Radiation from Mobile Phones and Cell Towers, Risks, and Protection

Abstract

Modern life is strongly associated with new technologies such as telecommunication and wireless devices. These new technologies strongly affect the way people communicate, learn, train, think and solve their problems. Today, modern cell phones not only send and receive phone calls, but they also allow people to send and receive short messages, and e-mails, share photos and videos, write, edit and share documents, play games, listen to music, watch movies, surf the Internet, find an address using GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and use a wide range of applications. Given this consideration, excessive use of smartphones is associated with growing global concerns over the health effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) generated by these devices. As discussed by WHO, considering the very large number of people who use mobile phones, even a small increase in the risk of adverse health effects, either cancer or other health effects, could have key public health implications. WHO believes that research about these health effects is mostly focused on potential adverse effects of mobile phones, not their base stations, because the RF-EMF levels of mobile phones are 3 orders of magnitude higher than those of base stations. Therefore, in this chapter, due to the greater likelihood of adverse health effects of handsets, we mainly focused on reviewing the current scientific evidence on health risks associated with mobile phones. However, the health effects of RF-EMF exposure on people living in the proximity of mobile base stations are also reviewed.