You may have heard from a well-meaning friend or an anxious parent that using a mobile phone can be bad for your health. Some sources even claim that mobile phones cause cancer. While it’s true that mobile phones give of radiation (so do radios, microwaves, cordless phones, and televisions), the level generated by a mobile phone is so small as to be insignificant. The Royal Society of Canada confirmed that there is no link between mobile phone use and cancer, and multiple studies from the UK agree. However, there is some evidence that indicates a small degree of risk. One study conducted in Sweden indicates some cancer risk to heavy mobile phone users. However, in order for the risk to manifest itself, a person must spend at least an hour on a mobile phone every day, and even then the risk of a brain tumor is only increased very slightly.
If you are still worried about using a mobile phone, you can purchase a “hands-free” kit that allows you to talk without putting the mobile phone near your head. Do not rely on products that claim to block or neutralize radiation. Most of these products don’t work, and some of them even interfere with the mobile phone’s capability to function.
While mobile phones don’t cause cancer, they can be deadly in another way. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study in 1997 that found that people who talk on their mobile phones while driving are four times more likely to get into an accident. More recent studies have concluded that talking on a mobile phone while driving causes the same amount of impairment as being legally drunk.
In other words, you should never talk on a mobile phone while driving. Even using a hands-free kit doesn’t eliminate the risk. Many people assume that looking down to dial on a mobile phone is the cause of most accidents, but actually holding a conversation while driving is equally distracting.
Mobile phones have also been found to cause minor health problems like carpal tunnel syndrome, “Blackberry syndrome” (inflammation of the joints in the thumb), and neck pain. All of these conditions are the result of holding the body in an unnatural position while using a mobile phone. The best way to avoid these types of health problems is to use mobile phone in short spurts and to take time to stretch your hands, wrists, and neck after each call.
Like most technology, a mobile phone should be used responsibly and in moderation. If you have been fretting over potential health problems associated with mobile phones, relax. For most of us, mobile phones pose little if any danger.
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