Holding a Cell Phone Against Your Ear May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Holding a cell phone against your ear may be hazardous to your health. So may stuffing it in your pocket. According to The New York Times, every cell phone comes with a printed warning to keep it away from your body. Like the manufacturers of iPhones and BlackBerries, who say your cell should never be closer than about one inch, but judging by the number of people with their phone glued to their ear, nobody notices the warnings.
The International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry insists that all FCC-approved phones are perfectly safe, but Dr. Henry Lai is a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington. He points out that radiation from cell phones is the same radiation that heats food in a microwave.
The largest study of cell phone use and brain cancer was conducted in 13 developed countries – including Israel, France, Sweden and Finland. The result: People who were cell phone users for more than 10 years doubled their risk of developing a type of malignant brain tumor, and heavy users quadrupled their risk of benign tumors. Even worse, 10 years ago, most people didn’t even have a cell phone. Today – people talk on a cell an average of 12 hours a month – which makes all of us heavy users, and raises our risk for cancer. Children are more vulnerable. Radiation reaches much deeper into the brains of children because their skulls are eight times thinner than an adult’s. Their brains also contain more fluid – making them absorb radiation more easily. So, how can you protect yourself and your family?
- Keep your phone away from your head or body, and used the phone’s speaker, or a wired headset.
- Also, since most radiation comes out of the back of your phone, keep the keypad toward you if it’s in your pocket or handbag.
- Finally, children under age 16 should text instead of calling, and pregnant women should keep their cell phone away from their abdomen.
Holding a cell phone against your ear may be hazardous to your health. So may stuffing it in your pocket. According to The New York Times, every cell phone comes with a printed warning to keep it away from your body. Like the manufacturers of iPhones and BlackBerries, who say your cell should never be closer than about one inch, but judging by the number of people with their phone glued to their ear, nobody notices the warnings.
The International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry insists that all FCC-approved phones are perfectly safe, but Dr. Henry Lai is a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington. He points out that radiation from cell phones is the same radiation that heats food in a microwave.
The largest study of cell phone use and brain cancer was conducted in 13 developed countries – including Israel, France, Sweden and Finland. The result: People who were cell phone users for more than 10 years doubled their risk of developing a type of malignant brain tumor, and heavy users quadrupled their risk of benign tumors. Even worse, 10 years ago, most people didn’t even have a cell phone. Today – people talk on a cell an average of 12 hours a month – which makes all of us heavy users, and raises our risk for cancer. Children are more vulnerable. Radiation reaches much deeper into the brains of children because their skulls are eight times thinner than an adult’s. Their brains also contain more fluid – making them absorb radiation more easily. So, how can you protect yourself and your family?
- Keep your phone away from your head or body, and used the phone’s speaker, or a wired headset.
- Also, since most radiation comes out of the back of your phone, keep the keypad toward you if it’s in your pocket or handbag.
- Finally, children under age 16 should text instead of calling, and pregnant women should keep their cell phone away from their abdomen.
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