Commentary From Elsewhere: P65 Warning

      A while back I bought a smartphone, but not talking about that. The focus here is the P65 warning that was on the package.

      To quote “Warning: Reproductive Harm”. Also picture below.

      This had me curious, so I did some research. Turns out this is a requirement from a California law. Perhaps worrying, I could not find anything to clarify if the concern was for the material, usage of the phone, or something else. In other words, is the concern about consuming it? Making phone calls? Or just having it in the room with me?

      Obviously, consuming a phone would be a bad idea. Depending on how the battery reacts to being chewed, it might not be possible. Flames or acid in the mouth seem like the kind of thing that would stop eating real quick. Or not. Without doing a test I can’t confirm if that hypothesis is accurate or not. And no, I won’t be doing that test. I trust the results would be unacceptably destructive. Disregarding that, electronic components can’t have a good impact on your insides.

      A cell phone clearly gives off radiation, otherwise it wouldn’t be able to make phone calls (after all, that’s what radio waves are, electromagnetic radiation). I suppose it could have an impact on reproductive organs, or your insides in general. I am aware of some people that have expressed concerns about this, but I’m hesitant to call it conclusive. I have seen data about smartphones lowering attention spans by constantly distracting us, and the negative impacts of that. But that’s habit, not physics, right?

      If mere proximity was a risk, you’d think it couldn’t be sold. How could it be legal (or ethical) to sell someone a product which would harm the user in it’s intended usage. Not something like rat poison, which definitely does harm. It’s just not harm of the user (ie you), but harm of the vermin (ie rats). Unless ‘improperly’ used, but that would apply to most things. I could ‘properly’ use my car to carry me to and fro, or I could ‘improperly’ use it to crash into people. On the other hand, there are definitely places where self-harm (suicide as euthanasia) is considered acceptable. Is America now one of those places too, and thus sterilizing phones are no big deal?

      Ironically enough, while I expect the concerns as to the chemical makeup are overblown, the warning may be accurate in another sense. Excessive smartphone usage may well lead to poor social skills. Which in turn lead to fewer sexual opportunities. And thus lower odds of having children. After all, if you are staring at your phone, you aren’t looking at the people around you.

      I expect this should be a concern of many a person. Unfortunately, they are too busy staring at their phones…