna, height, etc., and how many carriers. So I would not build a house under one and never seen one like that. Most sites in the city closer to people are reduced power. In fact there are strict guidelines for tower radiations from the government, NEPA, that every site has to pass far as I know.

Some people can pick up radio with dental work.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

sqshoestring said:


> Some people can pick up radio with dental work.


such a myth that has be debunked soooo many times.


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

Sorry to hear about that Bret, I have been fighting it for years, but mine is localized to my back and no place else. Good luck and let em slice and dice you all they want...


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

sqshoestring said:


> Some people can pick up radio with dental work.


Wasn't that on Gilligan's island?

Specs on my tower will be a 90' tall single tower, camuoflaged like a pine tree, with a predicted three carriers signed on.

In the fullness of time, we shall see what it becomes.

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

chefhow said:


> Sorry to hear about that Bret, I have been fighting it for years, but mine is localized to my back and no place else. Good luck and let em slice and dice you all they want...


How quick does it come back for you meaning, how long between removals?

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## FAUEE (Jul 22, 2010)

This is a myth, plain and simple.

First off, ALL cell phone makers test their products to verify that they don't cause excessive radiation. There's a limit, and if they give off more than the govt. says is perfectly harmless, they can't be sold in the US.

Secondly, radio waves are no different than light waves, except they have LESS energy in them. And the radio waves that are emitted from a cell phone are very, very weak in comparison to the sources of EM radiation in our every day lives. That terrible machine that cooks your food spits out a LOT more radiation than your cell phone does.

You have to understand, much more radiation is produced by things like power lines, power plants, and even other things broadcasting (TV,AM/FM radio, etc.)

Think about this, you're concerned about a device that likely has a battery of less than 1 amp hour. Considering that most phones can last at least 12 hours without being charged and the majority of the power for a phone goes to the screen, how much signal do you think a phone can actually produce? I guarantee you that amount of radiation is LESS than other radiation sources near you.

Sorry to hear about your issues, but it was NOT the phone, and thinking that it was is foolish.

EDIT: FYI, you're in a lot more danger of getting cancer by being around people who smoke, eating fast food, etc. than from your phone.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

FAUEE said:


> This is a myth, plain and simple.
> 
> First off, ALL cell phone makers test their products to verify that they don't cause excessive radiation. There's a limit, and if they give off more than the govt. says is perfectly harmless, they can't be sold in the US.
> 
> ...


Power lines and microwaves are not right up against your skin for 12 hours of the day. Cell phone radiation changes depending on signal strength and carrier. I was told being a few inches from a cell antenna was perfectly fine yet I got every symptom of radiation poisoning on multiple occasions.


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## FAUEE (Jul 22, 2010)

BuickGN said:


> Power lines and microwaves are not right up against your skin for 12 hours of the day. Cell phone radiation changes depending on signal strength and carrier. I was told being a few inches from a cell antenna was perfectly fine yet I got every symptom of radiation poisoning on multiple occasions.


Even at max strength, the radiation let of my the most powerful of cell phones pales in comparison to the radiation coming off a power line or microwave even from a distance.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

FAUEE said:


> Even at max strength, the radiation let of my the most powerful of cell phones pales in comparison to the radiation coming off a power line or microwave even from a distance.


I agree that the amount of signal from a cell phone is highly controversial. but the radiation levels from power lines and microwave ovens halves for every time you double the distance. at 150+ ft in the air, power lines have very little impact. a cellphone has the merit of at least being right on your person.

that said, I still dont think any of it has been proved one way or the other.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

BuickGN said:


> That sucks, I wish you the best. I've spent hundreds of hours hanging right in front of active cell antennas on towers. I don't know how many times I've gotten the metallic taste in my mouth and a fatigue that very few can imagine*. I was assured that it's perfectly safe of course* but I'm a little afraid of what might be in store for me later on in life. In the immediate future I'm worried I might not be able to have children.



