Mobile Devices and Melatonin

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Apparently, the two don't mix.

A new study published jointly by The Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Wayne State University in Indiana (How often do these two partner up, one wonders?) shows that the small amount of radiation coming from your handset is enough to cause headaches and insomnia.

The study's conclusions recommend using a landline phone for those last calls of the day. It also theorizes the radiation of a nearby handset can disrupt the brain's ability to manufacturer the hormone, Melatonin, which helps the body not only go to sleep, but stay in a deep sleep for a healthy amount of time.

If true, you might want to forgo the alarm clock feature on your cell phone or put it across the room (where it likely will ring too softly to wake you up). Cheap trick alert: try putting it in a glass. The ringer gets a little extra umph from bouncing off the glass.

I picked up this little jewel of a story off the BBC if you want to read it yourself.

The FDA might be interested in hearing more about the study. Although it hasn't formerly found or endorsed any believed health hazards from mobile devices, it's not ruling it out that they might exist.

The FDA recently comissioned the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science to look at the matter identifying possible areas of health risks that have been under researched.

How about car accidents, for starters?

As for the new study linking cell phones to sleep disruption, I buy it. How can anyone believe keeping an electronic device transmitting and receiving wireless signals against your ear for any period of time doesn't come with a medical price tag on the body?

It makes me wonder if this younger generation growing up glued to their cell phones will one day be compared to my grandparent's generation that smoked liked fiends without a care in the world that there were any longterm medical dangers involved.

It wouldn't be the first time that naivete proved fatal.

Renee Oricchio

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987.