Cell Phones Essay, Research Paper
What Causes Cell Phone Radiation and How Does it Effect Your Body?
What is so popular with young teenagers today? Cell phones. Walking around on
campus to walking around at the mall with your cell phone may seem fashionable and
trendy, but did you now that it might be causing you to get a cancer? Ninety percent of
cell phone holders do not realize it and it should be something everyone should be aware
of. It may seem a bit unusually how a cell phone can cause a child or an adult to get
cancer, but it is true. New evidence is growing fast about health risks from mobile
phones ? electromagnetic radiation. These devices can be used to make telephone calls
from almost anywhere. Symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, burning sensations on the
skin were more common among those who make longer phone calls. At the same time
there are a growing number of unconfirmed reports of individuals whose health has been
affected after chronic, frequent use of mobile phones, presumably from radiation effects
on cell.
There are two types of phones, one has the antenna mounted on the handset and the
other has the antenna mounted on a separate transmitter or, if the telephone is installed in
a vehicle, mounted on the roof or rear window. Communication between a mobile
telephone and the nearest base station is achieved by the microwave emissions from the
antenna. Concerns have been raised about the type of mobile telephone that has the
antenna in the handset. In this case, the antenna is very close to the user’s head during
normal use of the telephone and there is concern about the level of microwave emissions
to which the brain is being exposed. Those telephones that have the antenna mounted
elsewhere are of no concern, since exposure levels decrease rapidly with increasing
distance from the antenna. Cordless telephones, which need to be operated within about
20 meters of a base unit that is connected directly to the telephone system do not have
any health concerns associated with their use because exposure levels are very low. .
Media reports have claimed that up to 70 percent of the microwave emissions from hand-
held mobile telephones may be absorbed in the user’s head. This is not supported by the
evidence, but nevertheless leads to speculation that hot spots may be created in the user’s
brain, thereby raising concerns that the telephones may be a health risk. Other reports
have indicated that mobile telephone users suffer localized headaches when they use their
telephone. At this stage, it is difficult to evaluate the evidence supporting these reports,
since they have not been published.
This work on human subjects follows other phone studies in animals suggesting
that radiation from mobiles may cause brain tumors, cancer, anxiety, memory loss and
serious birth defects. An Australian study found that mice exposed to pulsed digital
phone radiation over 18 months had twice the risk of developing cancers. An American
study found that learning and short term memory were impaired after 45 minutes
exposure to radiation from phones in rats. And other studies of electromagnetic radiation
on pregnant mice suggest that high exposure can affect intra-uterine development,
confirmed recently in chicks. The effects in humans are unknown. In Britain a 27 year
old woman with a brain tumor is taking a mobile phone manufacturer to court who she
blames for her tumor. A biologist, Roger Coghill has also been given permission to bring
a case against a provider of mobile phone equipment for failing to warn people of
radiation hazards. A wide variety of electrical devices contribute to electro smog,
ranging from computers, to phones, TV sets, radar transmitter and transformers. However
mobile phone radiation is certainly intense, as evidenced by the effects on aircraft
navigation systems, or more obviously on a nearby conventional telephone or a music
system
The brain cancer reports originated in the USA where a number of lawsuits have
been lodged against mobile telephone manufacturers and suppliers. These claims for
damages allege that the microwave emissions from mobile telephones used by the
claimants caused their brain cancers. Those few cases that have been tried have been
dismissed for lack of supporting evidence.
Microwaves are but one type of electromagnetic field of the ways that these fields
are described is by specifying their frequency. The range of frequencies that are useful
for telecommunications include microwaves.
Some public concern about mobile telephones is erroneously based on media
attention to the possibility of adverse effects from exposure to power-line
electromagnetic fields, which have a much lower frequency than the microwaves emitted
by mobile telephones. The physical properties and biological effects of these fields are
very different from microwaves and it is meaningless to extrapolate the results of those
studies to the subject of this Information Bulletin.
