Cellphones are dangerous/not dangerous, hospital edition redux
by Sean Cooper 
posted Sep 7th 2007 at 4:32AM
Well, in true dangerous / not dangerous fashion, the bit we did on cells being safe to use in hospitals has been rolled over and proven false by yet another study. The BBC is reporting that in a study performed by Dutch researchers, the case for mobile phones interfering with hospital equipment has been stregthened. The group tested 61 devices, and the majority could be affected by mobiles -- though no word on what was considered as "affected". Of all of the equipment poked at, six intensive care ventilator systems behavior was classified as hazardous as they are plugged directly into patients. As a side note, 3G handsets are less likely to cause problems, but don't appear to be completely guilt free.
Filed under: Studies
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
motoman @ Sep 7th 2007 6:20AM
Why doesn't anyone realize it's the GSM/TDMA/IDEN phones that do this?
It's not CDMA!!!!!
WAKE UP!!
How come now one ever reports that?
007baf @ Sep 7th 2007 8:15AM
I think you're right about this. I just cancelled my Sprint PCS phone, good riddings btw, but I never had the issues I had with an older iDen phone from Nextel. The same stuff has resurfaced with my GSM iPhone. I was at the hospital getting tests done and had to move my phone because it was interfering with the older computer equipment. I also notice it interferes with my car stereo like my old Nextel phone did. So, you're right more than likely.
BUT, Engadget brings up a good point of what does "affected" mean. So, while it may cause that funny noise on speakers, it may not kill Aunt Nellie when she's in the hospital.
Oh, and even if my iPhone makes noises over other speakers, I don't really care because it's about 1,000 times better in performance than my Spring PCS Samsung A900 that dropped calls like a certain Senator dropping toilet paper.
robert @ Sep 7th 2007 12:17PM
maybe because its from the BBC? which means it comes from the UK where CDMA doesnt exist (except as the 3G part of gsm phones)
stearic @ Sep 8th 2007 7:13PM
Even if it's the bbc doing the article, it was dutch people doing the testing. It's tests like this that screw people over because it's a test that involves half the field (well atleast here in the us) and then makes a bold broad statement that it's all cellphones when it's clearly not.
Jack @ Sep 9th 2007 5:40PM
cell phones- their "good" far exceeds their "bad"
Jack @ Sep 7th 2007 7:58AM
cell phones- their "good" far exceeds their "bad"