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John Smith I wrote:
Anonymous wrote: ... Does it really matter? What are the odds of serious health consequences from RF exposure? If I quit smoking and avoid RF over-exposure will I live forever, or will I be dead as a doornail 100 years from now just like everyone else currently participating in this newsgroup? I worry little about exposure to rf 30 Mhz and 1kw or less ... I am NOT aware of any malady/disease which strikes hams any more often than any other group ... which suggests the safeguards in place (simple plain common sense) is/are more than adequate. Not to be too hostile here, but that suggests ignorance rather than knowledge. a) one of the early studies that triggered the whole "currents of death" fiasco happened to be one that showed that radio amateurs (among some other groups) happened to have higher incidence of some forms of cancer. Later shown to be statistically insigificant and confounded by other factors, but there it is. b) There is ample evidence of adverse effects of RF exposure in this frequency and power range. One of the more interesting is the ankle and wrist pain experienced by workers on the flight line in a high RF field environment. The eventual analysis was that the pain was likely due to RF currents flowing through the body from hand (on or near airplane) to feet(then to ground). There's also some interesting cases of things like people on transmitting towers when the transmitter was turned back on (or the power turned on), but that's not necessarily a credible situation for a ham. Common sense is a good start (don't look into the waveguide with your remaining good eye)(don't turn on the transmitter when someone is working on the antenna), but it actually takes a bit more thought to figure out the RF exposure hazards in a off-nominal situation. A dipole 30 feet up in the trees is easy, so is a 3 element yagi on a 100ft tower. But something like a flagpole vertical in your yard, or an attic dipole, or a compact loop on a picnic table is a much trickier situation. However, as frequency of the rf increases so does my concern ... everyone is aware microwaves can cook, maim and kill biological entities. And so can MF, HF, VHF, and UHF... Jim |
#2
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Jim Lux wrote:
[...] I know of only one fellow who worked on radar for the military and used to warm his hands by a slit on the waveguides, who seriously thought he suffered any disease from rf; his complaint was that it increased the severity of his arthritis in his hands. Now, I can see that "cooking" your hands with microwaves is not good ... how he determined that this caused more pain from arthritis was probably less than scientific--however, it would be quite easy for me to believe. I also note that he did have to have cataract surgery, however, so did many in my family who were not exposed to any rf that they were aware of. My statement stands, other than mentioned here I am aware of no hams with legitimate injuries from rf from hf antennas (and, I have no way to determine the validity of such anyway.) Now, I have heard many, many stories of friends of friends, or someone who knows someone--somewhere who has suffered noticeable damage from rf--however, I have also met individuals who have claimed to have been abducted by aliens ... Not long ago I had dental surgery and a "rf scalpel" was used. I suppose I could go find some loony attorney to help me sue the dentist .... I think I'll pass ... other than the "normal" longer-than-usual time to heal which is common to rf burns, I noted no abnormal complications. But, wives tales can make for entertaining reading, feel free to entertain me ... Regards, JS |
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