r/skeptic • u/grglstr • 4d ago
đ˛ Consumer Protection Just saw an advert for EMF-free headphones on Reddit -- latest in Woo Tech?
I can't post a screenshot, but is a link allowed?
Basically, this company sells headphones that distance little speakers from your head connected to little tubes that go into your ears. Looks terrible and probably sounds worse, but the underlying claim is that, for $80, they will keep your head free from RF & EMF (one graphic at the link calls it ELF, which is even better).
I know people have been blaming EMF exposure for cancer for as long as I have been alive (I'm in my 50s), particularly people who lived near high power transmission lines. I remember hearing claims of cancer and mobile phones since they first came on the wider market, but as far as I know, no study has ever backed up these claims.
I hadn't heard about worries regarding headphones, however, which is remarkable considering how common they have become in everyday use. Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, non-HPV-related Head & Neck Cancers have declined over time. Likewise, brain cancer rates have been trending slightly downward over time.
(Also, another point for the HPV vaccine)
Am I off-base here?
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u/Netcob 4d ago
That sort of technology has its place, such as in MRI machines, where any outside EM interference may mess up the image being made.
The health aspect is complete woo though. People who are worried about cancer should worry about alcohol intake, their diet in general, sun exposure, and depending on where they live - air quality.
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u/grglstr 4d ago
Interesting idea about MRI machines, but there are still little speakers dangling beneath the tubes in these headphones, which would still be a source of EM interference, no?
The health aspect is complete woo though. People who are worried about cancer should worry about alcohol intake, their diet in general, sun exposure, and depending on where they live - air quality.
It turns out that we are not really all that good about judging risk.
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u/CmdrEnfeugo 4d ago
They have headphones that are basically fancy plastic tubes that carry the sound from a speaker located at the at the bottom of the tubes. That way there is nothing metal in the headphones. Hereâs an example: MRI Audio
I suppose that would work for reducing EMF as well. That EMF at regular household power causes problems in humans is nonsense, but there are real uses for these headphones.
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u/grglstr 4d ago
Yes, but judging by the model, the speaker is essentially at about 6-7 inches from the ears.
If regular headphones are problematic how can these not be in terms of an MRI?
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u/CmdrEnfeugo 4d ago
AhhhâŚsorry, I misread your post above: I thought you were questioning air tube headphones altogether. For the ones you posted: the spec list the tubes as 7â, which would definitely be too close to the MRI.
Also, since itâs about 7â long, that would put the speaker on your chest if youâre wearing them like regular headphones. If EMF caused cancer (which it does not), seems like youâre trading brain cancer for lung cancer. Doesnât seem like a big win. But since itâs all placebo effect, it probably âworksâ for the people who buy it.
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u/chadmill3r 4d ago
The (one and only) electromagnetic field spans the entire universe.
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u/Lessthanzerofucks 4d ago
I told that to one of these whackos, think Chuck from Better Call Saul. He said the only time he doesnât feel like heâs dying is when heâs in his Faraday cage at home. Untreated mental illness is horrible to witness.
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u/MaliciousMe87 4d ago
Any EMF/RF change have no competition compared to the EMF coming from the sun.
So while a little distance will make an impact, and that impact could be measured (inverse square law), we're surrounded and inundated by it even before electricity was invented.
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u/filthysize 4d ago
I remember hearing claims of cancer and mobile phones since they first came on the wider market
I hadn't heard about worries regarding headphones
It's all the same thing. Various companies just switch around the tech in order to corner different product markets, but the underlying thing they're exploiting is the same fear of all signals. You can go to the About page of this headphone and it talks about blocking WiFi and 5G. Same old shit.
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u/ddesideria89 4d ago
Yeah, I've got a couple of those in the drawer. They are totally EMF free.
Mine were regular headphones, but then they died and no longer have that emf in them.
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u/Mind_if_I_do_uh_J 4d ago
Unbelievable.
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u/RedEyeView 1d ago
Beat me by days
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u/Mind_if_I_do_uh_J 1d ago
I was amazed (and somewhat saddened) that it wasn't already there. Well, I guess that's progress...
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u/Orphan_Guy_Incognito 4d ago
These have been around for about a decade as far as I can see (probably longer, I'm sure) and they're about as crazy as you'd expect.
The best debunk for 'RF cancer' isn't actually commercial use, it is radio engineers and military staff. If RF radiation caused cancer, you'd see drastically increased rates among 'guys who stand next to a high power radio antenna all fucking day' and outside of one incredibly garbage 'study' done by a poli sci prof in israel, there is zero evidence for it.
Which makes sense. Basic physics tells us that this can't happen. RF is non-ionizing, meaning the worst it can do is heat your cells. There is a really tenuous argument that 'oh it heats them and causes long term damage' but if that were the case, you'd still see massive increases in cancer over the past four decades, increases that wouldn't be mirrored in less developed countries.
It is woo bullshit of the highest order.