Mobile phone wave: Harmless or health risk?

On June 1, the WHO published a report saying that they had evidence that mobile waves "could be carcinogenic to humans." However, scientists of the agency also confirmed that more research is needed by "carcinogen to humans" including lead, coffee or gas .

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The only consensus: more research is needed

An ordinary day with Jonathan Hirshon, a public relations specialist in San Francisco, is spending about 2-3 hours listening and calling on iPhone phones.

What makes him nervous while using the phone? He hoped he could make the conversation without dropping the wave, he also hoped the voice quality was clear enough that the other party could understand him, and he hoped the operator would not give up the package. Unlimited data charges.

At this point, there is no clear answer whether mobile phones are
health risk?

You might not be surprised to know that Jonathan Hirshon, Motorola StarTAC mobile user since 1996, doesn't worry much about using a mobile phone much that will make him brain cancer.

" Is it worrisome? Maybe ," Jonathan said, " But for me, I need to use the phone. And until I see some evidence confirmed by 5 reputable sources that I will be cancer. In the future, I still can't change my behavior . "

For years, scientists and consumer advocates have questioned the safety of mobile phones. Scientists know that humans absorb waves from mobile phones, but whether or not they cause health risks like cancer is unclear.

Why is it still unclear? Many studies on this issue have conflicted results, research using obsolete data, or sometimes done by industry groups that aims to lighten the problem and also some studies Made by health professionals sensitive to the unreasonable level of mobile wave problems. And only one thing that researchers now agree is that they need to continue further research.

Therefore, until now, no country has officially acknowledged that mobile phone waves can negatively affect health. Some countries like Finland and France warn people not to let children use mobile phones. In the United States, some states like San Francisco require manufacturers to print cellphone emission information on their products even though this requirement does not get consensus.

Lawsuit on the impact of mobile waves

In 2000, American neurologist Christopher Newman filed a lawsuit against Motorola and Verizon. Newman said that the use of mobile phones caused him to develop brain cancer in 1998.

Newman used a cell phone about 343 hours between October 1992 and March 1998, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. On average, Mr. Newman talks about 1 to 2 hours on a mobile phone. Newman said he heard the phone on the right ear, the area of ​​the brain tumor developed.

But similar to the 1993 lawsuit by David Reynard, people living in the US state of Florida said that cell phones caused brain tumors in his wife, Christopher Newman lost the case.

After two years of handling the case, the court ruled there was not enough scientific evidence to suggest that Christopher Newman's cancer was caused by the use of mobile phones. The case ended in 2002 and Newman died in 2006, aged 47.

Since then, the telecommunications industry continues to propagate that mobile phones are safe. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), two agencies that administer mobile services, also agree.

Radio waves emitted from mobile phones have very low frequencies but whether low-frequency radiation like cell phones causes any biological changes in humans is unclear.

But the fact is that cell phones are often kept very close to the body, putting it in a pocket or side all the time has led some researchers to believe that mobile wave energy absorbed into the body can hurt. Cell damage or even alter the cell phone DNA. Even holding the phone about 10 mm above the ear can reduce the absorption of cellular waves with the body up to 100 times.

In February this year, the National Institutes of Health Research (NIH) published a study that suggested that mobile waves promote brain activity. NIH researchers scanned the brain to assess activity in 47 healthy people when they used their phones close to their ears and away from their ears.

The study found that when the phone is placed close to the ear, brain activity increases by about 7% in the brain region closest to the phone antenna. From this result, the researchers concluded that mobile phone use stimulates brain activity.

Have health effects?

Is the increased activity of the brain ominous? The authors of the study cautioned that their findings could not come to a conclusion that has a clinical effect on the user and confirms that further research is needed.

In other words, although there is no evidence of mobile waves affecting health, but certainly the human brain is sensitive and reacts to low-frequency electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones . But does this cause bad effects?

Many animal studies have been carried out over the years to show cell changes due to exposure to cellular waves. But no research has concluded that mobile phone use has a negative impact on health. In fact, brain tumors develop very slowly, often taking decades to manifest externally.

To clarify the impact of mobile waves on user health, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a 10-year study with costs up to $ 24 million. This study brings together 21 leading scientists in the world to follow 13,000 people in 13 different countries.

This is the largest study on the impact of mobile waves on human health up to this point. Data collection work for this study was completed in 2004. Partial research results have been analyzed and published in 2010.

At first, WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that for most people, the use of mobile phones does not increase the risk of meningitis, a form of cancer that is more dangerous than brain cancer. . But the research team also said that more research is needed because mobile phone use has become popular worldwide since 2000, especially among young people.

Harmful like coffee?

But on June 1, IARC continued to publish a report from 31 scientists in 14 countries studying the safety of mobile phones. After evaluating many studies of the impact of mobile waves, the group of scientists said they had evidence that mobile waves " could be carcinogenic to humans" . However, these scientists claim that more research is needed by " cancer-causing substances for humans " including lead, coffee or gas .

Immediately after IARC published the information, the International Mobile Telecommunications Association (CTIA) reassured the public that the IARC has not yet determined that mobile phones actually cause cancer. Because according to epidemiologists, brain tumors develop slowly and last for decades to reveal disease.

Meanwhile, the IARC study period lasts for up to 10 years and there may be many other factors that affect the risk of brain cancer that have not been discovered by researchers.

IARC researchers have acknowledged this. The results of the study suggest that people who use mobile phones for at least an hour a day for 10 years are at higher risk for certain types of brain tumors.

However, these researchers also said that brain tumors often develop in the ear with the least hearing. Therefore, this group of scientists confirmed that more research is needed to confirm whether mobile waves are safe or not.

Even so, the results of the study also concern some experts about the risk of mobile waves with children . Because according to experts, the nervous system of children is not comprehensive. In addition, children's brains are more liquid than adults' brains, which can make mobile waves penetrate deeper into the brain. In addition, the children's skull is not as thick as an adult's skull.

It can be said that at this point, we still have no answer whether mobile phones are a risk to our health. Therefore, for ordinary users, should not lose sleep on this.