How Safe Are Mobile Phones? Essay, Research Paper

Millions of people own a mobile phone these days, and ever since they have been around scientists question the fact of they are safe or not. Do they cause tumors, earaches, mercury poisoning? All these health risks are mentioned in every article I found. But nowhere could I find anything that was sure if mobiles did cause all of the above. This is where science fails us. The problem is that mobile phones are still too new to know the long-term effects on human. Mobile phones give of a radiation of radio frequency round 10MHz to 300Ghz. But so do other appliances. Why does mobiles especially get put in the picture of being hazardous? Soon it will be clear whether the radio frequency emissions from mobiles cause health effect.

Drivers who use there mobiles whilst driving are the only ?health risk? that can be proven, the drivers get distracted and lose control over the vehicle. Technology invented something for this, hands-free sets. But now the question is do those hands free sets really solve the problem? Researchers now are looking at if the hands free sets don?t cause other problems. A report from the magazine ?which?? said that hands free kits raised levels if radiation to the head from mobile phones by up to three and a half times. The consumer association immediately stressed that it had done no research into this whether this radiation could cause damage to the brain. That just proves that whenever there has been research a report is released to prove that research wrong. Probably is done not to cause any chaos.

Mobiles are said to cause brain tumors, they say this because there was found to be more tumors of the same kind amongst mobile phone users. Mobiles cause memory loss, radiation sickness. Mobiles can disturb your sleep pattern, according to the researchers from the university of Zurich, mobile phones increases brain activity during our sleep. A really strange result of the use of mobile phones is that mobile phones can release the poisonous mercury from fillings causing brain damage, scientist say this is due to the electrical fields given off by mobile phones can activate the mercury, giving off a gas. The fumes attach the nervous system causing conditions from depression, asthma to Alzheimer?s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Some studies have suggested links between Radio frequency radiation and lymphoma, microwaves and memory loss, mobile phone use and a rare type of brain cancer, mobile phone radiation and DNA destruction, and mobile phone use and damaged scalp nerves

The world health Organization has asked for more and more research, but all the time and money spent results in the same answer over and over again. When the press publishes such reports, that these studies came up without result the scientists will report that their data suggest it is unlikely mobile phones cause cancer, perhaps even highly unlikely. They will admit that they cannot rule out and effect. This may satisfy the public, until a counter report is published. How ever if these studies can identify a mechanism that causes the brain tumors, we have a real public health threat on our hands and the authorities are put into action. End of fear is when we stop using our mobiles or we stop using them in a way that could be dangerous

It seems one can?t enjoy technology any more without its faithful side effects, suffering a slow death. All these risks are know to effect the youth more. If that is known why do mobile phone Company?s make their phones with Disney covers and with other accessories to make mobiles more popular to the youth. Even scarier is the thought that those companies may not be telling us the whole truth. If mobile phones are questioned now, when will it be stopped? Will microwaves, electric blankets, or televisions be next?

Technology is doing every thing it can to improve the mobile phones. To try and make the radiation that is sent out as harmless as possible, in the mean time before the technological level is high enough to do so, experts have made reports to reduce the amount of radiation. They recommend things like:

Cut down on time spent using the mobile phone

Use a mobile phone where the antenna is mounted outside a car

Keep mobile at a short distance from the ear

Factors that can effect how people perceive how risky new technology is that no one really knows what the long-term effects are, and until that is certain people will still be researching new possibilities. If no immediate link is put between all the risks and the real effect of mobile phones on humans, then there will be no problem in buying mobiles. The problem is that without knowing the really risk manufactures cannot develop mobiles to being safer, so many people are exposed to harmful radiation without that individual knowing. As we know from the past only big helpful research starts when a tragedy hits. In other words, who knows? There is no proof that mobile phones are a health risk, or that they are a hundred percent safe. Some say the danger does not end until after ten minutes after hanging up because the user is still processing the conversation.

Bibliography:Internet:

www.rfsafe.com/over60.htmwww.altavista.com/search/76329279483829www.nokia.comwww.mobileinfo.com/healthriskswww.tigerherbs.com/edectica/earthcrash/news/1998/10/26-1.htmwww.flipaq.net/nopoles/cancertumors3.htmwww.google.comwww.yahoo.com/health+risks+mobile+phonewww.kovr13.com/06jun00/v066900h.htmwww.askjeves.comencarta ?98 CD-ROM

World health encyclopaedia, 1998 edition