“Bioprotector” – Modern Snake Oil...

Every once in a while I'll stumble across a manufacturer whose chutzpah just takes my breath away.  This happened to me yesterday when I happened across the “Cell Phone Bioprotector” on Amazon (while looking for some RG6 cable!).  The manufacturer's page is here.

Basically this product is a thin disk of some coppery-looking material (might even be copper) with a radial slot cut in it.  It appears to be about the size of a quarter.  The idea is that you stick it on your cell phone, and presto! you are magically protected against EMF.

This is pure bullshit on several levels.

First of all, to the best of my knowledge there is no credible science supporting the idea that EMFs generated by cell phones can cause any harm.  There is good reason to be careful here, mainly because of the inverse square law and the cell phone's frequent proximity to the brain.  However, many modern humans, especially those living in large cities, are routinely subjected to EMFs vastly stronger than those generated by cell phones – and there isn't any evidence that even those EMFs cause any problems.  So this product is fighting a phony war.

Secondly, the product claims to do its job without interfering with the cell phone's operation.  This is, a priori, a crazy claim.  If the product actually did reduce EMFs, it would, by definition, be interfering with the cell phone's operation – since the cell phone's entire job is to generate EMFs (to carry your phone call). 

Thirdly, there's no way that a passive metallic (or at least, conductive) disk is going to reduce EMFs in any meaningful way.  Certainly not in the “elliptical” personal protection zone claimed by the manufacturer.  It's sort of like claiming that a magnet the size of a quarter attached to your car's bumper will protect the occupants against injury in an accident.  The real world doesn't work that way – only the world of magic does.

This company is preying on the gullibility of the technically illiterate in a shameless and contemptible fashion.  But I don't know which is worse – the owners' shamelessness, or the ignorance of those who are buying their products...