The FCC Prepares to Voluntarily Chase a Wild Goose

Over the weekend we learned that the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is circulating a proposal to reopen the subject of the dangers of cell phone radiation.

Now, there are two camps here: those who note that studies have found no measurable effect, and those who say that there still might be one with anecdotes to prove it. Sadly, that’s about the extent of the argument – the rest is just talking heads repeating themselves. I’m not saying there isn’t an argument, I’m just saying that there’s nothing new here for the FCC to investigate, so why are we bothering?

But as for my own opinion, I think that the biggest underlying problem may simply be language. To be more specific, it’s that word ‘radiation’. Scientifically, it’s a very general word that covers everything from sunlight, infrared heat, cosmic rays, xrays, and radioactivity. But in the public mind, the underlying flavor of the word always tilts toward the dangerous end of the spectrum.

If it’s radiation then it can’t be entirely safe, right? And because it’s all radiation, we can just lump all wireless spectrum into one amorphous bundle when in reality any actual dangerous effects are likely to be very frequency specific. The level of public discourse on the subject is no better than it is for climate change – dumbed down to an eighth grade level and hence almost devoid of actual science.

In that vein, why is the FCC choosing to bring up the subject when there is no new science out there on which to base actual regulations? True, it has been 15 years since they actually set guidelines for maximum exposure levels and such. But even if there is something they ought to do, what can they possibly do now that wouldn’t be based on little more than political hand-waving?  Ban the iPhone as a likely carcinogen in an election year?  Oh yeah, that’ll happen.

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Categories: Government Regulations · Wireless