You got lied to. Were you wearing any RF exposure monitoring equipment?

Did you experience any uneasiness to the stomach or nausea? Loose bowels, etc?

Those antennas have a decent amount of forward gain in front of them, they also operate at a frequency that such is harmful to humans even at "low power."

Even at 400-500 meg I watch my exposure at anything over 10-20 watts.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

FAUEE said:


> Even at max strength, the radiation let of my the most powerful of cell phones pales in comparison to the radiation coming off a power line or microwave even from a distance.


Hate to break it to you but microwaves are pretty damn well shielded, you are getting more off your wireless router on your desk if you have high gain antennas 

Example, when you fire up your microwave does your 2.4 GHz cordless phone or your wireless internet **** the bed? no? proof.


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## FAUEE (Jul 22, 2010)

chad said:


> Hate to break it to you but microwaves are pretty damn well shielded, you are getting more off your wireless router on your desk if you have high gain antennas
> 
> Example, when you fire up your microwave does your 2.4 GHz cordless phone or your wireless internet **** the bed? no? proof.


Actually it does mess with my internet, but our apartment complex management is a buncha cheap bastards that would take the shielding out to sell for scrap metal.

Do people still have 2.4 GHz cordless phones? I haven't had a non-cell phone for over a decade.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

chad said:


> Hate to break it to you but microwaves are pretty damn well shielded, you are getting more off your wireless router on your desk if you have high gain antennas
> 
> Example, when you fire up your microwave does your 2.4 GHz cordless phone or your wireless internet **** the bed? no? proof.


thats not really proof. in my lab I can run 5 1 watt wifi radios with 15Dbi ant all on different 2.4 Ghz channels and they dont interfere with each other.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

ever seen the spectrum output of a microwave? it's not pretty.

I'm glad you said lab,and I suspect it's shielded because 1 watt into a 15dBi antenna on wi-fi is not something I'd go around bragging about... Nomesayin?


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## OldSchoolRF (Aug 29, 2011)

Wow. Hope everything works out ok for you man. Never really thought much about having my phone with me all the time but I will now.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

Ok, got back from the Dermatologist and here is what he said.
Good news, bad news.
The spot he removed last month was definitely skin cancer, but today's spot, in the very sam location, is not.
He said it's a blood blister similar to the look of basal carcinoma but definitely not skin cancer.
That's the good news and for that I am much relieved.

Bad news is the cell phone is causing the blood blister.
Interesting thing is it's not the transmission radiation, but the nickel present in the cell phone that is transferring to this location on my skin through my t-shirt when I sweat, and since it is still tender from healing after the surgery, it's more sensitive to the presence of the nickel.
I showed him the phone and he confirmed it's the metal. I asked him if it could also be from some minor offgassing of the nimh battery during discharge, and he wasn't sure.
Perhaps the expert electricians on here can explain better the nimh issues.

So that's it.
He told me to keep an eye on it, and see him again in six months.
It's been interesting to say the least.
Thanks to everyone that posted their personal experiences and expertise.

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> Ok, got back from the Dermatologist and here is what he said.
> Good news, bad news.
> The spot he removed last month was definitely skin cancer, but today's spot, in the very sam location, is not.
> He said it's a blood blister similar to the look of basal carcinoma but definitely not skin cancer.
> ...


I may be mis-understanding. Did you CONTINUE to wear the cell phone in the same spot sans surgery?


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

chad said:


> You got lied to. Were you wearing any RF exposure monitoring equipment?
> 
> Did you experience any uneasiness to the stomach or nausea? Loose bowels, etc?
> 
> ...


