EFFECT OF MOBILE PHONE RADIATION ON HUMAN HEALTH

The effect of mobile phone radiation on human health is the subject of recent interest and study, as a result of the enormous increase in mobile phone usage throughout the world

 Many scientific studies have investigated possible health hazards of Mobile Phone Radiation. A recent assessment was published in 2007 by the European Commission Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risk (SCENIHR). The committee concluded that the three lines of evidence, via: Animal, in-vitro, and epidemiological studies, indicate that “exposure to RS fields is unlikely to lead to an increase in cancer in humans”. According to this committee, parts of radio waves emitted by a mobile telephone handset are absorbed by the human head. The radio waves emitted by a GSM handset can have a peak power of 2 watts, while other digital mobile technology, such as CDMA 2000 and D-AMPS, use lower output power, typically below 1 watt. Maximum power output from a mobile phone is regulated by the mobile phone standard and by the regulatory agencies in each country. The rate at which radiation is absorbed by the human body is measured by the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), and its maximum levels for modern handsets have been set by governmental regulating agencies in many countries.

 

 The Thermal radiation is not comparable to ionizing radiation in that it only increases the temperature in normal matter. It does not break molecular bonds or release electrons from their atoms. Well understood thermal effect of microwave radiation is dielectric heating, in which dry dialectic materials is heated by rotations of polar molecules induced by the electromagnetic field. In the case of a person using a cell phone, most of the heating effect will occur at the surface of the head, causing its temperature to rise by a fraction of a device. In this case, the level of temperature increase is in order of magnitude less than that obtained during the exposure of the head to direct sunlight. The brain’s blood circulation is capable of disposing excess heat by increasing local blood flow.

 However, the cornea of the eye does not have this temperature regulation mechanism and exposure of 2-3 hours duration has been reported to produce cataracts in rabbits’ eyes at SAR values from 100-140 W/KG. This produced ventricular temperatures of 410c.

Premature cataracts have not been linked with cell phone use, possibly because of the tower power output of mobile phones.    

By Ruth Yakubu