Cell Phone Radiation Facts – A look at the hype

We’ve all probably heard a lot of hype about a link between cell phones and cancer, or at the very least we’ve probably heard that there are some risks associated with cell phone radiation. Facts are harder to come by than opinion and hype, but let’s try to cut through all of the media sensation and get to the heart of the matter:

Are we in any danger?

And if so, what can we do about it?

It’s definitely true that cell phones emit a type of radiation, no one will argue with you on that point. But the word “radiation” in this sense is scarier than the truth.

In reality, all electronic devices radiate a type of energy that we call “radiation” only because of the way that it comes out of the object, not that it has to do with nuclear radiation. The second caution against hyping the word “radiation” is that even though there is a form of energy coming from the phone, it’s really on the same spectrum as light, radio waves, sound, and microwaves. Obviously, not all of that energy is harmful to our cells, so not all energy in this spectrum (the electromagnetic spectrum) is inherently dangerous. But what are the cell phone radiation facts?

So now that I’ve broken down some of the damaging dramatics behind the word “radiation,” it’s time to look at what is actually going on. We know that not all EMF’s (electromagnetic frequencies) are dangerous, since some are clearly benign. But the bad news is that some, like microwaves and UV radiation, we do know are harmful. Where does cell phone radiation lie?

Scientists are finding increasingly that cell phones lie in the more dangerous camp.

Yes, there is something to all of the hype after all.

The World Health Organization has issued a statement about the possible link between cell phone radiation and brain tumors, and consider its use in the same danger category as UV radiation (which causes skin cancer), toxic benzene, and cigarette smoke.

They’ve based their decision on a body of research that was published in 2010, the cornerstone of which was a 10-year study that focused on brain tumors and their association with cell phone use. The study was able to show comprehensively not just that cell phone use increased the risk of developing brain cancer, but that brain tumors appeared in the area of cell phone use. That’s a pretty big smoking gun.

New studies are showing increased dangers of cell phone exposure beyond cancer, resulting from the cell damage that the radiation causes in healthy brain and endothelial tissue. Unfortunately, cancer is only the result of repeated cellular damage to our tissues, not the direct product of radiation. That means that cancer is only the tip of the iceburg when it comes to health issues related to cell phone radiation. Facts don’t lie. And the facts are proving cell phones to be dangerous. It’s important to protect yourself as much as you can from EMF dangers. You already wear sunscreen to protect from UV rays, so a next step would be to limit cell phone use and look into technologies that can act as a barrier or other protection from EMF’s.