Hi Chad. I've spent hours on end directly in front of cell antennas. I got fried pretty bad up on a mountain by a broadcast antenna, a local television station. I was told the station was down so I tied off to the antenna to do some work for a cell site located below. I got fatigued, a metallic taste in my mouth, the worst fatigue that you could imagine and nausea. My boots were hot!. It was a little 60' tower because it was located on a mountain top and I had to tie off 3 times to make it down because I was so tired. I tried to drive myself home and went off the shoulder and woke up when I hit some rocks. I was a kid back then, trusting the supervisors. I later learned that the station was never shut down, they just told me that so I would do the work. I'm not a sue happy type of person but I definitely screwed myself by not suing them knowing what kind of long term damage can be done.

I stood in front of a 40 mile microwave shot for a couple seconds. Never felt anything from that but it was another case of being told it was off when it wasn't. I was naive when I was young.

It's a little personal but now I'm trying to have kids and getting a little worried, I probably need to get tested to see if something is wrong.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

chad said:


> I may be mis-understanding. Did you CONTINUE to wear the cell phone in the same spot sans surgery?


Yep, because I didn't think anything of it at the time.
I wear pocket t-shirts and it just worked for me to have the cell phone there.
When I saw the blister form overnight, it hit me it might be the phone, and I stopped putting it in my shirt pocket.
A few days later, the blister went down and now it's just a scab.
Doctor says it's the nickel that caused the blister.

I am still trying to make sense of all that he told me today.

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

BuickGN said:


> Hi Chad. I've spent hours on end directly in front of cell antennas. I got fried pretty bad up on a mountain by a broadcast antenna, a local television station. I was told the station was down so I tied off to the antenna to do some work for a cell site located below. I got fatigued, a metallic taste in my mouth, the worst fatigue that you could imagine and nausea. My boots were hot!. It was a little 60' tower because it was located on a mountain top and I had to tie off 3 times to make it down because I was so tired. I tried to drive myself home and went off the shoulder and woke up when I hit some rocks. I was a kid back then, trusting the supervisors. I later learned that the station was never shut down, they just told me that so I would do the work. I'm not a sue happy type of person but I definitely screwed myself by not suing them knowing what kind of long term damage can be done.
> 
> I stood in front of a 40 mile microwave shot for a couple seconds. Never felt anything from that but it was another case of being told it was off when it wasn't. I was naive when I was young.
> 
> It's a little personal but now I'm trying to have kids and getting a little worried, I probably need to get tested to see if something is wrong.


I just don't know what to say.
What a terrible situation they put you in.
Once again, go get checked out.
Chances are, you will be ok.
Our bodies are more resilient than we know; espeically when we're young.

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

Bret, for me it's a quarterly check up unless something pops up. Doc checks me lime a monkey poking and picking at every mole and bump then shE determones what to biopsy. I get a call a week later letting me know if I have to come back for surgery to have it completely removed. Have had 3 in the past 5 years. It's a good thing chicks dig scars...


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

BuickGN said:


> Hi Chad. I've spent hours on end directly in front of cell antennas. I got fried pretty bad up on a mountain by a broadcast antenna, a local television station. I was told the station was down so I tied off to the antenna to do some work for a cell site located below. I got fatigued, a metallic taste in my mouth, the worst fatigue that you could imagine and nausea. My boots were hot!. It was a little 60' tower because it was located on a mountain top and I had to tie off 3 times to make it down because I was so tired. I tried to drive myself home and went off the shoulder and woke up when I hit some rocks. I was a kid back then, trusting the supervisors. I later learned that the station was never shut down, they just told me that so I would do the work. I'm not a sue happy type of person but I definitely screwed myself by not suing them knowing what kind of long term damage can be done.
> 
> I stood in front of a 40 mile microwave shot for a couple seconds. Never felt anything from that but it was another case of being told it was off when it wasn't. I was naive when I was young.
> 
> It's a little personal but now I'm trying to have kids and getting a little worried, I probably need to get tested to see if something is wrong.


Man, I'm so sorry. I'm a former BE and I would personally whip the BE's ass that did not take the station down while you were up there. that's dirty pool, dangerous and flat out like knocking you out and pissing in your mouth while you are down.

