Can cell phones cause cancer?

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Technology has always made an impact on our society. Over the last few decades, there have been many inventions that have changed our lifestyles. Cellular Telephony has, by all accounts, modified how we interact with others; but at what cost? Are there health issues associated with this technology? More explicitly can cell phones cause cancer? This question is the basis of this review. The researcher has compiled articles that cover this topic from diverse scholarly sources, and diverse countries.
It is undeniable that cellular technology has become main stream. “It was estimated that there were 92 million cell phone users in the US, a number growing by one million every month.” (Frumkin, Jacobson, Gansler & Thun 2001). The arrival and widespread use of cell phones has peaked interest of the health effects of radiofrequencies in the human body.
Cell phones use radio frequencies to transmit signals. Radio Frequencies (RF) are a form of electrical waves similar to those used in radios, microwaves, radars or satellite stations. They are emitted from a transmitter, and received using an antenna. This telephony technology is restricted geographically to small zones called “Cells”. Every cell has a base station capable of sending and receiving radio waves. When a call is started a signal leaves the handheld unit headed to the closest base station. This station answers by allocating a specific channel to the unit. When this “channel” is established, modulated radio frequency signals are both received and transmitted. The head of the user is in the near field of use because the distance from the antenna to the head is a few centimeters. (Blettner & Berg 2000) If the antenna is inside the body of the phone, the exposure to Radio Frequencies is greater. The antenna might be requesting a stronger signal to contest with the interference of the battery or the actual shell of the phone’s body.
The level of RF a person receives is related to many factors, not only the placement of the antenna. Factors that can increase the level of RF are the number of “cells”, the distance to the “base station”, or the obstacles between the caller and the station. The number of cell zones depends on the user population. Heavily populated areas have more cells allowing for more telecommunication traffic. Being close to a cell site lowers the power needed to sustain a call, hence reduces the exposure to RF.

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