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A number of news reports have come out recently linking cell phone use to a variety of adverse health effects, the most serious of which is the increased risk of brain cancer.
A cellular phone is a type of wireless communication that uses many base stations to divide service area into multiple 'cells'. Each cell may be several kilometers in size which contains the sites of base station with a large antenna that communicates with the cell phones in its vicinity. Cellular calls are transferred from base station to base station as a user travels from cell to cell. This is what makes cellular phone so popular---it allows people to constantly communicate without restricting any freedom of movement.
Wireless telecommunication devices operate through the use of readiofrequency (RF) field. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "All established health effects of RF exposure are clearly realted to heating." RF fields penetrate exposed human tissue to depths that depend on the frequency--up to a centimeter at the frequencies between 800-1800 MHz used by cell phones. RF energy is absorbed in the body and produces heat, but the body's normal thermoregulatory processes carry this heat away. The human body can withstand a whole body exposure of about 70 to 100 watts without any problems.
On the other hand, changes in brain activity, reaction time, and sleep patterns are not to be blamed with the prolonged and constant use of cell phone. Studies to confirm these findings are still ongoing.
Dr. Michael Repacholi, coordinator at the WHO Occupation and Environmental Health Unit and manager of the International Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) project, comments that all the information they have to date shows no adverse health effects from the use of mobile phone.
Since studies are still unsure on whether exposure to RF field from cell phones poses health risks, it is recommended that you make a right call by opting to discreet cell phone use.
Source: Eric Michael Santos (www. healthtoday.com)
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