📱Phone Radiation: Should I Be Worried
Hi Everyone,Â
In today's world, we're practically married to our phones! Forget quality time with our loved ones, we're too busy swiping on our screens. So, let's take a dive into this digital love affair and find out if it's a match made in heaven or a toxic disaster! đź‘€
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Today’s Debunk: Phone Radiation: Should I Be Worried📱
TL;DRÂ Based on current research, phone radiation is considered safe, but its long-term effects remain to be seen.
Phone Radiation: Should I Be Worried
For most of us, our phones accompany us throughout our entire day. We use them before going to sleep and immediately upon waking up. It is not surprising then that we keep our phones near us for easy access. But is this practice harmful?Â
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Majority view: phone radiation does not cause cancer
The current mainstream view is that phone radiation does not cause cancer. This is supported by major organizations, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Â
The explanation is that not all radiation is harmful. Cell phones use weaker, non-ionizing radiofrequency (RF) waves to send and receive signals. In contrast, x-rays and UV rays, known to be harmful, are stronger and considered ionizing radiation. The key difference is that RF waves are not powerful enough to directly damage our DNA and cause cancer.Â
“ The weight of nearly 30 years of scientific evidence has not linked exposure to radio frequency energy from use of cell phones to health problems, such as cancer”
- US Food and Drug Administration
→See Do Cell Phones Cause Cancer, American Cancer Society
→See Do I Need to Worry About Smartphone Radiation, The New York Times
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Minority perspective: phone radiation increases the risk of cancer
On the other hand, Moskowitz, a researcher in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, offers a different perspective. He concludes from his research that cellphone radiation does increase the risk of brain cancer.Â
Similarly, a peer review of a landmark US government study by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) found “clear evidence” linking mobile phone radiation to cancer.
→See Cellphone radiation is harmful, but few want to believe it, Berkeley News
→See The inconvenient truth about cancer and mobile phones, The Guardian
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The future effects of phone radiation are uncertain
As it stands, the majority view is that phone radiation is safe, but a few researchers are arguing otherwise. Thus, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified RF radiation as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" and calls for further research to be done. In other words, the long-term health effects of RF waves from cell phones are still uncertain.Â
Logically speaking, it is understandable that studies cannot establish a clear link between cell phone use and brain tumors just yet. Tumor development often takes decades after a known cancer-causing exposure, but phones have only been widely used for around 20 years.Â
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Conclusion
Based on current research, phone radiation is safe, but its long-term effects remain to be seen.Â
Personally, I try to play it safe and put the phone farther away from me when I’m not using it. This quote explains my thinking:Â
“Lack of definitive proof that a technology is harmful does not mean the technology is safe”.Â
- Mark Hertsgaard, environment correspondent for The NationÂ
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