We went up at night (well, my tower crew). As soon as the harnesses were on and they were thinking about it I was already at 50% power, the first rung hit and I was at 10% and 1/2 way up a 500' tower I was off, as in filaments off, and interlock pulled. We did leave our STL's active but they are pretty low powered and damn near impossible to even get in front of, noting at all coming off the backside.

I've experienced too much exposure, holy cow.. It's a whole new thing.. it will LITERALLY liquefy your intestines.. Like pouring a cup of water thru 2" PVC. Burns are no fun either... It happens from the inside out folks.

That was a dick move that happened to you, I'm sorry.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

chefhow said:


> Bret, for me it's a quarterly check up unless something pops up. Doc checks me lime a monkey poking and picking at every mole and bump then shE determones what to biopsy. I get a call a week later letting me know if I have to come back for surgery to have it completely removed. Have had 3 in the past 5 years. It's a good thing chicks dig scars...


Thank you for the info.

Best wishes to you and our contest that we're both in. 

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Wow, horror stories. I worked with an older military guy and he told me the Navy would send guys up to clean the ice off the radar, they would stop the rotation but leave the beam on. The guys would hammer the ice off it and warm their hands up with the beam. Back then they didn't know any better but these days they sure do. Those guys ended up blind and sterile, and with nasty joint problems. It cooks the liquid parts of the body. Its not so bad on skin because skin can cool off while internal parts will get hotter with more exposure.

Nickel, oh I know all about that but didn't think as most phones seem to be plastic these days. I know someone that can hardly wear any jewelry except special stuff and 18K gold, and sometimes even that bothers her. About 2-3 hours and she breaks out in that area, it itches, takes a while to go away. Sometimes she would cheat and paint clear nail polish on the insides of rings/watch backs/etc so she could wear them for a while. Likely a phone case of some kind would help that. I prefer the belt that keeps it away from close contact, but like I said the energy comes from the transmitting of the phone when you talk mostly far as radiation, when its on your head of course. Some of the best phones for that are the flip style with the antenna on the bottom so its not against your head while in use, or a headset. The case/battery/anything on the phone could also cause a problem with direct contact.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

given that the radar is likely heating the water molecules in your skin causing the warming effect..... I'm shocked ice even built up!

Radar is powerful ****.


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

chad said:


> given that the radar is likely heating the water molecules in your skin causing the warming effect..... I'm shocked ice even built up!
> 
> Radar is powerful ****.


It was the turret part mostly it would lock it up so it didn't want to rotate properly. Yes, same thing we all have in the kitchen now lol. That old stuff was overpowered too, not very efficient.


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## FartinInTheTub (May 25, 2010)

Holy crap Bret! I hope you get it all removed! This worries me a little. I keep my cell phone in my right pocket next to my johnson and would hate to get nut cancer from this. I use my bluetooth most of the time. hmm. Maybe that explains the abnormally large size of my johnson.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

sqshoestring said:


> It was the turret part mostly it would lock it up so it didn't want to rotate properly. Yes, same thing we all have in the kitchen now lol. That old stuff was overpowered too, not very efficient.


Ahhhh the turret... yeah they took the Russian approach to those things for the longest time... Give it 10X-100X of what it needs and call that standard operating practice.


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## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

FartinInTheTub said:


> Holy crap Bret! I hope you get it all removed! This worries me a little. I keep my cell phone in my right pocket next to my johnson and would hate to get nut cancer from this. I use my bluetooth most of the time. hmm. Maybe that explains the abnormally large size of my johnson.


I appreciate the sentiment.

Sorry, but I just can't pass on this one.
I thought all BMW owners had very small johnsons, and therefore, less exposure? 

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## FartinInTheTub (May 25, 2010)

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> I appreciate the sentiment.
> 
> Sorry, but I just can't pass on this one.
> I thought all BMW owners had very small johnsons, and therefore, less exposure?
> ...


