Full Signal by Talal Jabari

Full Signal
Written and directed by Talal Jabari

There are billions of people in the world who have a lot of talking to do. Around 3.5 billion people subscribe to cell phones as of 2009. Consequently the land is being blanketed by cell towers because cell phones don’t work very well without them. Even without considering other sources of signals, like satellites and other wireless devices, that adds up to a lot of radiation. This movie takes a look at the health implications of massively increasing our radiation exposure.

Thirteen studies have found a correlation between cell signals and DNA breaks. That may not sound too serious but if it turns out to lead to cancer or something more exotic like, I don’t know, growing a second head, that could be serious. At this point there are no studies that prove any of these dire consequences, but cell phones have only been around in significant numbers for about ten years. Studies didn’t show that ten years of smoking had a significant effect on health either but as time goes on, the picture gets clearer. Safety standards that do exist have been set by engineers and physicists, not health professionals. Given the track record of our health system, the cynical side of me can’t help wondering whether that really matters.

This movie will probably be a little slow-paced for the ADHD types. Cell phone lovers will want to stick their fingers in their ears and loudly sing “Here’s a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares” off-key. Those of us who grew up eating fast food, breathing in lead paint and trusting our government to look out for our safety might want to know that in 1996, Congress passed a law against objections to cell towers for health reasons. While health consequences may not be proven yet, we are unquestionably involved in yet another very large and dangerous experiment. A glow-in-the-dark THUMBS UP for this one.

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Spring 2010.

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