Cell Phones and Radiation - Essay Example

 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Cell Phone Radiations 3 The Radiation Safety Standards 5 Impact of Cell Phone Radiations on Human Health 7 Safety Measures 8 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction Cell phone technology has played a leading role in the evolution of globalization. Being cost efficient, the technology has brought with it an era of convenience and has become part of the everyday lives of billions of people around the world. The reliance on cell phone is not limited to cordial conversations with family and friends. Cell phones are used by people from all professional sectors (education, business, medical, engineering and law) to talk, text, capture and share videos, images, files, gain Internet access and location based services, hold audio/video conferences worldwide. The technology of cell phone has eliminated the factor of geographical distances and made the general population more socially connected. The acceptance rate of the cell phone technology can be realized by the fact that from the year 1990 up till 2011, the worldwide cell phone subscriptions raised from 12.4 million to over 6 billion, penetrating nearly 87% of the world population (MobiThinking). Cell phone technology may not be all that safe. Amidst the life of convenience offered by cell phones, the potential threat the cell phone technology may have to the health of humans can get ignored. On October 19, 2012, the Supreme Court in Rome (Italy) gave a ruling wherein a “causal link” was found to exist between the mobile phone and the illness of an Italian Company’s Director Innocente Marcolini, 60 (Routers, 2012). Marcolini was diagnosed to have developed a tumor (neurinoma affecting a cranial nerve) on the side of the head that he held his mobile phone to for 5-6 hours a day for 12 years. Cell phone technology works by emitting radiations. Whether these radiations are harmful to human health or not is a debate that has been pursued by many medical and environment bodies. This paper presents an overview of the radiations emitted by the cell phones and the safety standards set by the agencies. The possible impact on these radiations on human health and some safety tips to avoid the possible threats are also presented in the paper. Cell Phone Radiations Cell phones use a type of electromagnetic energy called radiofrequency (or simply RF) energy for communication. RF are the radio waves and microwaves. On the electromagnetic spectrum (shown in Figure 1), where the energy ranges from ones that have extremely low frequencies with long wavelengths to those that have extremely high frequencies with short wavelengths, the radio waves and microwaves lie between the two extremes. In the RF region, the frequencies are in the range of 3KHz to 300GHz. Microwaves are a category of radio waves located towards the higher end i.e. range starts from several hundred MHz to several GHz (Cleveland andUlcek). Figure 1 Electromagnetic Spectrum Radio wave radiation (especially microwave) transfers energy into the water molecules of the substance. In case of microwaves, the food’s water molecules are heated up which in turn heats up entirely. In medical applications, one supportive use is in chemotherapy where the selective tumors are heated up. Electromagnetic radiations can be ionizing or non-ionizing (Cleveland andUlcek). Ionizing radiations are high energy radiations that strip electrons from the atoms or molecules. E.g X-rays and Gamma rays. These radiations can cause molecular changes thus damage biological tissue (i.e. can effect DNA and genetic material). The non-ionizing radiations are low energy radiation that are not powerful enough to disintegrate atom structures. E.g. visible light, infrared radiation. RF radiations are non-ionizing radiations. RF energy heats up objects, therefore it has two types of biological effects; thermal and non-thermal (Cleveland andUlcek). Thermal effects are those where the biological tissue heats up so rapidly that the body cannot manage or dissipate the energy. The non-thermal effects are those that does not cause significant heating or increased body temperatures. These effects are dependent upon the frequency of radiation, its size and shape, the orientation of the object exposed, the exposure duration, certain environmental conditions and the heat dissipation efficiency. The potential of harm by RF radiation can be estimated by the measure of its absorption by an organism. The quantity specified for this purpose is called “Specific Absorption Rate” (SAR). The Radiation Safety Standards In order to define the range within which the human body is safe from the hazards of the RF radiations emitted by cell phones, safety limits have been defined and made standards. Different countries have set different standards basing on the observations of different research organizations. In the United States, most of the telecom facilities, services, and devices to be used by industry, public, state and local government bodies are authorized and licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The guidelines issued by FCC are based on the criteria set by NCRP and ANSI/IEEE regarding safe RF exposure (Cleveland andUlcek). The limits for the controlled occupational exposure where individuals are prepared for exposure are shown in Table 1. The limits of the general population where the individual may not be aware of exposure of having control over exposures in given in Table 2. The partial body exposure limits are shown in Table 3 Table 1 Limits for Occupational / Controlled Exposure Table 2 Limits for General Population / Uncontrolled Exposure Table 3 Limits for Localized Exposure All cell phones are evaluated by the FCC for acceptance before hitting the markets. As per the limits set in Table 3,the exposure limits (SAR) for all cellular phones and handheld devices cannot be over 1.6 watts/kg. There are studies in which the SAR models for human head were created and tested against the average use of cell phone. The limits were not crossed over under normal usage conditions (Cleveland andUlcek). Impact of Cell Phone Radiations on Human Health Besides the safety limits set by FCC for use of cell phones, the fact that a radiation source be held so close to human ears, eyes, brain and face, has raised concern in the medical and environmental sectors. Researchers are constantly exploring the impact the RF radiations on humans. The result of the existing research can be summarized as follows: Cancer: According to the opinions of experienced epidemiologists, at times during lab experiments, even lower energy radiations can cause cancer (Stross). Furthermore, with the increase of cell phones, the rate of cancer incidents has exploded around the world. In an observation the susceptibility of a person who uses a cell phone to acquire mouth cancer is 50% more than the person who does not use a cell phone (Cockcroft). Memory Loss: In an