For the majority of people nowadays, mobile phones are not just their friend, but something like an appendage.
Motorola made a recent survey which showed that in case of a fire, most people would rather save their smartphones than their cats!
But then, smartphones nowadays offer so much more than just calling and texting. You can take pictures and videos with high quality that constantly improves, you can surf the Internet, play games, use it as a personal organizer, and so much more.
Your smartphone may be your close friend, but is it also your foe? As it turns out, there really are some dangers…
The Risks of Smartphones and Cancer
Radio-frequency radiation is a form of electromagnetic field emitted by our smartphones. We’ve been convinced for a long period that this radiation is completely harmless, since it’s non-ionizing and the involved low power levels.
However, this exact radiation is capable to penetrate human’s body and cause damage.
World Health Organization (WHO) finally assigned the radiation of mobile phones as possible 2B carcinogen in 2011.
However, it only assigned this radiation as possible and not a probable carcinogen. A lot of experts consider that this classification is not fair to the public and doesn’t protect them enough, which is also supported by number of studies.
The Risk of Brain Cancer Is By 40% Higher If You Use Your Mobile Phone Half an Hour a Day
The radiation of mobile phones is related to numerous dangerous diseases, including cancer. It was especially related to 2 types of brain cancer- acoustic neuromas and gliomas.
Acoustic neuromas – in many cases this non-malignant type of brain cancer is life-threatening since it’s situated within the skull (intracranial).
Gliomas – it starts in the spine or brain and it’s typically malignant and deadly. Majority manage to survive 1-3 years after diagnosing with this tumor.
The $25 million Interphone Study is the biggest one about mobile phone usage and the risk of tumor. It discovered that 30 minutes of mobile phone usage every day in the period of 10 years, raises the risk of gliomas in adults by 40%.
The Swedish Hardell Research Group produce some of the best studies concerning this issue. They also confirmed that the risk of glioma and acoustic neuroma is increasing with the usage of wireless phones.
According to a 2013 UK study conducted on 790,000 middle aged women, the risk of acoustic neuroma is twice as high in women who used their mobile phones 10 years or more, and it’s constantly increasing with the course of years.
DNA Damage and Other Cancers Linked to Cell Phone Radiation
Other types of cancers are also associated with cell phone radiation:
- Thyroid Cancer
- Eye Cancer
- Cancer of the Pituitary Gland
- Melanoma Risk
- Parotid Malignant Tumors
- Stem Cell Cancer
- Leukemia
- Multifocal Breast Cancer
- Lymph Node Cancer
- DNA and Cell Phone Radiation
The understanding that cell phone radiation can’t damage DNA is totally wrong, as confirmed by many studies.
Exposures of cell phone radiation can result in single strand DNA breaks, shown in the mid-1990s by Professor Lai from the University of Washington. Following studies discovered DNA single and double strand breaks.
A Brazilian study concerned on the micronuclei, discovered that exposures on cell phone radiation during pregnancy, cause erythrocytes micronuclei incidence increasing in offspring of rats. Other studies have also confirmed this.
This is crucial since proliferation of micronuclei suggest a type of DNA damage extremely related to cancer.
Hundreds of studies concerning this issue have confirmed that radiation from mobile phones can change our cells’ genetic material. This is important since when DNA in cells is damaged, it can cause cancer or other illnesses.
Around the World Scientists Spread The Concern of Mobile Phones Usage
World Health Organization, United Nations and UN member states received an appeal for more safe exposure guidelines for EMF (electromagnetic fields) by a group of 190 scientists from 39 nations in May 2015.
What was asked in the appeal was to limit exposures to EMF, to encourage precautionary measures, and to educate people, especially pregnant women and children, about the health risks.
Cell Phone Radiation Protection Advices
The best way to protect yourself from the harmful radiation is to completely avoid mobile phones. However, since you are probably not going to give up on your cell phone that much easily, try adding the following precautionary steps in your everyday routine.
- Avoid receiving or making calls in areas with bad reception
- Limit your phone calls only to your most necessary ones
- When you are not using its wireless functions, put your phone on airplane mode
- Use earphones, especially an air tube headset, to avoid placing your mobile phone close to your head (Don’t use a Bluetooth headset since it also emits radiation)
- Avoid carrying your mobile phone in pockets or anywhere on your body
- Keep your mobile phone away from your bedroom at night, or as much distant from your head as possible. If you must, keep it in airplane mode.
- If you plan a long conversation, prefer meeting the person directly or call on a land line
- Always choose texting instead of calling (when possible)
Via: The Truth About Cancer | Saferemr | NCBI | EMF Scientist
