你知道吗？手机辐射可以改变你的大脑

澄紫

于2011-04-06 23:31:39翻译 | 已有855人浏览 | 有3人评论

经常与手机亲密接触的人要小心了，最新研究结果表明，手机辐射会改变人的大脑。你知道手机什么时候释放的辐射大？什么情况下释放的辐射小吗？让我们更健康更聪明地使用手机吧

In a culture where people cradle their cellphones next to their heads with the same constancy and affection that toddlers hold their security blankets, it was unsettling last month when a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association indicated that doing so could alter brain activity.

如果形成一种文化，人们对手机产生那种小时候对安全毯的依赖，长时间把手机放在耳边接讲电话，那将令人堪忧。上周美国医学协会杂志发表的一项研究显示，这样做会改变大脑的活动。

The report said it was unclear whether the changes in the brain — an increase in glucose metabolism after using the phone for less than an hour — had any negative health or behavioral effects. But it has many people wondering what they can do to protect themselves short of (gasp) using a landline. 

报道说目前尚不清楚大脑的变化是否对健康或行为有负面影响----接听电话不到一个小时就会引起葡萄糖代谢的增加。但是很多人想知道他们做什么可以保护自己少受影响。

“Cellphones are fantastic and have done much to increase productivity,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, the lead investigator of the study and director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health. “I’d never tell people to stop using them entirely.” 

"手机是很神奇的东西，它可以大大提高生产率。”Nora Volkow博士是该项调查的领导者和蓝牙无线耳机国家研究会主任，他说“我从不主张人们完全停止手机的使用。”

Yet, in light of her findings, she advises users to keep cellphones at a distance by putting them on speaker mode or using a wired headset whenever possible. The next best option is a wireless Bluetooth headset or earpiece, which emit radiation at far lower levels. If a headset isn’t feasible, holding your phone just slightly away from your ear can make a big difference; the intensity of radiation diminishes sharply with distance. “Every millimeter counts,” said Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, an online newsletter covering health and safety issues related to exposure to electromagnetic radiation. 

但是，根据她的发现，她建议手机用户尽可能使用麦克风或者其它耳麦配件，尽量在通话时与手机保持一定距离。除此之外，蓝牙无线耳麦是第二选择，它发射出的辐射远比手机小的多。如果你连蓝牙无线耳麦也没有的话，将电话拿离耳朵稍微远一点，也会有很大的不同，辐射的强度会随着距离的拉远而迅速减少。“辐射强度的减弱是以毫米来计算的”微波新闻的编辑Louis Slesin这样说。该栏目是涵盖健康与安全问题的网络新闻栏目，其中一些话题涉及到电磁辐射。

So crushing your cellphone into your ear to hear better in a crowded bar is probably a bad idea. Go outside if you have to take or make a call. And you might not want to put your cellphone in your breast or pants pocket either, because that also puts it right up against your body. Carry it in a purse or briefcase or get a nonmetallic belt clip that orients it away from your body. 

为了能在拥挤吵闹的酒吧里听清电话内容，而将手机尽量贴近耳朵的做法是错误的。如果必须要接电话，就到酒吧外面去接。也不要把手机放在你胸前口袋或裤兜里，因为这样手机也会辐射到你的身体。把手机放在钱包或公文包里，或用非金属的腰带夹，这样也可以将放射物导离身体。

Some studies have suggested a link between cellphone use and cancer, lower bone density and infertility in men. But other studies show no effect at all. Given the mixed messages and continuing research, Robert Kenny, a Federal Communications Commission spokesman, said in an e-mail, “As always, we will continue to study this issue and coordinate with our federal partners.” 

一些科学研究称癌症，骨质疏松，男性不孕症都与手机使用有关系，但也有研究结果表示这些病与手机使用并无直接关系。鉴于各种信息的混杂以及持续的研究，美国联邦通信委员会的发言人罗伯特.肯尼在一封电子邮件里写到：“我们会一如既往地对这个问题进行研究，并与联邦其他伙伴通力协作。”

The phone used in Dr. Volkow’s study was a Samsung Knack, model SCH-U310, a flip phone that was in wide use when she began planning her experiments two and half years ago. But today’s ubiquitous smartphones emit even more radiation as they transmit more, and more complex, data. 

沃尔考博士的研究使用的是三星SCH-U310型号的手机，这种翻盖手机在两年半前她开始计划这项实验时非常流行。而现在最普遍的智能手机由于要传输更复杂的数据，所以辐射会更严重。

You can get an idea of the relative amounts of radiation various cellphone models emit by looking at their SAR, or specific absorption rate. This number indicates how much radiation is absorbed by the body when using the handset at maximum power. A cellphone cannot be sold in the United States unless an F.C.C.-approved laboratory says its SAR is below 1.6 watts per kilogram. In Europe, the maximum is 2 watts per kilogram. 

你可以通过查看不同手机型号的吸收率，来了解手机的辐射。这个数字表示当你使用手机最大功率时，你的身体吸收的辐射的数值。在美国要想销售手机，必须要通过联邦通信委员会的批准，手机的吸收率不得高于每公斤1.6瓦特。欧洲的标准是最高每公斤2瓦特的吸收率。

The SAR number is not displayed when you compare cellphones at your local wireless store, and trying to find it in the fine print of your user manual is an exercise in frustration. The F.C.C. maintains that SAR values “do not provide sufficient information” to reliably compare cellphone radiation emissions because certain phones might rarely operate at maximum power. Still, the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization, has a comprehensive list of the SAR values for most cellphones available from major carriers on its Web site. (For instance, the Apple iPhone 4 is listed at 1.17 watts per kilogram, the Motorola Droid at 1.5 and the LG Quantum at 0.35.) 

