Cell Phones Can Cause Cancer: How to Protect Yourself.

'1. Use a Headset
You'll get far less radiation exposure from a headset than from a phone pressed to your ear. Check out some Bluetooth headsets that fared well in PCWorld's tests . Another option is to use your speakerphone (behind closed doors, please).If that's not possible, follow the manual. Apple, for instance, suggests holding an iPhone 0.625 inch away from your head.

2. Keep the Phone at Arm's Length
Would-be parents might be wise to keep smartphones out of pockets or belt holsters, since reputable studies of men who use cell phones link frequent usage with a decrease in sperm count and quality. For obvious reasons, there haven't been lab tests exploring how cell phone radiation may affect developing fetuses. But if you're pregnant, you're already avoiding tuna and soft cheese, so why risk holding a phone close to your belly?

3. Text, Don't Talk
Text messaging involves less radiation than does making a phone call. (Just don't text while walking, since bumping your head will hurt you much more quickly than any wireless radiation might.)

4. Turn It Off
Even if you check your work e-mail at midnight, there's little need to keep your phone turned on 24/7. (The science may be fuzzy on mobile phone radiation, but stress and sleep deprivation clearly harm your health.) Instead of keeping your handset by your pillow for a wake-up call, use a dedicated alarm clock.

5. Keep That Charger Handy
When the battery is running low or you're in a low-signal area, the phone works overtime and may expose you to more radiation.

6. Look for Phones With Low SAR Levels
I have mixed feelings about offering this advice. Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) levels are supposed to indicate how much radiofrequency energy a body absorbs from a device. Yet these labels are not like calorie counts on a TV dinner. The level isn't necessarily what you get when chatting, texting, or playing an app on a given phone. Each of those activities involves constantlyvarying levels of power and signal strength. The FCC explains more about what SAR levels mean . That said, CNet frequently updates its list of the highest- and lowest-radiation phones.

6. Keep Cell Phones Out of the Hands of Children
If non-ionizing radiation affects adult brains in ways we still don't fully understand, it's likely to affect children even more because their skulls and brains are still developing. The key recommendation here: Don't treat a cell phone asa toy. If you're letting your toddler play with it anyway, at least turn it off or shut off the signal.

7. Don't Believe the Hype About Radiation-blocking Products
Countless ads hawk devices meant to protect your body from electromagnetic frequencies (EMF). However, there's no conclusive evidence that an EMF medallion or sticker will work as advertised or even work at all. In fact, some of these products can force a phone to do more work and emit more radiation to compensate for a blocked signal.