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Mobile
Phones Health Hazards and Dangers
Blue Tube Headset
Home Radiation Protection
Electromagnetic Field Meter Ghost
How much time do you spend on your
cellphone? Do you know that cellphones keep on emitting
radio waves as long as they are switched on? Since the very
basis of cellphones is radio signals that carry voice, you
are in constant exposure to these radio waves as long as you
keep the cellphone near your body. The exposure increases
manifold when you are talking on it.
Cooking The Brain: The Evil In Mobile Phones & Cellphone
Towers
Though there are few pointers that link cellphone usage to
diseases such as cancer, the dangers of using mobile phones
still exist. This article examines some studies that link
usage of cellphones to different diseases and dangers.
Before studying cellphone dangers, let us explore the
hazards of living in areas having cellphone towers.
Cell Phone Towers: What Could Be The Exact Problem?
It has not yet been completely established that cellphones
are really a danger but researchers are exploring the issue
and some have found strong links that say living in an area
with cellphone towers with high frequency can cause cancer.
According to a study conducted by Indian Thermal Analysis
Society (ITAS), three cancer cases were found in the same
building that lies opposite to a cellphone tower. All these
three cases belong to Usha Kiran Apartments opposite to
cellphone tower built on Vijay Apartments (Carmicheal road,
Mumbai, India). A prominent Indian daily Mid-day carried
this article on the issue of Usha Kiran Apartment residents
suffering due to mobile towers.
Based on different case studies, the ITAS concluded that
people living within 50 to 300 meter radius of cellphone
towers are at higher risk of diseases due to
electromagnetic radiation.
This conclusion derives on the fact that in India,
acceptable standard of radiation is 9.2Watt per square
meter. For other countries, the “danger zone” is different –
based on their acceptable standard of radiation. For the US,
it is 580 – 1000 Micro-Watts per square centimeter. This
translates that people living within 2 to 2.5 miles in the
radius of cellphone towers are at risk of health hazards.
In yet another incident, a resident of New Delhi (India)
recently filed a petition to ban cellphone companies from
erecting any cellphone towers within 50 meters of schools,
hospitals and residential areas. According to him, his son
got cancer due to a cellphone tower that was erected on his
house. He says within a year of the tower being installed,
everyone in his family gained weight and started suffering
from sleeping problems. Here is the link to the story on bad
effects of cellphone towers in Times of India.
In a study conducted by Building Biology Institute of
Germany, they state that anything above 10 Micro-Watt per
square meters is a matter of concern as it will affect the
biological cells in all kinds of lives – plants, animals and
humans. For towers that emit more than 10 micro-watts per
square centimeter, the study classifies exposure concerns as
severe.
Scientists and researchers blame the electromagnetic
radiation from radio waves as the agents that increase risk
of cancer in people using cellphones – especially in
children. In case of cellphone towers, people living in
nearby areas are constantly exposed to high electromagnetic
radiation. Since electromagnetic radiation is responsible
for alterations in functioning of biologic cells and
tissues, these people are at a greater risk of acquiring
radiation diseases.
Among the major problems found in people living near
cellphone towers are:
1.
Cancers,
2.
Tumors, inparticular Gliomas
3.
Dry Eye,
4.
Muscle problems
5.
Damage to brain – depending upon how many cellphone
companies are using a particular cellphone tower. ITAS
claims that the more number of cellphone companies sharing a
single tower, the greater the hazards of cellphone towers.
Specific Absorption Rate
The specific absorption rate – or SAR as it is known –
refers to the rate of electromagnetic energy that is
absorbed by the human body when using cellphones and other
devices emitting radio waves. It is measured in Watts per Kg
of human tissue. If the SAR limit of cellphones is 1.6W/Kg
(as in the US), the total time that a person can use
cellphones is maximum 6 minutes. Given an error margin of 3,
the total time a person can use cellphones translates to
only 20 minutes per day.
While some countries have now made it mandatory to display
the SAR value of cellphones on their handsets, others have
not yet woken up to the dangers of using cellphones.
Wikipedia has some more information on SAR including the
equation to calculate SAR.
Cellphones – What Are The Dangers?
According to National Cancer Institute (USA), there are two
types of electromagnetic radiations – ionizing and
non-ionizing. The first type is found in X-Rays etc and it
has been proved that they cause severe diseases in people
who are exposed to such emissions. Cellphones emit
non-ionizing radiations that is picked up by biological
cells and tissues that are directly in contact with
cellphones – hands and ears. The National Cancer Institute
says there is no proof that cellphones can actually increase
the risk of cancer but still, it can increase the
temperature of body cells in contact with cellphones.
In another study by Dr Girish of Indian Thermal Analysis
Society, a human body be safely kept in a microwave oven of
700-1000W for only 19 minutes. This means that people can
carry on a cellphone conversation only for 19 minutes at a
time without harming themselves.
It has also been found by studying rats that prolonged
exposure to electromagnetic radiation can lead to severe
brain damage. People using cellphones to a particular brain
side have more risk of damaging that side of the brain –
leading into complex disorders that may or may not be
reversible.
According to Dr. Keith Black, Chairman of Neurology at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles:
What microwave radiation does in most simplistic terms is
similar to what happens to food in microwaves, essentially
cooking the brain. So in addition to leading to a
development of cancer and tumors, there could be a whole
host of other effects like cognitive memory function, since
the memory temporal lobes are where we hold our cell phones.
Due to the changes in electrical activities of brain, people
can suffer from the following problems:
1.
Seizures
2.
Paralysis
3.
Stroke
4.
Psychosis
5.
Cardio-vascular problems
Among other major problems that have been linked to
excessive cellphone usage are:
1.
Damaged blood vessels that translate to loss of protection
to brain
2.
Cancer
3.
Brain Tumor, esp Gliomas
4.
DNA damage – resulting into tumors and cancers
5.
Sleep disorders
6.
Irreversible fertility
7.
Skin problems – caused mainly by overheating of cells and
include rashes, sores and even skin tumors
8.
Hearing loss due to overheating of ear drums
9.
Damage to red blood cells – slowing down blood circulation
and thereby exposure to other diseases
Dangers of Using Cellphones in Children
Children are at a greater risk of procuring diseases from
excess usage of cellphones because their skull is thin
compared to adults. Children using cellphones beyond limits
run into major risk of procuring brain damage – due to
increased heating of brain cells – other than risking loss
in hearing and vision.
We may have started using mobile phones later in life, but
these days childern right from the age of 10 and 12 want a
mobile phone and have one. Thier usage is uncontrolled. No
one wants to use a landline anymore… What will happen after
20 and 30 years? Only time will tell. We can only hope that
it is not a time-bomb which will explode when todays
children are 50 and 6o years old …
The World Health Organisation said in May 2011 that mobile
phones may cause Cancer and other health hazards and urged
phone users “to limit their use and tke pragmatic measures
to reduce exposure to mobiles”. It concluded that mobile use
is “possibly carcinogenic to humans’, a term that places
mobiles in the middle of the rating scale that contain 5
levels of carcinogens, and ranked mobiles just below things
definitely known to cause Cancer such as smoking!
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