-
Asked by Michael to Paul, Mobeen, Laura, Jen, Greg on 14 Mar 2016. This question was also asked by o.
-
Paul O'Mahoney answered on 14 Mar 2016:
There is a nice article about this on the cancer research website: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/cancer-controversies/mobile-phones-wifi-and-power-lines
In short, experts think probably not, and there is little evidence to suggest that they do from multiple studies that have been carried out.
-
-
Jen Lowe answered on 14 Mar 2016:
There is not yet enough evidence to confirm this link, however in 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a component of the World Health Organization, appointed an expert Working Group to review all available evidence on the use of cell phones. The Working Group classified cell phone use as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”
If it was a strong effect (like smoking and cancer) it would easier to show. However I personally I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a small effect. However the intensity of the em radiation field will follow an inverse square law relationship so if you double the distance between you and your phone you will only get exposed to a quarter of the intensity of field. I don’t keep my mobile on my body. I will be asking my kids to keep their mobile calls short and use the landline where possible, and not carry it next to their body. It’s risk v. benefit – the benefits of mobiles are so huge that people will probably accept a known risk – like driving and crossing the road.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/
http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet
-
Laura Haworth answered on 14 Mar 2016:
I am remember being told this but as the other two have answered brilliantly that currently the evidence isn’t there to prove this.
-
Greg Melia answered on 15 Mar 2016:
I wouldn’t worry about it. There’s a fundamental difference at play here: between ionising and non-ionising radiation. When we say ‘radiation’, we really mean ‘light’. We mean the electromagnetic spectrum, of which visible light is a part, and in which photons vibrate at different rates (their ‘frequency’). The higher frequency the light, the more energy each individual photon has. In the types of radiation that cause cancer, each individual photon has so much energy that when they knock into one of your atoms, they can ‘ionise’ it, i.e. they can knock a particle out of the atom. If that was one of the atoms of your DNA, that DNA has just been corrupted, and that can cause cancer.
Your phone works at microwave freqencies – this is the band just above radio waves and below infra-red (heat) radiation. This frequency is about ten thousand times lower than the frequency of visible light. That means, the photons have ten thousand times less energy than the ones in visible light. For a given amount of radiated energy there will be ten thousand times for photons, but for causing cancer, it’s the individual photon energies that matter – and for microwaves, those are very low.
If photons don’t have enough energy to be ionising, what happens when they hit you is that they just heat you up a bit – which is exactly what infra-red photons do – remember, they’re one frequency band up from microwaves. Some people think that phones are something new and unknown, but really they’re just doing what the sun has been doing ever since you were born, using exactly the same physics. So like I said, I wouldn’t worry about it.
If you want to know more, the levels of non-ionising radiation that you’re allowed to be exposed to are controlled by ICNIRP, the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection: http://www.icnirp.org/
Also, just to correct something Jen said: when you carry your phone next to your body (within a couple of centimetres), the field intensity isn’t actually inverse square, it’s inverse cube – so holding your phone twice as far away makes the field intensity eight times smaller. This is because in the first couple of centimetres, your phone is in what is called the ‘reactive’ zone. So moving your phone just a centimetre away from you will vastly reduce the amount of energy that you absorb. You’ll be safe either way, but it should improve your phone signal!
Comments