The current Australian exposure Standard is based on the well-established thermal
effects of exposure to microwaves. That is, when tissue i
levels of microwaves, the tissue is heated and damage may occur. The exposure limits are
set well below levels where any significant heating occurs. The Standard also sets limits
for pulsed radiation that are intended to eliminate possible effects where heating is not
evident.
All mobile telephones marketed in Australia must satisfy the regulatory
requirements of Austel “the Australian Telecommunications Authority”, as well as that
part of the Australian Standard that sets limits on the power output of a mobile telephone.
Therefore, use of a mobile telephone is not expected to cause significant heating in any
part of the body, including the brain.
Some research has indicated that non-thermal effects resulting from low-level
microwave exposure also occur. However, the existence of these effects has not been
sufficiently established to allow for them in the Standard. A few animal studies suggest
that exposure to weak microwave fields can accelerate the development of cancer.
Further studies are required to establish their reproducibility and the existence or
otherwise of a dose-response relationship. Whether these results are relevant to users of
mobile telephones is not clear. In any event, these results cannot be dismissed at this
stage.
The very few studies that have been conducted on human populations
“epidemiological studies” do not provide any direct information on possible mobile
telephone hazards and hence are of limited value. The results of these studies are difficult
to interpret because exposure levels were either not measured or impossible to determine
from the data provided. In general, however, this type of study will be useful in
identifying possible links between mobile telephone use and cancer risk. Complementary
cellular and animal research is required to establish any cause-and-effect relationship and
the biological mechanisms involved.
The Australian Radiation Laboratory continues to closely monitor the research
being conducted in this area. On the specific issue of brain cancer occurring in users of
these telephones, it is important to note that such cancers existed before the introduction
of mobile telephones. It is simply not possible to identify the cause of any single case of
cancer. Long-term studies to investigate whether mobile telephone users have a greater
incidence of, say, brain cancer than the general population have not been completed.
The Commonwealth Government has established the “Electromagnetic Energy
Public Health Issues Committee” to examine and advise on the adequacy of health
exposure standards, compliance procedures, local and overseas research results and the
potential for further research, all with respect to mobile telephone use, among other
things. The Committee includes representatives from the Department of Health and
Family Services, the Department of Communications and the Arts and the Therapeutic
Goods Administration. Mobile telephone companies and service providers are not
represented.
Late in 1996, the Commonwealth Government announced that $4.5mil would be
provided for an Australian research and public information program over the next 4-5
years. The National Health and Medical Research Council will manage this research
program. There is no evidence that microwave exposure from mobile telephones causes
cancer, and inconclusive evidence that such exposure accelerates the growth of an
already-existing cancer. More research on this issue needs to be carried out.
Users concerned about the possibility of health effects can minimize their
using a mobile telephone which does not have the antenna in the handset or using a
‘hands-free’ attachment. There is no clear evidence in the existing scientific literature that
the use of digital or analogue mobile telephones poses a long-term public health hazard
There are five ways to reduce the risk of radiation going in your body. One is to
have shorter conversation. Try to avoid speaking for long periods on the cell phone;
furthermore, try to plan your calls in such a way that you use ordinary phones for long
conversations. Second, don?t sit in the car. Speak as little as possible inside the car
because it amplifies the radiation. If you have to speak a lot from the care, get a roof
antenna. Third, protect your baby. Don?t place a turned-on mobile phone in the baby
carriage. The mobile phone produces microwaves even if you don?t speak in it. Fourth,
avoid waist. Don?t carry the cell phone in the belt round the waist. It is unnecessary to
expose the deposits of bone marrow in the hips, and the testicles to the microwaves.
Earlier there have been warnings against placing the phone next to the heart. This is now
regarded as being less dangerous, unless you have a pacemaker. The best place to carry
the phone is in a military trousers leg pocket. And finally, direct the antenna. Always
pull out the antenna when you use the phone and direct it away from the head, not upright
in parallel with the head. It may be a marginal difference, but it reduces the radiation into
the head somewhat.
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