• Question: what is the safest way to use your phone to prevent exessive radiation. As i have heard that this can hep cause cancer?

    Asked by taracs to Mariam, Leo, Jo, Iain, Gioia on 16 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by agentreadytodiscover, thekaties.
    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      There is no evidence that mobile phones can cause cancer. The radiation emitted by phones doesn’t have enough energy to mutate DNA. Detailed studies have shown that people who use mobiles aren’t more likely to develop cancer than those who don’t.

    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      …use it less??
      Jokes apart, none of the studies has been able to demonstrate a link between mobile use and cancer. However, if you are asking the best way to avoid excessive radiation, there isn’t a better way than simply using it less and switching it off at night

    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      There’s no evidence that mobile phones cause cancer – probably the most dangerous thing you can do with a mobile phone is to use it while you’re driving.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      I don’t think there’s any good evidence that phones can cause cancer, so you shouldn’t worry about it too much!

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Although it is impossible to imagine living without our mobiles they’ve only actually been widely used for about 15 years. This is too short a time for scientists to fully understand the effect phones might have on our bodies.

      Up until now, most of the studies into whether mobiles cause cancer found that there doesn’t appear to be a link and there hasn’t been an increase in brain tumours since mobiles because popular. Mobile phones give off small amounts of microwave radiation that can’t damage DNA and there are very strict laws in the UK about how much radiation they can give off. If phones do cause cancer no one has yet worked out how they would do it!

      However, just yesterday a new study hit the news claiming that in the future we will see a giant wave of of brain tumours cause by mobiles. Remember this has not been proven and in fact many people strongly disagree with this study. Only time, and lots more studies, will tell us what effect phones have on our health, particularly on teenagers and children.

      So – at the moment it seems as though there is no reason to worry about using your phone, although if you’re concerned you could play if safe and try not to use your phone for more than 30 minutes a day. Some people who believe that phones cause cancer have suggested keeping a pay as you go phone with you but switched off, keeping it for emergencies. However please don’t be fooled by people selling phone ‘radiation shields’. These devices are completely useless and the people who sell them use scientific-sounding but meaningless claims to try to get you to hand over your money!

      Here are a couple of reliable websites with lots more information about the new study:

      http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/05may/pages/mobile-phones-and-brain-cancer.aspx
      http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/cancercontroversies/mobilephones/

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