How can mobile phones damage your health

In a study published in the journal Annals of Clinical Microbiology, researchers at Ondokuz Mayis University in Samsun, Turkey screened the mobile phones of health care workers in hospitals for germs that are known to be dangerous to human health.

What the researchers found was that Worse, some of the bacteria that the researchers found were known "superbugs" -- bacteria that are resistant to one or more commonly used antibiotics. Despite this, the researchers found that only about 10 percent of the health care workers studied cleaned their cell phones on a routine basis.

Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and germ expert at the University of Arizona in Tucson, has performed similar studies on cell phones.

He said that his past research, too, has found that cell phones are a haven for a variety of microbes -- some of which are pretty nasty. While the radiation that emanates from cell phones may not be enough to affect our brains, the conversations themselves might.

Specifically, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University studied the brain waves of drivers using cell phones -- and they found that even just listening to a conversation reduced the amount of brain activity devoted to driving by 37 percent. The quality of driving showed a "significant deterioration," according to the study. Still, 80 percent of drivers admit to having had a cell phone conversation while driving, according to a May Nationwide Insurance poll -- even though more than 40 percent of those surveyed said they'd been hit or almost hit by another driver who was talking on a cell phone.

Even hands-free phones appear to contribute to unsafe driving. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that drivers using cell phones -- even hands-free -- were four times as likely to have an accident involving an injury, according to Ann McCartt, senior vice president for research at the insurance institute. Those behind the wheel may not be the only ones at risk of a cell phone-related auto accident. So suggests a study published in January in the journal Pediatrics that shows that children are more distracted while crossing the street if they happen to be talking on a cell phone.

Using a virtual reality setting, researchers studied 77 children ages 10 and 11 to see what effect cell phone conversations had on their ability to make it across the street safety.

Home Environmental health. Mobile phones and your health. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Health concerns over mobile phone use Research into mobile phones and health risks Radiation in relation to mobile phone use How the mobile phone system works Australian mobile phone system regulations Research into mobile phones and your health Precautions to reduce mobile phone radiation exposure Where to get help Things to remember.

Because mobile phone use is so widespread it was estimated in that there were around five billion mobile phone users , public concerns about the possible health effects of mobile phones receive a lot of coverage in the media. Because so many people use mobile phones, medical researchers are concerned that any associated health risks, even small ones, could cause significant public health problems.

It is important to understand the risks and possible effects of mobile phone use, and make up your own mind about how you use your mobile phone.

Health concerns over mobile phone use Mobile phones communicate with base stations using radiofrequency RF radiation. There are concerns that the low levels of RF radiation emitted by mobile phones could cause health problems such as headaches or brain tumours. Research into mobile phones and health risks Intensive international research has found no conclusive or convincing evidence that mobile phones are damaging to health in the short or long term.

The release of this WHO statement prompted many people to call for a 'precautionary approach' to mobile phone use. Research is ongoing. Radiation in relation to mobile phone use Radiation is a combination of electrical and magnetic energy that travels through space at the speed of light. It is also referred to as electromagnetic radiation EMR. Radiation is classified into two broad groups: ionising radiation IR — which is capable of causing changes in atoms or molecules in the body that can result in tissue damage such as cancer.

This can lead to rises in temperature, as well as other effects. Funding friendly research has perhaps been the most important tactic, because it conveys the impression that the scientific community truly is divided. One key player has not been swayed by all this wireless-friendly research: the insurance industry. In our reporting for this story, we found not a single insurance company that would sell a product-liability policy that covered mobile phone radiation.

Nevertheless, like mobiles, 5G technology is on the verge of being introduced without pre-market safety testing. Lack of definitive proof that a technology is harmful does not mean the technology is safe, yet the wireless industry has succeeded in selling this logical fallacy to the world. The upshot is that, over the past 30 years, billions of people around the world have been subjected to a public-health experiment: use a mobile phone today, find out later if it causes genetic damage or cancer.

Meanwhile, the industry has obstructed a full understanding of the science and news organisations have failed to inform the public about what scientists really think. In other words, this public health experiment has been conducted without the informed consent of its subjects, even as the industry keeps its thumb on the scale.

