When you put your cell phone to your ear, are you doing damage to your head? Can exposure to radio frequency energy from cell phones cause brain cancer? The questions are raised repeatedly and the 3 billion people who use mobile phones would love to have definitive answers.
The best information, based on several major studies, shows no connection between cell phones and cancer. The published research indicates the level of radio frequency energy emitted by cell phones is too low to be harmful to humans. The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Communications commission have set limits on the amount of mobile phone radiofrequency energy. The wireless industry points to the government action and the scientific studies to bolster their case that their products are safe.
However, some scientists caution the studies are short-term and not conclusive. Cell phones, they say, just haven’t been around long enough for the research to show what effects, if any, might develop over decades of use. Since children didn’t commonly use cell phones until the mid or late 1990’s, any negative impact on them is unclear. It was hoped an on-going international study, involving 13 countries, would provide the definitive answers. Recent reports, however, indicate that study will not put to rest concerns over cell phones after all.
If you’re concerned about cell phones, researchers say the best advice is too keep your conversations on them as short as possible. Save your longer calls, they say, for landlines. Then watch and listen as more research develops that one day might give consumers the answers to cell phone safety.