What is radiation?
Radiation is energy travelling through space in the form of waves or
particles. Some experts suggest a little radiation is a good thing and we all
know of its uses in medical science to combat and diagnose some illnesses.
Radiation of mobile
The type of radiation emitted from mobile phones is electromagnetic
radiation. It's present in mobiles because they use radio frequency waves to
make and receive calls. The doses are considered to be very small as the emissions
are low power. Nevertheless, there are ways in which you can reduce exposure to
these waves.
The health risks
Despite extensive research on the subject, there has been no conclusive
evidence that using a mobile phone causes long term harmful effects in humans.
The pace of mobile phone technology is advancing at a far quicker pace
than the research required into the potential harm they can cause; much more
research is needed before we can know
for certain the effects they have on human health. Nevertheless, mobiles do
emit low doses of radiation so common sense dictates precaution should be taken
when using them.
Studies have shown that exposure to the RF waves emitted from mobiles
can cause:
·
slightly raised blood pressure at the time of use, pressure returning to
normal when use is stopped direct brain warming after prolonged use, which
disperses as soon as you stop using your phone and causes no harm
·
mild fatigue after prolonged use
·
A recent study in Sweden suggested that acoustic neuromas are twice as
common in mobile phone users as in those who do not use mobiles.
There is no evidence that using a mobile phone causes:
·
tumours
·
memory impairment
·
cancer
·
brain damage
·
foetal damage
The health risk is considered to be small, although some individuals may
be more susceptible to radiation than others. Whilst it's true that excessive
exposure to RF waves causes heating.
Reduce exposure
Whilst there's no evidence that mobiles produce sufficient levels of
radiation to cause any lasting ill effects, there's no harm in taking simple
precautions to reduce the levels of radiation absorb from using your phone:
·
Moving phone 20cm away from your head reduces radiation doses by about
98%. So instead of placing it under your pillow when going to bed, leave the
phone at a bedside table.
·
hands free headsets dramatically reduce radiation emissions into the
brain
·
try not to chat for hours on end or, if you must, get a hands free kit
·
There are a few devices on the market that you can fit to your phone
that reduce the emissions of radiation or allow the body to neutralise the
effects, but beware of over-hyped promotions by these manufacturers using scare
tactics to market their products.
·
It’s always sensible to take precautions where children are concerned as
their developing brains and bodies are far more susceptible to radiation
effects than adults, absorbing radiation at three times an adult's rate.
Mobile phone antennas and base stations
There's been a lot of controversy about radio antennas, mobile phone
antennas and their emissions causing leukaemia and other diseases. The truth
is, there is no conclusive evidence one way or the other, but here are few
facts about levels of radiation transmission from mobile phone antennas:
·
to get a dose of radiation considered dangerous from a mobile phone
transmission antenna, you'd have to be almost touching it
·
the antennas don't beam signals directly down, so they don't 'blow'
radiation directly onto us below
·
the towers that support the antennas don't emit radiation
·
radiation dramatically and rapidly decreases as you move away from the
mast - 10 metres away, the dose is 0.1% of what it was at 1 metre away; 0.0125%
at 20 metres away and so on.
