Common sense rules on mobile use

With mobile phone rates set to decline once again, the chances are that their usage will start shooting up. If millions of cellular phones start sprouting next to every ear, it is time to take a look at their potential health hazards.

We all know that people who talk into mobile phones while driving pose a definite hazard to other people and automobiles in the vicinity. But it is worth understanding the risks to heavy users themselves.

From cancer to tumour to headaches and heat, mobile phones have - anecdotally - been reported to have caused many problems to heavy users. In 1999 and 2000, many TV programmes on British, US and French channels suggested that radiation from mobile phones could damage brain tissues. Should you be worried?

Careful, yes. Worried, no. The good news first: despite several studies in several countries on whether or not mobile phones pose a long-term health risk to users, the broad consensus is that they are fairly safe.

The US Food and Drug Administration, for example, says that "the available scientific evidence does not show that any health problems are associated with using wireless phones."

However, this does not mean that everything's fine. For the FDA also says that "there is no proof that wireless phones are absolutely safe." The reason for this official ambivalence is simple.

Wireless phones work through radio waves. And radio waves produce radio-frequency radiation. Result: those who use wireless phones are subject to low levels of RF (radio frequency) radiation.

The FDA says that "high levels of RF can produce health effects (by heating tissue), (but) exposure to low level RF that does not produce heating effects causes no known adverse health effects. Many studies of low-level RF exposures have not found any biological effects. Some studies have suggested that some biological effects may occur, but such findings have not been confirmed by additional research."

Even though the overall official verdict is that mobile phones are safe, caution is not such a bad idea for heavy mobile phone users. Here are a few commonsense rules to live by even as the scientific community continues its research on the subject:

• As a general rule, avoid extended conversations on mobile phones unless these are absolutely necessary for business of personal reasons.
• Assuming you are able to hear the voices coming over the mobile phone, you could hold the device at some distance from the ear. No need to press your mobile close to the ear.
• Do not encourage your children to use mobiles. If radio waves are found to be somewhat damaging, it is more likely that brain tissues of children will be more vulnerable.
• Tilting a mobile phone antenna away from the head, and use of hands-free kits are a good idea since the focal area of radiation is moved away from the head. But if you keep the phone next to your hip, your body will still receive radiation.
• If you use electronic devices like cardiac pace-makers or defibrillators, it may be a good idea to avoid keeping you cellphones in your breast-pocket all the time.

Your call: For more detailed information on mobile health hazards and safety tips, you could try the following websites: www.fda.gov/cellphones, or www.mcw.edu/gcrc/cop, or www.cellularguard.com

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