Mark Hertsgaard is an author and the environment correspondent for the Nation, which published a different version of this article. Cohort studies are limited by the fact that they may only be able to look at cell phone subscribers, who are not necessarily the cell phone users. The tumors that have been investigated in epidemiologic studies include malignant brain tumors, such as gliomas , as well as benign tumors, such as acoustic neuroma tumors in the cells of the nerve responsible for hearing that are also known as vestibular schwannomas , meningiomas usually benign tumors in the membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord , parotid gland tumors tumors in the salivary glands , skin cancer, and thyroid gland tumors.

Three large epidemiologic studies have examined the possible association between cell phone use and cancer: Interphone, a case—control study; the Danish Study, a cohort study; and the Million Women Study, another cohort study. These studies have been critically evaluated in reviews reported in 9 and in The findings of these studies are mixed, but overall, they do not show an association between cell phone use and cancer 11 — How the study was done: This is the largest case—control study of cell phone use and the risk of head and neck tumors.

It was conducted by a consortium of researchers from 13 countries. The data came from questionnaires that were completed by study participants in Europe, Israel, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

What the study showed: Most published analyses from this study have shown no increases overall in brain or other central nervous system cancers glioma and meningioma related to higher amounts of cell phone use. One analysis showed a statistically significant , although small, increase in the risk of glioma among study participants who spent the most total time on cell phone calls.

However, for a variety of reasons the researchers considered this finding inconclusive 11 — An analysis of data from all 13 countries reported a statistically significant association between intracranial distribution of tumors within the brain and self-reported location of the phone However, the authors of this study noted that it is not possible to draw firm conclusions about cause and effect based on their findings.

An analysis of data from five Northern European countries showed an increased risk of acoustic neuroma in those who had used a cell phone for 10 or more years In subsequent analyses of Interphone data, investigators investigated whether tumors were more likely to form in areas of the brain with the highest exposure.

One analysis showed no relationship between tumor location and level of radiation However, another found evidence that glioma and, to a lesser extent, meningioma were more likely to develop where exposure was highest How the study was done: This cohort study linked billing information from more than , cell phone subscribers with brain tumor incidence data from the Danish Cancer Registry.

What the study showed: No association was observed between cell phone use and the incidence of glioma, meningioma, or acoustic neuroma, even among people who had been cell phone subscribers for 13 or more years 18 — How the study was done: This prospective cohort study conducted in the United Kingdom used data obtained from questionnaires that were completed by study participants. What the study showed: Self-reported cell phone use was not associated with an increased risk of glioma, meningioma, or non-central nervous system tumors.

Although the original published findings reported an association with an increased risk of acoustic neuroma 21 , this association disappeared after additional years of follow-up of the cohort In addition to these three large studies, other, smaller epidemiologic studies have looked for associations between cell phone use and individual cancers in both adults and children.

These include:. Researchers have carried out several kinds of studies to investigate possible effects of cell phone use on the human body. In , two small studies were published that examined brain glucose metabolism in people after they had used cell phones. The results were inconsistent. One study showed increased glucose metabolism in the region of the brain close to the antenna compared with tissues on the opposite side of the brain 30 ; the other study 31 found reduced glucose metabolism on the side of the brain where the phone was used.

The authors of these studies noted that the results were preliminary and that possible health outcomes from changes in glucose metabolism in humans were unknown. Such inconsistent findings are not uncommon in experimental studies of the physiological effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation in people Some factors that can contribute to inconsistencies across such studies include assumptions used to estimate doses, failure to consider temperature effects, and investigators not being blinded to exposure status.

Another study investigated blood flow in the brain of people exposed to radiofrequency radiation from cell phones and found no evidence of an effect on blood flow in the brain Early studies involving laboratory animals showed no evidence that radiofrequency radiation increased cancer risk or enhanced the cancer-causing effects of known chemical carcinogens 33 — Because of inconsistent findings from epidemiologic studies in humans and the lack of clear data from previous experimental studies in animals, in the Food and Drug Administration FDA nominated radiofrequency radiation exposure associated with cell phone exposures for study in animal models by the US National Toxicology Program NTP.

