Should You Be Scared Of Your Mobile Phone?
This was a hard article for me to write. I will be the first to declare that I love my iPhone. I love the convenience of having all of my data, email, and calendars in one place. I love that I can schedule patients on my phone’s calendar, read a novel on my Kindle app, and take pictures of my kids, all with the same device. And mobile phones are everywhere! Even my father, a complete technophobe, is slowly learning how to use a mobile phone. But I knew that mobile phone radiation exposure was an issue so I texted more than I spoke on the phone, I tried not to keep the phone next to my body, and I had my kids keep it a minimum of 6 inches away from their bodies too. Is this enough?
It turns out, probably not. The more research I look at, the more I’m convinced that mobile phone usage (and radiation from all electronic devices including cordless phones) is a huge health concern. The World Health Organization has recently stated that mobile phone usage is linked to cancer, especially brain cancers like glioma and acoustic neuroma. In fact, the WHO now puts mobile phones in the same category as other carcinogens including engine exhaust, chloroform, and lead exposure. The type of radiation emitted from your mobilephone is non-ionizing radiation, very similar to what is generated in a microwave. Essentially, talking on a mobile phone is slowly but surely cooking your brain. Brain cancers can take 30 years to develop, but you may already be noticing symptoms of radio frequency radiation exposure like difficulty sleeping, depression, anxiety, irritability, attention span deficit, memory loss, and fertility issues like lowered sperm count. Here’s another frightening fact: the thin skulls of children allow the radiation to penetrate even further into their brains….a five year old holding a mobile phone to her ear my experience radiation through the entire width of her brain.
But what is the real life practical solution? Mobile phones will probably not disappear, so what can we do to limit our exposure? Unfortunately, we don’t have a great deal of control over where mobile phone towers (a constant source of radiation exposure) are placed, but as information becomes more main-stream this will change. European countries have already created protective standards to limit human exposure to radio frequency radiation. In Scotland, towers are not allowed near hospitals, schools, and homes.
For now, whenever possible turn your mobile phone off. Even when not actively being used it will still emit radiation intermittently. If you do need to place a call, try to use the speakerphone and keep the phone as far from your body as possible. Or use the texting feature instead. And try to call/push data only when you have a strong signal. If you are using your phone while the signal is weak, or while moving (i.e., in a moving car), the mobile phone will emit a stronger radiation while it’s trying to find a tower to connect to. Avoid carrying your phone next to your body (women, do not tuck your phone into your bra! Men, do not keep your phone in your hip pocket!). If you need to use your mobile phone frequently to make calls, look into purchasing an air-tube headset. And try not to use your phone in an enclosed metal environment like a car or an elevator. This increases exposure.
Our society is becoming increasingly electronic and wireless. By staying educated to the necessary precautions, we can continue living healthy lives in our technological world.
