Chiropractor discusses the dangers of cell phone usage

The year 2014 marked the first time in history that there were officially more mobile devices than people in the world – approximately 7.2 billion.

Although significantly lower, the number of cell phone users is forecast to reach 4.77 billion by the year 2017.

Here are some of the latest cell pone facts:

• Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults own a smartphone and over 250 million of them use their phones an average of six days a week
• The average cellphone owner checks their phone 110 times a day, or about nine times each hour
• A whopping 46 percent of smartphone owners say “they couldn’t live without” their phones
• As of December, 2015, 47 percent of homes used only cell phones
• More than about half of U.K. cell phone users suffer from “nomophobia,” or the fear of being without their phone (and the number may be even higher for American users)

When you make a call, text, or use data on your cell phone, here’s what happens:

Your phone sends radiofrequency, or RF waves from its antenna to nearby cell towers, and receives RF waves in return to its antenna.

If you are holding the phone next to your face, as most people do, then about 70 percent of the energy from the antenna is absorbed straight into your head.

Age makes a difference in how much of this energy can be absorbed into the tissue. A younger child’s skull is much thinner than an adult’s and still developing, therefore more radiation is able to penetrate the brain.  It's not until around age 20 that your brain is fully developed.

In 2011, the International Agency for research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), declared cell phones a Class B carcinogen. There are now more than 20,000 publications in the scientific literature that show significant biological effects at exposures well within safety standards, including about 4,000 that include non-thermal effects.

Here are some suggestions for minimizing your exposure to cell phone radiation:

1. Reduce your cell phone usage. Turn your phone off when you don’t need it.
2. Use your cell phone on speakerphone whenever possible. Avoiding contact with your head is the most important safeguard you can take.
3. Keep your phone as far away from your body as possible. There's a significant drop-off in radiation exposure for every inch your phone is away from your body. Don’t stow your cell phone in your pocket!
4. Don’t place your phone against your head while the call is connecting. This is when your phone is sending out its strongest signal and you don’t want this surge of radiation penetrating your head!
5. Use a landline at home and at work. Just because everyone else goes cordless, you don’t need to.
6. Avoid using your cell phone if reception is poor. The weaker the reception, the more power your phone uses to transmit, and the more exposure you receive.
7. Limit cell phone use in your car. The metal parts of your car – the roof, doors, and chassis can magnify the radiation. Plus, your phone has to work harder and increase its transmitting strength as you travel between cell towers.
8. If you must make a call unprotected, limit it to less than two minutes. Radiation exposure is dose-related. The longer you spend on your phone, the more potentially harmful microwave radiation you’re exposed to.
9. Use low-power Bluetooth^® technology or a headset to keep your phone away from your body. But just remember that if you use your Bluetooth^® or headset a lot, you are still exposed to radiation right near your head.
10. For the ultimate in safety, use an air tube headset that’s specially designed to reduce cell phone radiation near your head. 

My name is Dr. J. Zimmerman and I am a chiropractor.  I have been in practice for 27 years.  My chiropractic practice uses many different chiropractic techniques to improve bodily function and restore health. My chiropractic office is located in Galloway Township (the Smithville section) of Atlantic County, NJ.  You can contact me for more chiropractic information at Health First Chiropractic Clinics,  609-652-6363

Author

Dr J. Zimmerman, Chiropractor Dr. Zimmerman is a practicing chiropractor from Galloway, NJ with 30 years of chiropractic practice.