Radiation from mobile phones - harmful or not?

Mobile phones are everywhere these days. Kids play with it, and adults are simply inseparable from their precious possessions. But do cell phones have a detrimental effect on our health? Well, the jury is still out on that decision.

While, there have been reports that keeping your phone in your front pocket can cause infertility in men, can cause brain damage in an unborn babay, leading to ADHD, may lead to cancer and a whole slew of other ailments, there are experts who say 'Radiations emitted by mobile phones and towers do not cause any health hazard'.

Published in a recent reports is the fact that experts have been working hard to dispel the fear of health hazards from mobile towers, antennas and phones. These experts were speaking at a panel discussion on 'Mobile network and public health' organised by the COAI, a leading mobile communications association, when they stressed that people, who believe that radiations are really harmful, are not fully aware and should understand this perception clearly.

According to R.V. Hosur, senior professor, Chemical Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 'Ionising radiation causes damages to the molecules - they break the chemical bonds and can cause health hazards. But non-ionising radiation from mobile tower and antenna do not cause the breakage of bonds and do not cause damage to the molecules'. 'A number research and studies have been conducted around the globe to ascertain if there is any relationship between the radiation emission from the mobile phone and cancer. However there is not enough evidence proving mobile phones causes cancer in humans'.

Apart from that, a report published in 2013, the DMA president Anil Agarwal said, 'Radiation from mobiles and mobile towers pose no threat to the health or cause cancer as it is commonly believed'. 'The radiation waves are too weak to cause such a deadly disease and moreover there are no empirical findings to establish that mobile tower radiation causes cancer or any such disease,' he said, adding that the medical experts from the DMA came to this conclusion after reviewing the study done by the World Health Organization (WHO).

But there is another aspect to the whole cell phone-cancer hoopla.

According to Neha Kumar, director NESA, a firm which designs radiation measurement, analysis and shielding equipment said, 'There are several national and international studies where scientists have found a strong correlation between health problems and exposure to microwaves from mobile phones and mobile towers. In fact Prof. Girish Kumar from IIT Bombay, had found several papers and peer reviewed publications that he had sent to the Department of Telecommunicatins (DOTS) in the year 2012.'

While the experts come to some conclusion, we believe prevention is better than cure. So, here are some tips to keep you safe from any possible complications due to mobile phones.

• Limit your use, talk for short durations and switch sides during long conversations. SMS/IM chat whenever possible.
• Use the land-line, whenever possible
• Use speakerphone or wired hands free, but keep the phone at least 1 feet away.
• When not in use, keep the mobile phone away from your body as they still continue to emit some radiation while trying to communicate with the base station by sending at least one pulse per minute. Do not keep it in your pocket, under your pillow etc.
• Use cell phones with lower Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) values. One can find the SAR value of a phone by simply searching- <Company Name> <Model No.> SAR. The lower the SAR value, the less dangerous it is. Ideally go for a phone which has SAR value 0.2 0.8 W/Kg

You may also like to read:

• 10 ways your mobile phone is ruining your health
• Can electromagnetic radiation from mobile towers harm you?
• Excessive cell phone use linked to cancer, genetic mutations
• Mumbai residents up in arms against mobile towers

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