Health concerns surrounding mobile phones

Doctors

As mobile phone usage has increased over the years, there has been a number of projects attempting to research and measure any long term health effects related to using a mobile phone. The biggest health risks associated with extended mobile phone use relate to electromagnetic radiation, however, there are also other concerns relating to repetitive stress injury (RSI). The huge rise in mobile telephony during recent times has led to many concerns being raised about the effects of this microwave range electromagnetic radiation, and it is important that all cellular phone users are up to date with the latest findings.

The World Health Organisation has stated that mobile phones are unlikely to cause specific short term health problems, however, many national bodies have already recommended safety measures to minimise the exposure of people to radiation. Although no research has yet been able to find any correlation between mobile phone usage and specific health problems such as headaches and dizziness; the long term cumulative effects of electromagnetic radiation are much harder to measure and define. Many national scientific studies have recommended that more studies need to be carried out relating to the potential health effects of mobile phones on children.

Most of the problems that may be associated with extended mobile phone usage relate to the proximity of mobile devices to the head and brain area of phone users. Part of the radio waves which are emitted by mobile telephones are absorbed by the human head, which can have a number of thermal and non-thermal effects on phone users. One well recognised and understood effect of microwave radiation is called dielectric heating, and refers to the situation where living tissue is heated by particular rotations induced by an electromagnetic field. The cornea of the eye is especially susceptible to the thermal effects of telephony, as it does not have the temperature regulation mechanisms of other tissue areas.

There have been a number of studies related to possible links between mobile phones and cancer, however, most of them are inconclusive. A number of national studies have been published which support no evidence of any link, however some research has found an increasing body of evidence linking mobile phones with brain tumors. Another major area of concern relating to mobile telephony is the radiation emitted by the fixed telephony infrastructure such as base stations and their antennas. Mobile phones and their related technology are still quite new in terms of human evolution and will need to be researched for many years to come before anyone is able to come up with any definitive conclusions. If you are worried about the effects of mobile phone use then it may be worth looking up further information on this on the internet. There are a variety of sites which offer an insite into the risks of mobile phone use as well as offering good information on the benefits of having health insurance.