The twenty first century has been an era full of innovation and the growth in popularity of the cell phone. Cell phones are used nearly everyday by 90% of American Adults, and of those, 65% use smartphones(source 3). We live in a culture where it is nearly inevitable to walk down the street without noticing someone on their smartphone. Many people, including myself, never leave their smart phone more than a few feet away, even at night. Having something so close to us so often developed the theory of possible repercussions. The idea that cell phones can cause cancer seems extremely plausible to many people because cell phones release radio waves, which may be absorbed by tissue nearest to the cell phone.
(source 6)
Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic energy, which is broken down into two categories. These categories are ionizing and non-ionizing. Ionizing radiation can be harmful because they can cause mutilation to DNA inside cells and consists of things such as x-rays and cosmic rays. Non-ionizing radiation is usually from radio waves or low frequency radiation. Cell phones use radio frequency waves to send/receive signals to and from nearby cell towers. The radio frequency waves used by cell phones are non-ionizing, and the total radiation exposes is depended on how often the user uses his or her phone. The main concern of cancer is directed towards the brain because it is most often used there for calling people. (source 4)
Scientist have worked to determine whether this is a feasible idea, but it has become extremely difficult to fail to reject the hypothesis because of all the outlying factors that we may not know lead to cancer. Could a food we eat cause cancer? There are to many unknowns that make it very challenging to pin point the issue of the problems. Lab studies have shown that the radio frequency waves of cell phones are not strong enough to omit waves that may alter DNA. Although this idea is accepted by most scientists, a recently study conducted tested the effect of holding a cell phone next to their ear for fifty minutes. The test showed that the brain used more glucose than tissue of the other side of the brain. The side affects of this spike in glucose use are unknown; making it unclear if the end results could be a tumor or cancer (source 2).
Overall, studios conducted on humans who suffered from cancer do not suggest high cell phone usage corresponded to the cancer. There are a great deal of theories about the matter, but it may be a studio that will require time and a whole generation of heavy cell phone users to see its possible negative affects.
(source 5)
1) http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/cell-phone-radiation-users.gif
2) http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/cellular-phones
3) http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/
4) http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet
5) http://cache2.asset-cache.net/gc/84144666-four-friends-standing-together-with-cell-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=fcAtGg7bXbIjRt%2B%2F1ROSc1nMecq4hnyYKdHvmGR%2F%2BYJutQCjbXzRJtPRGiXVQVMb
I have always thought about this question myself. When I sleep with my phone so close to me or when it’s in between my legs during class am I leaving myself vulnerable? Sometimes I sense that there are waves coming out of the phone affecting me. That must just be me being paranoid but I swear there’s something going on. I’m sure later on they will discover something negative about cell phones.
Wow! This is actually kind of scary. So many of us do use cell phones on a daily basis that if this was possible we would all be at risk. Because we haven’t found the cure for cancer, I find it really hard to predict if cell phones can even cause cancer at all. I hope this topic grows amongst scientists, because cell phones are a huge part of our lives and although they are useful, then can also be harmful!
Scary! I may have to ditch my cell phone and buy pager.