iPod doesn't cause pacemaker failure
February 1st 2008
In May of last year, Insanely-Great Mac reported on a study by a 17-year-old kid linking the iPod to pacemaker failure. For some reason, this "news" got a critical pass from the media and scientists at the time.
Thank goodness scientists didn't leave it there.
Reuters reports that the US Food and Drug Administration--big brained people people with a really big budget--have published a study saying that the iPod doesn't, in fact, produce an electromagnetic field strong enough to cause a pacemaker to fail.
"We measured magnetic field emissions with a 3-coil sensor placed within 1 cm (half an inch) of the surface of the player. Highly localized fields were observed (only existing in a one square cm area)," they wrote. "Based on the observations of our in-vitro study we conclude that no interference effects can occur in pacemakers exposed to the iPods we tested."
I hope the peers and family of the 17-year-old take a few minutes today (and every day for at least a week) to razz him unmercifully...
What's your take?
