Is Mobile Radiation Harmful?

Do cell phone towers emit radiation? If yes, how harmful is it to humans and animals? Should we stop using our smartphones and cell phones? Does radiation emitted from cellphone towers have an adverse effect on living things? I explain the concept of Electromagnetic waves, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and give answers to the above questions in this educational article.

The cell phone towers around us emit radiation. So, what is this radiation actually? It is radio frequency (RF) waves. When your phone uses 3G,4G, or makes calls, it communicates with the cell phone towers through RF waves. Radio frequency waves are a type of electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves are produced by the vibrations of electric fields and magnetic fields. This is a type of energy propagation. It takes energy from one place to another. It is seen occurring naturally as well as artificially in many places.

The best example of electromagnetic waves is light. Light is an EM wave! An EM spectrum is used to classify various EM waves based on their frequency and wavelength.

Radio waves: The waves that have the longest wavelength are radio waves, ranging from a few meters to a few kilometers.

Microwaves: Then are the microwaves with a wavelength of a few centimeters. Your microwave(oven) has microwaves in it. Microwave has Microwaves! If concentrated at a place, they produce heat.

Infra Red: Then comes the infrared waves that are used in remote-controlled TVs and Radios.

Visible light: Then comes the visible light. The light that you can see all around you is the visible light. Their wavelength ranges from 350-700 nanometers. Different colors have different wavelengths.

UV(ultraviolet) Rays: Then comes the UV rays. The frequency starts to increase from here. After UV rays, there are X-rays and gamma rays.

Ionizing radiation:

The EM waves after the visible light are troublesome. Because their frequency is so high, and their wavelength is so small, they can break chemical bonds inside a molecule. Which is why they are called ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation is very harmful for humans and animals, alike as it can penetrate into our DNA and break their chemical bonds. Causing mutations in the cells and can eventually lead to cancer.

As the frequency of the EM waves increases, they become more dangerous. The radio activity emitted from nuclear material is the most dangerous. Because the frequency of that radiation and its power is very high.

Non-ionizing radiation and its effect:

The EM waves before visible light are known as non-ionizing radiation. So now the question arises, Is this non-ionization radiation harmful for humans and animals? No scientific conclusion has been reached on it yet. Some research has shown that if you spend a lot of time in Non-ionizing radiation at high exposure, it can cause various effects. Other research state that there is no harmful effect on humans and animals.

However, scientists and experts agree that non-ionization radiation definitely cannot cause mutation or cancer, using the same mechanism as ionizing radiation. But is there any other mechanism by which non-ionizing radiations can be harmful for us? It is being researched. The scientists claim that the heat produced by the non-ionizing radiation, (like in our microwave, where the heat cooks the food ) if this heat can be concentrated in high powers on human tissues, it can cause burns.

This is why various Government agencies have set radiation limits for cell phones and cell phone towers. They don't want people to suffer burns from the heating effects of non-ionizing radiation. FCC, a US agency, has set a radiation limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram. Cell phones should not exceed this limit. This limit is much lower than the radiation that would result in actual heat production. So, you see it is quite safe.

The chances of any long-term harmful effects, because of using cell phones, are very low. The simple reason for this is if you take the population of the world as a sample size, you would see this chart of the worldwide increase in cellphone usage in the past years.

The number of people using cell phones has risen exponentially! But there are no diseases that have seen an exponential increase in those years. You can see this chart of worldwide cancer cases between 1990-2016.

There are no types of cancer cases that saw an immense increase. The Same can be said for any other disease.

Conclusion:

If using cell phones had resulted in harmful effects, we would have seen it in some diseases or other. The best example of this is smoking rates and cases of lung cancer. Here, you can see the chart of the UK, showing the fall in smoking rates over the last 50 years.

And you can also see that lung cancer cases have fallen at the same rate. This tells us that smoking and lung cancer have a direct relation. But in our case, there is no direct relation we can find between increased usage of cell phones and any other disease.

I am not promoting the usage of cell phones. The addiction to smartphones and the mental issues associated with it, you may face themes. You should definitely use cell phones only when needed. Nowadays people are addicted to their smartphones, so I would recommend not to overuse your cell phones.

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Thank you for being a part of this discussion on mobile radiation and its potential effects on human health. I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comment box below, whether you agree or disagree with the perspective presented in the article. I appreciate your engagement and look forward to reading your comments.