Cell Phone 101 Essay, Research Paper

Cancer From Cell Phones

By: Violent J. Young

E-mail: [email protected]

Do cellular phones cause cancer? As I walk through the doors at Circuit City I look around at all the customers shopping throughout the store and wonder which one will ask the question first. I sell cellular phones, and many customers are concerned with getting cancer from the phones. In recent years, many scientists have conducted tests, which show that cell phones can cause cancer over a period of time. Many shows on television have talked about the tests and show the tests that were preformed to determine which ones can cause cancer. Many of the popular phones are proven to cause cancer. Because of this study many customers are concerned with the use of these phones. Have you ever wondered if using your cellular phone will cause you to develop cancer and possibly end your life early? This question also helps ask the question why is the number of cellular phone users increasing and at the same time so is the number of brain cancer that is reported? Many questions arise when talking about the use of the cellular phones, but many of the questions are still unanswered. This question first arose in 1993 when David Reynard of Florida filed a suit against NEC Corporation of Japan claiming his late wife s brain cancer was caused or accelerated by cell phone use. In 1995, his case was dismissed from court because the judge said the medical evidence did not prove that the cell phone had accelerated the brain tumor. As the study started to decrease the number of cell phones sold, the companies decided to test the study. Many scientists have discussed the study and have facts that show it is only the p.2 Jundt analog phones that can cause cancer. These phones run at 800 MHz, verses the digital phones, which run at 1900 MHz. Because the analog phones run at lower frequencies they require more power to work, thus in the long run they can cause cancer. Each phone that was tested was done so in the same manner. Most companies now are coming out with only digital phones instead of the conventional analog phones that most people have. Many of the tests that have been conducted also showed that the amount of radio waves that entered the brain depends on how the user held the phone. If the user held the phone the way it is meant to be held it points the antenna away from the head and in then the phone directs the radio waves through the phone and not the head. The amount of power that is released depends on how far the phone is away from the tower. Depending on the distance from the tower the phone can release up to sixty percent of its power around the head, which in return can penetrate up to an inch, and a half into the human brain. Many scientists have proven that a small amount of radio waves will enter the body, but such a small amount is actually in the body that it will take over fifty years to see any effects if any at all. Because of these tests that have been conducted already many of the companies are spending between twenty-five and thirty billion dollars to conduct their own test to see if the phones do cause cancer. The scientists have found that depending on how close the phone is to cellular-transmission the phone can release as much as sixty percent of the power around the users head. Dr. George Carlo, a researcher that was hired by the cellular-phone industry, conducted this study. Because the population in the world is constantly rising seventeen thousand Americans will be diagnosed as having cancer of the brain or central nervous system this p.3 Jundt year, and twelve thousand will die of the disease. Brain cancer in the United States has increased about one percent per year since 1973, and the death rate has increased less than one percent per year. The increase of brain cancer is seen mainly in people who are sixty-five years of age or older. For this age group the death rates have increased three percent per year since 1973. For people under the age sixty-five, the death rate has only increased half of a percent in each year. Because of this many companies are wondering if the use of cell phones have an effect on the brain. In 1998, the cellular phone industry added a record thirteen million user. As the users of cellular phones increase so does the cause of brain cancer. However, because there are more cell phone users in the world does not reflect why brain cancer has also increased. The number of patients diagnosed with brain cancer has risen simply because the increase in population throughout the world. However the stocks of the companies slowly begin to drop as the result of these studies. In the studies that have been conducted the cellular phones show no signs of causing brain cancer. They have been shown to cause cancer in mice, but the studies also explain that the mice require less power to develop the signs.