In this three-part series, let’s explore the potential adverse health effects of electromagnetic fields. Part 3: The hidden health costs of mobile phones.
Key message: There are positive and negative effects of mobile phone use.
Action point: There are steps you can take to minimise the potential negative effects of EMF exposure from mobile phone use.
We use them every day: to call and text people, take photos, access the internet, record videos, download apps and even do our banking. It’s fair to say that mobile phones have revolutionised the way we live.
In important ways, they also contribute to our health: we can access health information on our phones, and they have played vital roles in rapid response to life-saving emergencies.
But the long-term health effects of using mobile devices are a topic of debate, not to mention a lot of current health research. There are concerns that the low levels of radiofrequency (RF) radiation emitted by mobile phones could cause health problems such as headaches or brain tumours.
Mobile phones communicate with base stations using RF radiation. If RF radiation is high enough, it has a ‘thermal’ effect, which means it raises body temperature (see Part One of our EMF series for more information about EMF frequencies).
In Australia, all mobile phones must meet the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) Standard RPS 3.1
Even with these stringent safety standards, mobile phones can affect us biologically. It is estimated that the RF radiation from a mobile phone held against your ear will heat a localised area of your face and, to a lesser extent, your brain, by a fraction of a degree.2
Can this heating effect have negative consequences on our health and wellbeing?
The research
A large number of studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk.
For example, researchers have looked into the potential short-term effects of radiofrequency fields on brain electrical activity, cognitive function, sleep, heart rate and blood pressure. Research into potential long-term effects of mobile phone use has examined the link between brain cancers and mobile phone use.
The largest retrospective case-control study on adults to date, INTERPHONE 3, collected data from 14,000 adults about mobile phone use, other exposures to RF radiation, and other factors conceivably related to brain cancer between 2000–2005. The study was funded by the European Union and health agencies in 13 countries.
It found no increased risk of glioma or meningioma with mobile phone use of more than 10 years. However, there were some indications of an increased risk of glioma for the heaviest users.
As a result, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classify electromagnetic fields produced by mobile phones as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’.3
The study’s conclusion has been a topic of much debate among researchers and health experts, including whether the study’s findings warrant the use of precautionary measures among mobile phone users.
It is important to note that this study did not assess mobile phone use on adolescents or children, and it does not account for increasing trends in mobile phone use over the last ten years.
Because many cancers are not detectable until years after the interactions that led to the tumour – and since mobile phones were not widely used until the early 1990s – there is still a question mark over the potential long-term effects of mobile phone use.
Research cannot rule out the possibility of phone RF causing tumours in the head after 10–20 years of use.
Steps to minimise the potential negative effects of EMF exposure from mobile phone use
- Use a “hands free” device to lower your exposure of radiofrequency fields.
- Limit the number and length of calls.
- Use the phone in areas of good reception – this decreases RF exposure as it allows the phone to transmit at reduced power.
Read Part 1: Is the modern world making you sick?
Read Part 2: Dirty electricity.
References
1. The Australian Government (2002) Radiation Protection Standard for Maximum Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency Fields – 3 kHz to 300 GHz. http://www.arpansa.gov.au/publications/codes/rps3.cfm
2. Better Health Channel (2015) Mobile Phones and Your Health. http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Mobile_phones_and_your_health
3. International Agency for Research on Cancer (2012) The Interphone Study. http://interphone.iarc.fr