你在当地电讯公司挑选手机时，吸收率是不会显示的，而在手机使用手册上的小字中寻找吸收率也让人感到很麻烦。联邦通信委员会说吸收率的值并不能提供准确信息，因为手机在使用中很少用到最大功率。（比如IPhone4标出来的吸收率是每公斤1.17瓦，摩托罗拉的是1.5瓦/公斤，LG是0.35/公斤。）

But more important than looking for a low-SAR phone is how you use it. Many cellphones emit the most radiation when they initially establish contact with the cell tower, making their “digital handshake.” To reduce exposure it’s best to wait until after your call has been connected to put your cellphone next to your ear. 

但比寻找低吸收率更重要的是如何使用的问题。许多手机在首次与基站建立联系，进行“数码握手”时会释放出最大的辐射。减少这种辐射的最好方法是要等电话接通后再把手机拿近耳朵。

During the ensuing conversation, it’s advisable to tilt the phone away from your ear when you are talking and only bring it in close to your ear when you are listening. That bit of teeter-totter works because the emission of radiation is “significantly less when a cellphone is receiving signals than when it is transmitting,” said Lin Zhong, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University in Houston. 

在随后的交谈中，明智的做法是讲电话的时候把手机倾斜移开你的耳朵，只有当听电话的时候才靠近耳朵。这样像跷跷板一样的运动，是因为辐射的发射有这样一个特点，接收信号比传输信号受到的辐射要小很多。休斯顿的莱斯大学电子工程学院副教授林钟说。

Moreover, your cellphone emits less when you are stationary because when you are moving rapidly — say, in a car or train — it must repeatedly issue little bursts of radiation to make digital handshakes with different towers as it moves in and out of range. (More cause to hang up when you buckle up.) 

而且，当你处于静止状态时，手机的辐射也要相对小很多。因为当你迅速移动时，比如在车里或火车上，需要不断地发射射线以接通不同的基站获取信号。

Want another reason to complain about your carrier’s poor coverage? Any situation where your cellphone has a weak signal indicates it has to work harder and thus will emit more radiation. “Fewer bars means more radiation,” said Om Gandhi, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Inside buildings and elevators, in rural areas, the Grand Canyon — these are not good places to make a call if you’re trying to reduce your exposure to radiation. 

想知道为什么有些地方手机信号较差吗？在任何地方如果你的手机信号很差就说明需要发射更多的射线以获得信号。“信号越少的地方辐射越大”，美国盐湖犹他大学的电子工程教授Om Gandhi如是说。建筑物和电梯里，农村，美国大峡谷---如果你想减少与辐射的接触，在这些地方最好不要打电话。

Of course, parents using their iPhones to pacify cranky kids might want to reconsider rattles. Children’s developing brains and tissues are thought to be most vulnerable to cellphone radiation. Health authorities in Britain, France, Germany and Russia have all issued warnings against allowing small children to use cellphones for extended periods, if at all. 

当然，那些用Iphone作为奖励淘气任性的孩子的家长要小心了。儿童正在发育的大脑和组织是最容易受到手机辐射上海的。来自英国，法国，德国和俄罗斯的健康权威人士已经发布警告，提高了允许小孩子使用手机的年龄，最好根本不要用。

There are cellphone attachments that purport to shield users from radiation, and most are “hoaxes,” said Mr. Gandhi. Beware of pendants that sellers claim snatch radiation from the air. Pong Research offers a cellphone case for iPhones and BlackBerrys that it says has been shown by an F.C.C.-approved testing lab to redirect radiation from the phone’s antenna away from the head. 

许多手机配件都被告知有防辐射的功能，但绝大多数都只是“骗人的”，Mr. Gandhi说。要小心商家推销可以吸收空气中辐射的手机饰品。Pong研究提供了一个苹果和黑莓的例子，据说已经获得联邦通信委员的批准，辐射可以从手机的天线处转移，远离头部。

While the manufacturer says it reduces radiation more than 60 percent, some electrical engineering experts question whether the case may have the opposite effect at orientations where your head is in the way of the cell tower because your phone may have to increase its transmission strength somewhat to compensate for the redirected signal. The company disputes this. Nevertheless, the net effect of using the device throughout the course of the day may be a reduction in total exposure. 

制造商说是可以减少60%的辐射，一些电子工程专家质疑这样会不会导致适得其反。你的头部变成了阻止手机信号和手机塔之间的障碍，所以手机有可能增强它的传输强度来弥补更改的信号。该公司否认这种说法。但无论如何，一天都使用该设备，可能会减少与辐射的接触。

Texting, instead of talking, might be safer. “The whole trend toward texting instead of talking on cellphones is probably a good thing,” said Mr. Slesin at Microwave News. 

短信代替打电话，可能更安全。“完全用短信代替打电话可能是件好事。” Slesin先生在微波新闻中说。

That is, if you don’t rest your cellphone against your body while typing out your message.

的确，如果你不必以牺牲身体为代价的依赖手机，那么就发短信吧。