WE are all using mobile phones but don’t know about the precautions. The cellphones and their tower-based antennas emit electro-magnetic radiations (EMRs) which are hazardous to our health. These invisible hazards could be reduced to a bare minimum if we take the following safety measures:

While using the phone, keep it away from your body, as the amount of radiation absorbed by your head and body decreases dramatically with even a small distance.

It would be better if you text more, and talk less, as phones emit less radiation when sending text.

Always use a headset to minimise exposure to harmful phone radiation. Take your headset out of your ear when you are not on a call. Use your phone in speaker mode.

You should call when the signal is strong. Research shows that radiation exposure increases significantly when cellphone signals are weak.

Avoid using your cellphone when moving at high speed, such as in a car or train, as this automatically increases power to the maximum as the phone repeatedly keeps attempting to connect to new relay antenna.

For longer conversations, it is better to use a landline with a corded phone, not a cordless phone.

The cordless phone uses technology similar to that of a cellphone.

Do not store your phone in your pocket unnecessarily; and don’t store it under your pillow even, as when a phone is on and not in use, it still keeps on sending an intermittent signal to connect with nearby cellphone towers, which means radiation exposure is still happening.

The heavy use of cellphones over a prolonged period of time is linked to an increased risk of cancer.

Cellphone use can change the way brain cells use sugar or glucose, and can affect that type of metabolism with prolonged use.

The children’s use of cellphones should be limited. Their skull is thinner than the adult skull.

Air-Cdre (r) Azfar A. Khan

Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2014