You have figured out my secret :mean:


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

chad said:


> Man, I'm so sorry. I'm a former BE and I would personally whip the BE's ass that did not take the station down while you were up there. that's dirty pool, dangerous and flat out like knocking you out and pissing in your mouth while you are down.
> 
> We went up at night (well, my tower crew). As soon as the harnesses were on and they were thinking about it I was already at 50% power, the first rung hit and I was at 10% and 1/2 way up a 500' tower I was off, as in filaments off, and interlock pulled. We did leave our STL's active but they are pretty low powered and damn near impossible to even get in front of, noting at all coming off the backside.
> 
> ...


Believe it or not I appreciate your support. As a kid, all I could think about was that 6 figure salary climbing towers with health being a distant second.

I get blood work done every year now. So far everything is excellent including liver values.

Yes, the time I got hit from the television station I ended up out in the bushes with my harness and everything on. I'm a very modest person but at that moment I didn't care who was around.

The tower company I worked for (Broken Arrow) was notorious for doing what they did to me. On top of that, they would be months late on paychecks, falsify time cards to not include per Diem which I won in court. Everyone was either on meth or drunk all the time. I pushed for drug testing because my life depended on them sometimes and I was told I would be without a job if I brought it up again. Very classy company.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

well, not only should the tower company have demanded the power be cut off but the BE should have had common sense for a fellow human. When I'm not not on a tiny ass netbook keyboard I'll share the story of a drunk college student on a dare /vs/ an array of skytillers cranking out 50KW. I was shocked he made it past the AM skirt for the first 200 feet... AKA human bugzapper.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

chad said:


> well, not only should the tower company have demanded the power be cut off but the BE should have had common sense for a fellow human. When I'm not not on a tiny ass netbook keyboard I'll share the story of a drunk college student on a dare /vs/ an array of skytillers cranking out 50KW. I was shocked he made it past the AM skirt for the first 200 feet... AKA human bugzapper.


ya, big time RF is nothing to fool with. buddy of mine in the air force told me about the time he and some friends were messing around with F-15 radar. put a glass of water on a stool in front of the radar and turned it on. said it boiled in a couple minutes.


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## upgrayedd (Apr 19, 2011)

I too wear my phone in my shirt pocket. Will think more about that location in the future.


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## JAX (Jun 2, 2006)

FAUEE said:


> First off, ALL cell phone makers test their products to verify that they don't cause excessive radiation. There's a limit, and if they give off more than the govt. says is perfectly harmless, they can't be sold in the US.



oh. I feel completely safe now. the government will tell me when its not safe.

Just like they did when they raised the level of acceptable radiation from something like , oh I dont know, a nuclear reactor meltdown...

sure. the government tells no lies and sleeps with nobody.

I have zero to say about the cell phone and cancer thing. but the quote above nearly made me fall out of my chair.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

JAX said:


> oh. I feel completely safe now. the government will tell me when its not safe.
> 
> Just like they did when they raised the level of acceptable radiation from something like , oh I dont know, a nuclear reactor meltdown...
> 
> ...


You trolled the whole forum looking for a reason to put on your tinfoil hat didn't you.

Exposure limits are very specified, not rocket science, and easy to understand..

Kinda like how the electrical grid is grounded and why it's grounded right?


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## JAX (Jun 2, 2006)

Sure chad. Whatever you say.

I thought you were much more intelligent than that. 

Notice I didn't comment on the cell phone issue. 

I just laughed at the part about the gubment not allowing something unsafe. 

That is the biggest farce ever. 

I thought you were smart enough to get that


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

JAX said:


> Notice I didn't comment on the cell phone issue.


Only in a thread about RF exposure and cell phones. Whereas there are probably a hundred other ones here from the early 2000's till now regarding the gubment and their all-knowing inability to regulate... Which I agree with.