experiment, the memory was lost when rats were exposed to low level radiations with SAR in the range of 0.0006 to 0.06 watts/kg (Stross). Brain Activity: In a study it was proved through PET scans that the glucose metabolism increased in areas near the cell phone which clearly indicated that cell phones cause brain activity. Whether this activity is good or bad is another research area (Wang). Alzheimer: In a research conducted on rats, when exposed to cell phone radiations for merely two hours each day for 50 days, a lot of dead cells were found in the rat brains particularly in the cells responsible for movement, learning and memorization. According to the research cell phones can harm brain cells and can cause Alzheimer’s disease. A rat brain development has a significant resemblance to that of a teenager (BBC News, 2003). High Impact on Children: The defense system of a child is weaker than an adult and so the the bones in the face. Furthermore, the absorption fluids in children are more than in adults. Therefore as compared to the adult, the radiations would penetrate into the brain of a child to a greater extent (Stross). DNA and Nerve Cells: In a four year long study, the effect of radiations similar to those of cell phones (SAR of 0.3 – 2 watts/kg) were found to create double stranded DNA breaks which would affect the future procreated generations. Mutated cells are also the cause of cancer (Routers, 2004). In another study, RF radiation at 1800 MHz modulated by 217 Hz with SAR of 2 watts/kg when exposed for 24 hours caused defects in the mitochondrial DNA which are closely linked to the human nervous system (Zhou et. al). Infertility: Cell phones are found to decrease the sperm count by half in men and render the sperms weak which may result in their infertility (Laurence). Similar results were revealed in a study on rabbits when exposed to cell phone in standby mode for 8 hours for 12 weeks (Kishimoto and Kanayama). None of the above findings are insignificant. Cell phones do emit radiations and these radiations have an effect on the humans. These effects may not be instant but may appear over time. Researchers have referred to the current state of things “as an epidemic in slow motion” (Stross). Safety Measures Even though the cell phones are claimed to radiate within the limit specified by the FCC, a few precautionary measures can still be taken to cut down any exposure to radiations to avoid any long term problems. Some possible solutions are as follows; For the pregnant women, a T-shirt and blanket formed from silver fibers are available that reflects nearly all cell phone radiations (Johannes). A smart phone application named “Tawkon” is available freely for Android and Blackberry phones. This application monitors the radiation levels of the phone and alerts when the level is crossing a higher threshold limit (Johannes). Cases are available for the iPhone and Blackberry phones that have thin pieces of gold that absorbs the radiations and emits them to the back of the cell phone (Johannes). The best solution however is to use a hands free or the phone’s speaker to ensure a safe distance of the phone from the head (Johannes). Making short calls and using it only when necessary. Limiting use of cell phones for children except for when necessary. Knowing a phone’s SAR before buying. Keeping the cell phone away from the body when in standby mode. Using the cell phone when the reception of the phone is strong. The reception is generally indicated by energy bars on the home screen. Using a phone with an external antenna. This would keep the radiations away from the head. Conclusion The research behind the FCC does not acknowledge the medical research results that create hypothetical scenarios and experimental environment and data to depict the harmful effects of cell phone radiations. According to FCC, none of the results of the conducted research can be considered definite and conclusive in view to the radiations emitted by cell phones. The research theories are hypothetical. If studies closely, the FCC standard itself has numerous assumptions. Firstly, as suggested by the evaluation procedure of the FCC standard, the SAR limits are usually not violated in the normal usage conditions. Normal usage does not account for the situations where a user may be in some far flung area where the cell phone radiates more in order to keep up the connection. In those situations the safe SAR limit is bound to cross. Secondly, according to FCC, the SAR for the whole body is usually higher than the localized portions due to the “resonance” phenomenon. The SAR limit specified by FCC for the cell phone exposure does not take into account the situation where an individual may be in a public place where a lot of cell phones may be present. The resultant radiations from the cell phones in proximity could exceed the safe SAR limit. Thirdly, the limits set by FCC do not take into account the fact that the absorption rate in children is more than in adults. In the present day, children and youngsters must also be accounted as the users of cell phone technology. Similar to the situation where the scientific experiments are said to have a lot of assumptions, the standard guideline set by FCC has a lot of assumptions in its specifications as well. The standard limits defined need revision according to the various cell phone devices and usage of the present times. Diseases as serious as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease must not be brushed aside as a hypothesis based on inconclusive research. References BBC News, “Mobile phones 'may trigger Alzheimer's'”. 5 February 2003. Web. 23 November 2012. Cockcroft, Lucy. “Heavy Mobile Phone Use a Cancer Risk.” The Telegraph. 18 February. 2008. Web. 23 November 2012. . Johannes, Laura. 2010. Cut Phone Radiation. The Wall Street Journal. Web. 23 November 2012. Laurance, Jeremey. "Infertility is only a phone call away”. New Zealand Herald. October 25, 2006. Web. 23 November 2012. < http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10407357 > MobiThinking. Global mobile statistics 2012 Part A: Mobile subscribers; handset market share; mobile operators. 2012. Web. 23 November 2012. http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a#subscribers Reuters report. Study: Cell phones scramble DNA. December 20, 2004. Web. 23 November 2012. Reuters. Italy court ruling links mobile phone use to tumor. October 2012. Web. 23 November 2012. Robert F. Cleveland, Jr. and Jerry L. Ulcek. Questions and Answers about Biological Effects and Potential Hazards of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields. Office of Engineering & Technology. Federal Communications Commission. 1999. http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Documents/bulletins/oet56/oet56e4.pdf Salama N, Kishimoto T, Kanayama HO. Effects of exposure to a mobile phone on testicular function and structure in adult rabbit. 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