Cell phone radiation refers to the electromagnetic waves that cell phones produce and the user’s body, particularly the head, absorbs. Cell phone companies, research agencies, and other groups have known about cell phone radiation for some time. However, they have not yet found any conclusive evidence to show whether cell phone radiation does, in fact, cause harm to the human body. While conclusive evidence has not been found, there does seem to be some correlation between cell phone use and brain tumors, some forms of cancer, and blood flow problems.

Claims

While U.S. consumers have not used cell phones for as long as other countries’ consumers (particularly European) have, cell phone users from all over the world have reported correlations between cell phones and many health issues. In fact, there have been several legal cases in which cell phone users sued their cell phone providers for causing health problems or the death of a loved one. For example, Motorola, Nokia, Siemens, and NEC have all been sued over brain-related cancers. In most cases, however, no relevant evidence has been provided that links health problems to cell phone use.Cell Phone Radiation

Inconclusive Evidence

Many have suspected a link between cell phones and health problems for decades. This is because patients generally develop brain tumors on the side of the head where they use their cell phones or bluetooth devices. This is still not considered concrete evidence, therefore the claim is deemed unsupported. What is known, however, is that cell phones do produce a thermal effect within humans due to the microwaves that they emit. Fortunately, humans have a natural defense against this. Blood circulates heat throughout the body so that the head’s actual temperature increase is less than the amount received from sunlight. Studies have also revealed that the typical level of radio frequencies that a cell phone generates is enough to impair cognitive abilities, causing slower reactions and poor judgment.

Precautionary Steps

Although it is still unclear whether cell phones pose a significant health risk to humans, there is enough speculation to warrant precautionary steps that limit one’s exposure to cell phone radiation. Putting cell phones on speaker ensures that the cell phone is several inches away from the user’s head. Likewise, the user can take advantage of headsets that convert the cell phone’s radio frequencies into a digital signal. While there is no recommendation that adults limit cell phone use, it is recommended that parents limit their children’s exposure to cell phone radiation.

Android Cell Phone Radiation Detection App

In order to raise awareness of cell phone radiation and allow users to safely monitor how much radiation is emitted from their phone, a small Israeli company called Tawkon has created an application for Android that uses GPS technology to actually pinpoint how far away the user’s cell phone is from their body. The application displays how much radiation the user’s head is absorbing and specific radiation levels in different areas of the user’s home, based on signal strength. The application also keeps track of information from many different users in order to create a map of cell phone radiation levels throughout the entire world, and allows all users to see this map for free.