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## JAX (Jun 2, 2006)

chad said:


> Only in a thread about RF exposure and cell phones. Whereas there are probably a hundred other ones here from the early 2000's till now regarding the gubment and their all-knowing inability to regulate... Which I agree with.



whoa now. I only really started ragging on the bugment the last year and half when I finally got a better understanding of this circus and the fact that GWB was as bad as OBMA and they were both guilty of doing the same crap cause their is no difference. 

from 2000-2008 I was a gullable republican who didnt really know the game.

big difference. I defended GWB and fell for that party line BS for the entire 2 terms. 

When OBMA came in I disliked him till I did some researching. Now I know its not him at all.

So I still dont like him but I dont blame him.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

JAX said:


> whoa now. I only really started ragging on the *bugment*


LOL new word.....

Filing that next to Pornado and Backronym.


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## JAX (Jun 2, 2006)

chad said:


> LOL new word.....
> 
> Filing that next to Pornado and Backronym.



lol. that was not an accident either


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Lol, you got it backwards I think Obama is Bush 2.0. What exactly does he do differently, he pretty much doubles down on Bush policy. Some people did complain about a flat decade of GDP with Bush, but I guess nobody in govt cared.

Far as RF, if you ever get much off a cell phone don't worry...the battery will be dead in a few minutes.

Just remember distance is a good thing with RF radiation, you get far less. Being close to the output or in a beam is not a good idea for various reasons, and about the only harmful places.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

chad said:


> You trolled the whole forum looking for a reason to put on your tinfoil hat didn't you.
> 
> Exposure limits are very specified, not rocket science, and easy to understand..
> 
> Kinda like how the electrical grid is grounded and why it's grounded right?


I haven't heard that theory yet...

We used to replace antennas that had been shot to pieces fairly often. I never thought much of it until we were run off at gun point by a land owner because he thought the towers were a part of government mind control and he was stupid enough to admit he had been disabling them. Sometimes the antennas would be shot, sometimes the coax would be cut at ground level. I wouldn't have the guts to cut through 1-5/8" coax if I didn't know what kind of power was going through it. Better yet, we would have tweakers drive up a mountain and steal the live copper broadcast transmission line. This was a 6" or 8" line with some serious power going through it.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

sqshoestring said:


> Just remember distance is a good thing with RF radiation, you get far less. Being close to the output or in a beam is not a good idea for various reasons, and about the only harmful places.


Distance and frequency. But yeah, the distance thing is basically the inverse square law in audio that we all know and love. Physics can be a ***** 



BuickGN said:


> This was a 6" or 8" line with some serious power going through it.


I have a fantastic story of an idiot college kid, a dare, at tower, and 50KW of honeybadger continental FM transmitter.

A couple good ones regarding an AM skirt on the same tower, and a soul/R&B station that did not like it when we had to reduce power or shut down for tower work.... Man those folks bought a lot of transmitter tubes after they refused to listen.... repeatedly.


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## sam_b03 (Feb 3, 2011)

sqshoestring said:


> Some people can pick up radio with dental work.


I don't know about FM but my mother said sometimes she would pick up radio with her braces when she was in grade school. She was born in 1953. AM was the most common band used then. I don't know if the stations had the same limits on the power that they were allowed to broadcast with at that time either.


On to the subject at hand, I worked for a pipeline Xray company. We used gamma radiation to check pipeline welds. My shop manager who worked in the field in the early and mid 90's said that when the old analog bag phones would ring it would set off his radiation alarm. This was several years ago and I can remember if those alarms were set to sound off at 300 or 500 mREM. He said he doesn't know how much it produced because it was pegging out his survey meter. The new digital phones are much safer.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

does not take much to de-modulate AM... like even a halfass diode or a poor connection somewhere. FM is a whole different story.


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

I used to repair cell phones back in the analog days. Maximum power output of a bag phone/car phone was 3 watts and maximum power of a handheld was .6 watts. Keep in mind that this was the maximum power used only when the phone was in a call and far from the cellular tower..._not_ at idle.

Since everything is digital now, I can only assume that the power output has gone down since then.

