Greta Garbo and Monroe, Dietrich and DiMaggio.
Years ago, these icons of pop culture held influence over what did, said and thought. So much so that they're in Madonna's "Vogue".
Take a close look at the pictures above. Notice something?
They're all smoking.
Thing is, everyone who was anyone smoked in the first half of the 20th Century. It was a status symbol. Right?
Now, how about this:
Allison Janney, Madonna, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.
They're four of the millions of us who wander around every day with a cell phone pressed up against the sides of our skulls.
Cell phones, for many, are status symbols.
I own an iPhone, if you must know. Not the newest 3G version.
Now, comes a warning from Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. He issued the warning to his faculty and staff on Wednesday this week to limit their cell phone use.
Why?
There's a possible increased risk of developing cancer--especially in children. He says children should use cell phones only in emergency situations and that adults should be sure to utilize hands-free devices that keep the actual phone away from the head.
Dr. Herberman is a lone voice in much of this debate. Study after study have shown that there is no greater risk of cancer from the use of cell phones.
It doesn't take much to make a correlation between cigarettes and cell phones. Both can be addictive (albeit in different ways), both can be used for socialization purposes and both are used for keeping one's self busy while alone.
I'm not saying that Dr. Herberman is correct. But what if the surgeon general's warning for cigarettes came out years before it did?
Would it have saved more lives?
Comments (1)
I personally believe that if you are meant to get cancer there is nothing you can do to change that. With the amount of things we are told will give us cancer, we might as well not do anything or go anywhere, because we are at a greater risk of getting cancer!! I for one would be completely lost without my mobile phone!
Posted by morwenna | July 24, 2008 10:07 PM
Posted on July 24, 2008 22:07