What Are the Dangers of Cell Phone Radiation?

In the past 10 years cell phone use has taken off around the world, as over 4 billion people have made the use of these devices a frequent occurrence in their daily lives. In the United States alone, over 270 million people use cell phones several times a day. More information is becoming available that may link radiation exposure due to frequent cell phone use to a number of alarming health problems.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Study

• The FDA must make sure all food and drugs manufactured and/or distributed in the United States passes inspection, but is not required to approve cell phones.

  Scientists have known for decades that high doses of radio frequencies can penetrate the body, heat tissues, damage sensitive areas of the body such as the eyeballs and testicles and cause behavioral problems. The most recent FDA study regarding the potential health risks of cell phone use evaluated subjects who had used cell phones for an average of three years, and found little evidence to connect cell phone use with an increased risk of cancer.

  According to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, three years of cell phone use is not long enough for cancer to develop. The group has put forth research conducted by scientists around the world who have evaluated longer periods of cell phone use (10 years or more). These studies suggest greater risks to human health than the FDA-led study.

Salivary Gland Tumors

• According to the Environmental Working Group, Swedish and Danish scientists found an increased risk of benign parotid gland tumors in people who had used cell phones for at least 10 years.

Brain Tumors

• The likelihood of developing a brain tumor on the side of the head that you usually use to talk on the phone may be higher than the risk of developing a tumor on the other side of your head.

  Twenty-five original studies found a 50 to 90 percent increase in brain tumors among users who used cell phones for more than 10 years when compared to people who have used a cell phone for 10 years or less. These studies were independently analyzed by German and French scientists in 2009 and are included in the Environmental Working Group's "Cell Phone Radiation Science Review." Also included in the review is a study led by Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and British scientists that found that among long-term cell phone users (10+ years) the likelihood of developing a malignant brain tumor on the side of the head that the individual preferred for cell phone use increased significantly.

Migraines/Vertigo

• Over 400,000 Danish adults were evaluated in the study, which showed a link between migraines and long-term cell phone use.

  A Danish study revealed that adults who have used cell phones for a long time were 10 to 20 percent more likely to suffer from migraines and vertigo than adults who had begun using cell phones more recently.

Behavioral Problems

• Radiation from cell phones may pose a greater risk to the health of children than to that of adults.

  A Danish study accentuates the risk that cell phones may pose to the health of children by revealing that young children who used cell phones and whose mothers used cell phones while pregnant had an 80 percent higher risk for hyperactivity and emotional problems than children who were not exposed to cell phones either before or after birth.