I keep my phone in my back pocket. I hope I don't get butt cancer


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## Dubstep (Apr 7, 2010)

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> I have posted this thread to help all of you keep from having to go through what I'm going through.
> 
> I recently had been diagnosed with skin cancer (basal carcinoma).
> It's not malignant and it's easily treatable.
> ...


Thanks for the info, hope you heal up quick! 

Also, the company Ericsson did MRI's of people holding a cell to there head while in the MRI with the phones on...man the IPHONE users are screwed! it made there whole entire head glow RED from the output of the phone, its the worst one out of all cell phones. and yes you are right they are harmful to us humans, the whole truth will come out someday, probly when they make a radiation free cell phone!?


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

ummmm, there's no way in hell the phone or the MRI machine survived that, I cry ********.


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## MarkZ (Dec 5, 2005)

Dubstep said:


> Thanks for the info, hope you heal up quick!
> 
> Also, the company Ericsson did MRI's of people holding a cell to there head while in the MRI with the phones on...man the IPHONE users are screwed! it made there whole entire head glow RED from the output of the phone, its the worst one out of all cell phones. and yes you are right they are harmful to us humans, the whole truth will come out someday, probly when they make a radiation free cell phone!?


When you run an MRI with metal in the machine (even something like titanium, which is largely MRI compatible), you get crazy flare artifacts. So even an inert hunk of metal will make your entire head appear as if it's glowing. A piece of electronics would probably do the same thing, but it's hard to imagine it living through that. And whoever hijacked the scanner to do that test should be brought up on charges, because no MRI tech that I know would jeopardize their career like that.

Maybe it wasn't an MRI? Maybe you saw radiation fields? Does that tell us anything useful?


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

Or it would rip the cell phone from your hand, slam it into the coil and possibly breach the Liquid Helium envelope.... Ask Gary about this, imagine a metric ****load of liquid helium turning into gas... It will blow the roof off the sucka, or at least the doors.

http://www.simplyphysics.com/flying_objects.html


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## MarkZ (Dec 5, 2005)

I _have_ accidentally () brought a screwdriver to the table before, just outside the coil. It's only a 3T magnet, so maybe that's why I was able to hang on to it. Actually using it was a bit of a challenge, but not much different from installing an amp rack drunk.

Anyway, if the iphone can withstand a magnet, then apple really _is_ as good as people say.


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## Jherman08 (Apr 5, 2012)

Very sorry to hear this


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## The Baron Groog (Mar 15, 2010)

BuickGN said:


> Power lines and microwaves are not right up against your skin for 12 hours of the day. Cell phone radiation changes depending on signal strength and carrier. I was told being a few inches from a cell antenna was perfectly fine yet I got every symptom of radiation poisoning on multiple occasions.


Our old delivery guy used to get the same symptoms driving his van, couldn't work it out for months until he mentioned it to my boss, who used to have his own car alarm manufacturing company, and he asked if there was an alarm on the vehicle-he'd found with his early microwave based alarms that people complained of feeling sick. There was and it had a microwave sensor under the driver's seat that was still transmitting when the vehicle was running. He later retired because of ill health, I don't know if it was related, but keep making those check ups.



sqshoestring said:


> Wow, horror stories. I worked with an older military guy and he told me the Navy would send guys up to clean the ice off the radar, they would stop the rotation but leave the beam on. The guys would hammer the ice off it and warm their hands up with the beam. Back then they didn't know any better but these days they sure do. Those guys ended up blind and sterile, and with nasty joint problems. It cooks the liquid parts of the body. Its not so bad on skin because skin can cool off while internal parts will get hotter with more exposure.


Microwave ovens were invented because of the military use of radar. One of the factory workers who made the military equipment noticed a chocolate bar he had on him melted when he was infront of an active radar unit, ivestigated further and the same company went on to make the 1st microwave ovens, called Radar-Range IIRC

This was the guy: Percy Spencer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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