The last time a formal study was made about cellphones and cancer was backed in 1996. With today's phones sporting more radios than ever before does the FCC plan to reinvestigate the issue?
The Federal Communications Commission wishes to regenerate its inquiry 15 years ago whether cellular phone consumers are protected from the harmful effects of radiation from phones. Even though a lot of scientific researches has concluded that there is no convincing evidence that supports concern that radiation from cellular phones is actually dangerous to consumer’s health, Chairman Julius Genachowski already asked his fellow commissioners to start their investigation again. Inother researches, it has been proven that radiation from cellular phone does really affects consumer’s brain waves, however, researchers could not actually figure out if this is harmful to the human body.
Back in the 1990s, cellular phones or simply cell phones first became widely available in the United States but since then their use has increased noticeably. Together with the huge and yet growing number of cell phone users both children and adults, the amount of time spent on their phones has also increased harshly in the past decades.
Cell phones work by sending signals to and from nearby base stations or cell towers by means of RF waves. An RF wave is a form of electromagnetic energy that falls between microwaves and FM radio waves. Just like with an FM radio wave, visible light, microwave, and heat, an RF wave is a form of non-ionizing radiation.
It doesn’t have sufficient energy to cause cancer by damaging the DNA directly inside the cells. At very high levels, RF waves can heat up body tissues and is also the basis how microwave oven works. But in the case of cell phones, the energy given off is much lower and not sufficient to increase the temperature of the body.
The RF waves from a cell phone are originating from the antenna and the antenna is part of the body of a cell phone. The waves are strongest at the antenna and rapidly lose energy as the waves travel away from the cell phone. When the phone is being used, it is normally held against the side of the head.
The nearer the antenna is to the head, the bigger is the expected exposure to the RF energy. SAR stands for Specific Absorption Rate. This is the amount of RF energy absorbed by the body from the phone. Different cell phones have different SAR levels. Cell phone manufacturers are required to report the maximum SAR level of their products to the United States FCC or the Federal Communications Commission.
With regards to the lab studies conducted, the RF waves emitted by cell phones don’t have sufficient energy to heat body tissues or directly harm DNA. That’s why it’s not clear if cell phones can really cause cancer. The majority of the studies conducted in the lab have supported the idea that RF waves don’t cause damage to DNA.
