I’ve always heard that it isn’t good to keep your cell phone close to you when you aren’t using it. The radiation is bad for whatever part of your body that it is near and it can cause damage to it. However, what I did not know is that there are health risks related to actually using your cell phone. Studies have shown that the usage of cell phones is related to the development of brain tumors. There are three key studies that should be brought to attention when observing this matter.
The first is Interphone, an study which selected 12,000 participants from 13 different countries and observed the development of brain tumors with the usage of cell phones. Initially, the results weren’t very clear. They did not display any clear connection between the development of brain tumors and the usage of cell phones. However, when the results were more closely observed, they showed that the heavier users of cell phones had a significantly increased risk to brain tumors. The heavy users (30+ minutes daily) actually had a 40% increased risk of developing a glioma, a certain form of brain tumor. This study does support a correlation to the amount of time people are using their cell phone and the development of brain tumors. However, it is an observational study, and nothing about causation can be said based off these results alone.
This picture shows the radiation map of a man’s face before and after a 15 minute phone call.
The next study to bring to attention is one supporting the null hypothesis: that there is no relation between the usage of cell phones and development of brain tumors. A 2014 Swedish study observed approximately 5,000 people and found that people who used their cell phone weren’t directly effected. At least not right away. Newer users weren’t necessarily more susceptible to developing the cancer. However, users that have had wireless phones for over 25 years had nearly a 3 times increased risk to developing brain cancer. This study then must open discussion about the long-term effects of cell phones.
The last study I want to bring up could also be a factor to relating cell phones to brain cancer; but not due to usage. It actually observes the different radiation levels depending on the type of cell phone being used. These radiation level reviews, provided by CNET, show which cell phones provide the most radiation output and which provide the least. The two leading are distributed by motorola, which both omit 1.54 watts (The new U.S. maximum). As you can also notice, Apple isn’t anywhere in the top 20 nor the bottom 20. The iPhone Six Plus has the most of the Apple phones with a SAR level of 1.16, which isn’t necessarily great but comparatively its actually pretty impressive.
Chart provided by Lynn La and Kent German, “Cell Phone Radiation Levels,” www.reviews.cnet.com
This is certainly something to think about. Keeping your phone close to your face can be detrimental towards your well being. Maybe an alternative to putting your phone to your face is to get a bluetooth device (assuming they omit less radiation) or maybe just use headphones. If you are using one of the mobile phones mentioned on the first chart, maybe you should switch to one that is not.
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I thought that this post was extremely interesting and it immediately caught my eye. Nearly 5 years ago, my aunt passed away from brain cancer. Everyone in my family all had their own hypotheses about how she developed a brain tumor in the first place. One of the main concerns was her cell phone usage. My aunt was ALWAYS talking on the phone, as she was one of the most social people I have ever met. While nothing was ever proven, I do believe that there is a high possibility that her high cell phone usage was a cause of the brain tumor. I really liked how you chose multiple different studies that each had their own point. I think that it was challenging to do studies on cell phones years ago, as they are a relatively recent invention and therefore some of their longterm effects are unknown. The newest generation will be the first to have had technology use throughout their lifespan, and uncovering the effects of this will be interesting.
I have heard keeping cell phones close to you when you’re not using being unhealthy, but never would I have thought the seriousness of them possibly causing cancer. That is very scary to think about considering we are in a tech savvy society and technology is just becoming more and more advanced. These studies seem very real and I think the picture comparing the two people is definitely the most alarming. Although it seems probable, I do think that other factors are involved and possibly chance could play a role too. I think cell phone usage being directly related to cancer is kind of absurd. Regardless of that, this is a very alarming issue that needs to be emphasized more so people are aware.
I found the picture on those blog comparing the person before and after cell phone usage very alarming. I always think about the subject we talked about it class, how people noticed correlations between smoking and lung cancer, but could not prove causation. Sometimes I wonder could this be the same situation? It is very unsettling to know only time will tell if the cell phone habit everyone in our generations have are slowly killing us. I found the facts on Apple very interesting though. Here is a link to an article about the iPhone 6 SAR exceeding radiation limits. http://www.rfsafe.com/simultaneous-rating-iphone-6-sar-nearly-exceeds-legal-radiation-limits/
I never would have thought that using a cell phone could lead to cancer. I do see the legitimateness of all of these studies, but I would think there should be a third variable involved, or maybe even have to do with chance? Or, if not, and this correlation is actually true, I would hope that it would be fixed soon. Especially now that cell phones are becoming a normal thing for people as young as six to have, it is scary to think that having one for over 25 years have 3x the more risk to brain cancer. It is as if the majority of the world would be inclined to this, if these studies are true. It is reassuring, however, that Apple or Android are not in the top two, given that this is what most people have I would think. All in all great and interesting post!!