Cancer: Is Your Cell Phone Killing You?

There is still a debate in whether cell phones (mobile) cause cancer. Cell phones emit radio waves (electromagnetic radiation) which when exposed in high levels heats up body tissue. You may sometimes feel this when you are on your phone for a period of time and you can feel the phone and your ear getting warmer. 

Due to the phone being in contact so close to your head there is a concern that the radio waves emitted are affecting the nervous system tissues in the brain. Research has looked into whether brain tumors (benign and malignant) are caused by the emission of the cell phone’s radio frequency energy.

When you are on your cell phone, the amount of radio energy you absorb through you head is dependant on several factors including the duration of the call, how often you receive calls, the size of the phone or whether you are using a hands free device.

In a $30 million dollar study by the World Health Organization it has found that long term use of cell phones of 10 years or more significantly increases the risk of getting brain tumors. There are still some skeptics who believe that research on cell phones and its link to cancer are not accurate. The reason being is that it is done in retrospect. The research uses people who have cancer and compares them to those who do not have cancer rather than using subjects over a long term study where some people happen to develop cancer over time.

In conclusion, there is no firm evidence that links cell phone use and cancer.  There still needs to be more studies done over a longer period of time to draw a definite conclusion.

Cell phones have become a very useful tool for many people making our lives much easier. You sometimes wonder if it does cause you cancer or if its the phone companies trying to make more money on their products. The same was said about cigarettes and it not causing cancer for years. In any case, if you are concerned you should use a hands free device as the amount of radio magnetic energy flowing to your brain is lessened as the phone is not so close to your head.