This large project was conducted in highly specialized labs. The rodents experienced whole-body exposures of 3, 6, or 9 watts per kilogram of body weight for 5 or 7 days per week for 18 hours per day in cycles of 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off. A research overview of the rodent studies , with links to the peer-review summary, is available on the NTP website.

The primary outcomes observed were a small number of cancers of Schwann cells in the heart and non-cancerous changes hyperplasia in the same tissues for male rats, but not female rats, nor in mice overall. These experimental findings raise new questions because cancers in the heart are extremely rare in humans. Schwann cells of the heart in rodents are similar to the kind of cells in humans that give rise to acoustic neuromas also known as vestibular schwannomas , which some studies have suggested are increased in people who reported the heaviest use of cell phones.

The NTP plans to continue to study radiofrequency exposure in animal models to provide insights into the biological changes that might explain the outcomes observed in their study. Another animal study, in which rats were exposed 7 days per week for 19 hours per day to radiofrequency radiation at 0. Among the rats with the highest exposure levels, the researchers noted an increase in heart schwannomas in male rats and nonmalignant Schwann cell growth in the heart in male and female rats.

The gaps in the report from the study raise questions that have not been resolved. ICNIRP an independent nonprofit organization that provides scientific advice and guidance on the health and environmental effects of nonionizing radiation critically evaluated both studies. It concluded that both followed good laboratory practice, including using more animals than earlier research and exposing the animals to radiofrequency radiation throughout their lifetimes.

However, it also identified what it considered major weaknesses in how the studies were conducted and statistically analyzed and concluded that these limitations prevent drawing conclusions about the ability of radiofrequency exposures to cause cancer A few studies have shown some evidence of statistical association of cell phone use and brain tumor risks in humans, but most studies have found no association.

Reasons for these discrepancies include the following:. The most consistent health risk associated with cell phone use is distracted driving and vehicle accidents 44 , Several other potential health effects have been reported with cell phone use. Neurologic effects are of particular concern in young persons. However, studies of memory, learning, and cognitive function have generally produced inconsistent results 46 — In , 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 indicated that, although the human studies were susceptible to bias, the findings could not be dismissed as reflecting bias alone, and that a causal interpretation could not be excluded. The working group noted that any interpretation of the evidence should also consider that the observed associations could reflect chance, bias, or confounding variables rather than an underlying causal effect.

In addition, the working group stated that the investigation of brain cancer risk associated with cell phone use poses complex research challenges. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences NIEHS states that the weight of the current scientific evidence has not conclusively linked cell phone use with any adverse health problems, but more research is needed.

The US Food and Drug Administration FDA notes that studies reporting biological changes associated with radiofrequency radiation have failed to be replicated and that the majority of human epidemiologic studies have failed to show a relationship between exposure to radiofrequency radiation from cell phones and health problems. The Federal Communications Commission FCC concludes that currently no scientific evidence establishes a definite link between wireless device use and cancer or other illnesses.

In , the European Commission Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks concluded that, overall, the epidemiologic studies on cell phone radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation exposure do not show an increased risk of brain tumors or of other cancers of the head and neck region 9.

The committee also stated that epidemiologic studies do not indicate increased risk for other malignant diseases, including childhood cancer 9. A large prospective cohort study of cell phone use and its possible long-term health effects was launched in Europe in March Participants in COSMOS completed a questionnaire about their health, lifestyle, and current and past cell phone use when they joined the study.

This information will be supplemented with information from health records and cell phone records. The challenge of this ambitious study is to continue following the participants for a range of health effects over many decades. Researchers will need to determine whether participants who leave the study are somehow different from those who remain throughout the follow-up period.

Although recall bias is minimized in studies such as COSMOS that link participants to their cell phone records, such studies face other problems. For example, it is impossible to know who is using the listed cell phone or whether that individual also places calls using other cell phones. To a lesser extent, it is not clear whether multiple users of a single phone, for example family members who may share a device, will be represented on a single phone company account.