As you can see, the title is Green Speak. That is the first edition to the themed days. So each Monday when I post, you will get a little bit of green knowledge. Let me know if you are interested in any certain topic.

It’s found next to your bed, shoved in your pocket and pressed against ear. And now studies are uncertain if cell phones could be causing cancer.

In a study released in May 2010, World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer found what has been known about cell phones for years: an unsure answer. The hard evidence didn’t accompany the 10-year study, but it did provide some results. In the findings of the 13,000 participants, there were suggestions that it could increase the risk of glioma (a rarer deadlier form of cancer). Overall, the study done by 13 different countries, the U.S. was not one of them, didn’t link cell phones with an increased risk of developing glioma or meningioma. (a more common, benign tumor).

For a country swarming with cell phones, the facts on radiation and our health affect millions of lives. Just 10 years ago, the U.S. had 110 million cell phone subscribers. By 2009, 285 million people subscribed for cell phone service according to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CITA).

For all the users with their phones hooked to their side, it’s the RF, a form of electromagnetic radiation, coming out of the devices that the scientists are studying. Concerns have been raised that RF is linked to causing cancer even though research has not shown a consistent link according to the National Cancer Institute. Past studies have shown that the RF levels produced by cell phones are too low to cause significant health concerns.

In the meantime while science continues to study cell phone radiation, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit organization, put together a list 1,000 cell phones devices and the radiation they emit. So while the evidence isn’t all there, no one said keeping the radiation levels lower was a bad thing. The list of devices and their levels can be found on the EWG’s website.

But San Francisco didn’t stop there. In June the city passed a law requiring all cell phones or other wireless devices to post the level of radiation they emit. The city wanted to increase public awareness of the radiation levels they were buying. And in response, CITA is suing the city. CITA said it thinks this makes consumers feel like the cellular devices are unsafe while the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) already marks the phones safe. The FCC measures RF energy absorbed in a value of SAR. The limit of exposure is a SAR level of 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg).

When livelihood is at stake, the rollover minutes and touch screens might not be the only things to look at before purchasing a cell phone. More research will be done in the future, but in the meantime a little detachment from it and finding out cell phone radiation levels could be a healthy choice.

10 Best Cell Phones

1.Sanyo Katana II [Kajeet]: .22-.55 W/kg

2.Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) [AT&T]: .22-.57 W/kg

3.Samsung Memoir (SGH-T929) [T-Mobile]: .60 W/kg

4.Samsung SGH-t229 [T-Mobile]: .00-.64 W/kg

5.Helio Pantech Ocean [Virgin Mobile]: .38-.69 W/kg

6.Sony Ericsson W518a Walkman [AT&T, AT&T GoPhone]: .72 W/kg

7.Samsung SGH-a137 [AT&T, AT&T GoPhone]: .73 W/kg

8.LG Shine II [AT&T]: .20-.76 W/kg

9.LG CF360 [AT&T, AT&T GoPhone]: .76 W/kg

10.Samsung Flight (SGH-A797) [AT&T]: .68-.77 W/kg

Top 10 best cell phones ranked by level of watts per kilogram (W/kg) of radiation according to the Environmental Working Group.

Above photo by Salvatore Vuono from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/