Ankara: In which pocket should one carry the mobile phone? This years-old debate was re-ignited in an amusing chat between Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and his climate minister Chris Bowen at the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye that was captured on hot-mic.
Albanese is heard warning Bowen against keeping his mobile phone close to his heart, only for the conversation to take an unexpected turn towards concerns about his other body parts.
The conversation between the two leaders took place during a break at the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) and revolved around the possible health effects of keeping mobile phones in different pockets, as reported by ANI.
According to a video posted by RT, Albanese first asked Bowen whether he was right-handed before advising him against keeping his phone in the left breast pocket of his blazer.
“You’re right-handed?” Albanese asked.
“Yes,” Bowen replied.
“You keep your phone here (Left chest pocket)?”
“Uh, generally, yeah,” Bowen responded.
“Don’t,” Albanese cautioned.
When Bowen asked whether he should instead keep the device in the opposite breast pocket, Albanese explained that it should be kept away from the heart, citing concerns about possible interference with its rhythm.
“It should be on this — away from your heart. Because it’s sending messages. It can interfere with the rhythm,” Albanese said.
Bowen then jokingly described the phone’s radiation as “a little bit of radioactive”, to which Albanese agreed, saying, “Yeah. Like, it makes absolute sense.”
The conversation took a humorous turn when Bowen revealed that he was more concerned about keeping his mobile phone away from his pants pocket.
“I’m more—frankly, speaking personally—I’m more conscious—I’ve stopped putting it in my pants pocket,” Bowen said.
“Because of your d**k? Yeah,” Albanese responded.
“Yeah, that’s rather important,” Bowen said, adding, “Arguably more important than a heart.”
The exchange video drew attention for the candid banter between the two.
A 2014 study, available through the US National Institutes of Health, examined the influence of direct mobile phone radiation on sperm quality. It reported lower progressive sperm movement and higher DNA fragmentation in the group exposed to electromagnetic radiation compared with the group that was not exposed.
The study’s conclusions pointed to a correlation between mobile phone radiation exposure, DNA fragmentation and reduced sperm motility.
