Are you worried due to the recent reports on ill effects of mobile phone radiations?
Today, wherever we look, the hot topics for discussion is how harmful mobiles and radiation from it can be for one's health. From skin problems to hearing disorders, to psychological to carcinogenic effects, everything is being attributed to the cellphones. So much is the hype that it seems that mobile phone is actually the anti-god prophesied in our holy scriptures that has the potential to bring about the end of humanity! So much for the drama, but no one knows what the effects of the mobiles are. In this twilight zone, it is very important for the users to dismiss the myths surrounding this very important device in their lives, and know the truths, the real truths about mobile radiation hazards!
The Science Behind SAR
There is no denying of the fact that like any other wireless or digital device,
mobile phones also emit radiations and so do the operator's base stations.
These base stations are multichannel two-way radios of lower power. Similarly, a mobile is a single-channel low power two-way radio. When we talk on the mobile it gets connected to the nearest base station and from there the signal goes further via the regular land-line system.
Since they are radios, they produce radio frequency (RF) radiations and people who use mobile phones get exposed to these. The radiation is measured as SAR (Specific Absorption Rate), which indicates the radiation absorbed by a human body while using a mobile phone. The higher the SAR value, the more radiation a person absorbs while using a mobile phone. On the other hand the base station emissions do not have much effect unless one is directly under it. But the point to be taken into consideration here is that generally, these RF-exposure levels and the corresponding SAR levels are considerably low.
The International Commission on Non- Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the body that has created guidelines for limiting the exposure to such radiations has mentioned in the same guidelines that "There is insufficient information on the biological and health effects of EMF exposure of human populations."
Myth BustingSo are these scientific studies all false? No, they are not. The scientific studies carried out by various renowned and credible organisations have formed the basis of safety standards and minimum acceptable emission levels. But there are certain inherent differences in the way these studies have been conducted which has led to negative findings. Arun Goyal, adviser regulatory affairs, ICA, avers, "The RF emissions from phones is less than one Watt, whereas most of the studies that have been carried out so far have used emissions of more than four Watts for a prolonged period of time and have been carried out on mice! This led to certain negative effects and a temperature rise of five degree Celsius." Therefore the conditions in which the test were performed were really very different from the conditions in which average users uses their mobiles. Moreover, these are non-ionizing radiations, which are totally harmless and in no way effect the DNA structure of any person using a mobile phone or cause cancer. The ICNIRP report says, "There has been considerable recent interest in the possible carcinogenic effects of exposure to microwave fields. Briefly, there are many reports suggesting that microwave fields are not mutagenic, and exposure to these fields is therefore unlikely to initiate carcinogenesis."
