The Radiation App That iPhone Has Banned

On a related note, we have learned that a new app developed by an Israeli start-up called Tawkon has developed a new downloadable app to measure cellphone radiation. But it won’t work on your iPhone.

The inexpensive application for the iPhone warns users when radiation levels are too high and provides advice on how to counter the potentially negative effects. The app also lets mobile phone users map their homes or offices to know where they’re exposed to significant levels of mobile phone radiation. But the rub? Apple has banned it.

Tawkon works like infrared goggles: “We give users the ability to see and feel non-ionizing radiation. Once you know whether you’re in a red, orange or green zone, you have the information you need to take action.”

What kind of actions to take?

- Move to a different location where radiation levels are lower
- Switch to a headset or speakerphone
- Use phones in urban areas
- Turn off when mobile (on the train, when driving)
- Keep handset away from your body or phone
- Limit the use of cell phones by children

Tawkon is not able to actually measure the phone’s radiation. It processes an array of factors such as weather, location of your phone to cell phone tower, Bluetooth functioning, GPS, how close it is to your body, and the phone’s compass. It causes the phone to vibrate when radiation levels are perceived as too high.

According to the article some of the worst places to use your phone are in rooms with thick concrete walls, and in moving vehicles such as cars and trains where the phone needs to switch between towers to communicate.

Meanwhile, Israel’s health ministry has recommended that children under the age of 18 shouldn’t use mobile phones at all – young people’s brain tissue is still developing. To stay on the safe side, if your child is spoiled enough to own an iPhone, consider the $10 download which could also be educational.

We’re assuming you’ll need a program like Jailbreak to make it work on iPhone. It may invalidate your warranty, so be warned.

For more information:

- Tawkon
- The Radiation App That iPhone Has Banned

 
Also in this issue on An Ounce …

• An Ounce: Introduction to the June 2010 Issue
• President’s Panel Report: “Grievous harm not adequately addressed”
• Waste-to-energy doesn’t deal with the root problem
• The “waste circus” has arrived in Canada
• Interphone study on mobile phone use and brain cancer risk: No clear answers
• The Radiation App That iPhone Has Banned
• Electrosmog and our health
• Alyssa Blondon – A Teenage Survivor’s Account
• KF-C is for cynical
• The Big Test for BPA
• Worth Reading: Cancer Under the Radar – Young Adults Tell Their Stories
• Ongoing resources to keep in mind!
• What’s New?