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A Tesla Hater just told me "Batteries Cause Cancer"

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Ever since I took deliver I feel like I've become an ambassador of sorts. I get questions about my car almost everyday (as I'm sure many of you do), and occasionally get a skeptic. Most of the skeptics I've come across are skeptical because they're not very informed. For example, I might hear "why would anyone want a car you can't use for road trips." They're clearly not informed.

Up until now I haven't found a skeptic that I wasn't able to inform and/or turn them into a believer. Until today that is...

Today's skeptic had me speechless. He asked me all the usually skeptic questions and then ended with this: "Well, I still think it's a bad idea. My brothers friend is studying to be an X-Ray technician and he said batteries can cause cancer. So why would anyone want to sit on thousands of cancer causing batteries when having just one in your pocket (referring to cell phones) can potentially kill you."

I was speechless... first off that sounds completely ludicrous to me, but I don't know. I've never heard of that, and just because I haven't heard of it doesn't mean that it's not true. When I finally gathered my thoughts, I told him this:

"I don't know if that's true or not, but what I can tell you is that I've put 30,000 miles on my car in the last 9 months and I feel completely fine. Other then that I don't know what to say..."

Has anyone ever heard that argument before? is there any merit to it?

My scientific tool kit is telling me that it's BS. But what say you? What would you have said or what do you think?
 
Generally, it's not believed to be true. There is a fair amount of research on the subject -- look here: Magnetic Field Exposure and Cancer - National Cancer Institute


One medical professional friend of mine won't let her kids ride in the car for this reason. Her husband, however, doesn't have a problem with it, and directs the kids to ride with us. So confusing...

This matter has already been treated in other threads. EM fields in the Model S have such a low magnitude and frequencies that don't even manage to reach the cabin.
 
Ever since I took deliver I feel like I've become an ambassador of sorts. I get questions about my car almost everyday (as I'm sure many of you do), and occasionally get a skeptic. Most of the skeptics I've come across are skeptical because they're not very informed. For example, I might hear "why would anyone want a car you can't use for road trips." They're clearly not informed.

Up until now I haven't found a skeptic that I wasn't able to inform and/or turn them into a believer. Until today that is...

Today's skeptic had me speechless. He asked me all the usually skeptic questions and then ended with this: "Well, I still think it's a bad idea. My brothers friend is studying to be an X-Ray technician and he said batteries can cause cancer. So why would anyone want to sit on thousands of cancer causing batteries when having just one in your pocket (referring to cell phones) can potentially kill you."

I was speechless... first off that sounds completely ludicrous to me, but I don't know. I've never heard of that, and just because I haven't heard of it doesn't mean that it's not true. When I finally gathered my thoughts, I told him this:

"I don't know if that's true or not, but what I can tell you is that I've put 30,000 miles on my car in the last 9 months and I feel completely fine. Other then that I don't know what to say..."

Has anyone ever heard that argument before? is there any merit to it?

My scientific tool kit is telling me that it's BS. But what say you? What would you have said or what do you think?

"That, sir, is a logical fallacy. Unless you can show me scientific studies that show it to be true, your brother's friend is either an idiot or ********ting you.

And besides, I'd be more worried about your gas car if we're talking cancer."

Your logical fallacy is appeal to authority
 
Batteries do not emit anything in terms of energy other than DC current out the wires and heat. The high current DC wiring of the car would create static magnetic fields around the wires. The power unit of the car would create alternating current to the engine, but the frequency is not high enough to "radiate" energy without coupling to something... It's all in the domain of low frequency electric and magnetic fields of the kind that you are surrounded by all day at home and work. We all grew up sitting in front of televisions with enormous electromagnets operating at high frequencies directing electron beams directly at our faces... We all have microwave (actual radiation) generators in our cell phones... We are surrounded by wifi (more microwave radiation) everywhere. Inside the car I'd bet we are shielded from more energy than we would absorb outside... certainly in terms of sunlight at least :)

EDIT: Just to add some evidence - The navigation system of the car undoubtedly has a magnetic compass (as does your phone) - those are extremely sensitive to static magnetic fields and are apparently not affected by fields in the car. The AM and FM radios operate and do not pick up significant interference the AC systems in the car or the engine. (You can barely hear some noise if you tune to a low unused space in the AM spectrum).

TLDR: no, it's BS... batteries don't emit anything harmful to people at least in terms of energy (I wouldn't eat one). But gasoline and exhaust sure as hell are not good for you.
 
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I wrote this on another thread but my husband did an EMF test in our Model S vs our Lexus ES. He placed the reader on both the floor of the cars (where our feet are) and also on the seat. The levels of EMF in the Model S were actually very low. The EMF levels in the Lexus (on both the floor and the seat) were much higher.
 
Ever since I took deliver I feel like I've become an ambassador of sorts. I get questions about my car almost everyday (as I'm sure many of you do), and occasionally get a skeptic. Most of the skeptics I've come across are skeptical because they're not very informed. For example, I might hear "why would anyone want a car you can't use for road trips." They're clearly not informed.

Up until now I haven't found a skeptic that I wasn't able to inform and/or turn them into a believer. Until today that is...

Today's skeptic had me speechless. He asked me all the usually skeptic questions and then ended with this: "Well, I still think it's a bad idea. My brothers friend is studying to be an X-Ray technician and he said batteries can cause cancer. So why would anyone want to sit on thousands of cancer causing batteries when having just one in your pocket (referring to cell phones) can potentially kill you."

I was speechless... first off that sounds completely ludicrous to me, but I don't know. I've never heard of that, and just because I haven't heard of it doesn't mean that it's not true. When I finally gathered my thoughts, I told him this:

"I don't know if that's true or not, but what I can tell you is that I've put 30,000 miles on my car in the last 9 months and I feel completely fine. Other then that I don't know what to say..."

Has anyone ever heard that argument before? is there any merit to it?

My scientific tool kit is telling me that it's BS. But what say you? What would you have said or what do you think?

Ummmmm Aluminum is a shield ... wtf is he talking about? Oh wait, the world is flat, we're at the center of the universe, man coexisted with dino's and global warming is a hoax.

Ya just can't fix stupid.
 
this coming from a guy that inhales toxic fumes every time he fills his gas tank?

A friend of mine is the head of toxicology at SRI. You won't find a more brilliant, hard-core, skeptical guy. He scoffs at people who worry about saccharin, which is indeed carcinogenic in rats at ludicrous doses, but is not a carcinogen in primates. This is someone who's seen it all and concluded that the world is basically safe in moderation. But, based on actual research he's done, he seriously worries about benzene exposure -- so much so that when his wife was pregnant, he wouldn't let her pump gas.

So the next time you encounter a magnet moron or an EMI emo, point them at the Wikipedia page for health effects of benzene, which is a major component of gasoline's iconic smell:

Benzene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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Today's skeptic had me speechless. He asked me all the usually skeptic questions and then ended with this: "Well, I still think it's a bad idea. My brothers friend is studying to be an X-Ray technician and he said batteries can cause cancer. So why would anyone want to sit on thousands of cancer causing batteries when having just one in your pocket (referring to cell phones) can potentially kill you."

That person is mistakenly attributing the potential damage that cell phone carrier waves might cause, with the completely inert battery. The battery emits no such waves, though it does power the cell phone, which in turn does emit waves. Turn off your cell phone and there would be no emissions. In other words he's completely wrong.
 
I'm reminded of the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide:
is also known as hydroxyl acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
contributes to the "greenhouse effect".
may cause severe burns.
contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.
addictive -- if you stop taking it you die
poisonous in large quantities
can interfere with breathing

Dihydrogen_monoxide