| Aegis Note: | The products mentioned in this press release cover a small area of a phone. Click here for information about why they were found to be ineffective. |
Good
Housekeeping Institute Finds That Five Cell Phone Shields Do Not
Significantly Reduce Radiation
Good Housekeeping Press Release
January 31, 2001
Good Housekeeping Institute Technical Director Donald Mays today announced that five cell phone radiation shields failed to significantly reduce the electromagnetic radiation emitted by wireless phones.
The shields claim to block or filter up to 99 percent of radiation emitted by a cell phone. Good Housekeeping Institute sent five oval-shaped, postage stamp size radiation shields to an outside independent lab for testing. The lab tested the shields according to the FCC test procedure required for all cell phones. The test measures the amount of radiation that is absorbed by the brain during cell phone use.
According to the test results, the following products failed to significantly block radiation from the phone:
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``All five radiation shields did not make a significant difference in the amount of electromagnetic radiation emitted,'' says Mays. ``While experts debate the health hazards of cell phone use, a user with health concerns has simple remedies: decrease phone use and avoid using phones in areas with a weak signal, as a weak signal from the base station can cause a cell phone to increase its power.''
The radiation shields that Good Housekeeping Institute had tested at Interek Testing Services were fastened to a cell phone as per the manufacturer instructions and then attached to a simulated head. Special measuring equipment was used to determine the amount of radiation that passes through the head into the brain area. Tests were conducted with and without the shields attached. Findings showed that the shields did not make a significant difference in the amount of radiation measured within the head.
Good Housekeeping, founded 115 years ago, reaches 24 million readers every month. The Good Housekeeping Institute, founded in 1900, is the consumer product testing facility that evaluates products appearing the magazine's articles and advertisements.
Good Housekeeping is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of The Hearst Corporation and the world's largest publisher of monthly magazines, with 16 U.S. titles and 101 international editions. Of these, Hearst publishes 10 monthly magazines in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, the National Magazine Company Limited.