Cell Phone Radiation - by: Juan,Tammy,Edwin,Hassan,Jelena

Introduction
Topic: Cell Phone Radiation Group: Juan, Tammy, Wonkyo, Hassan, Jelena All over the world millions of people use cell phones on a daily basis. The age where people begin to use cell phones used to lies around the mid-teen age but to this day that age has been lowered to even 12 year old children using cell phones.

 Did you know?  The number of cell phone users in 1994 was 16 million but in 2001 this number increased to well over 110 million. Cell phones have a max power of 0.6 Watts while a microwave has a max power between 600 and 1100 Watts. Brain cancer in the population has increased over 25% since 1973. Every year 185,000 Americans are diagnosed with primary or metastatic brain tumor In a lot of cases, brain tumors develop where cell phones are held. When you use cell phone for more then 10 years, the risk of getting a brain tumor is 2 to 4 times. Using headsets increase the chance of negative effects by more than 3 times</ul>

<font face= "Arial" size = "3">What is Cell Phone Radiation?
Cell phones release signals via radio waves, which contain radio-frequency (RF) energy. RF energy is a form of electromagnetic radiation. There are two types of electromagnetic radiation: ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation holds enough electromagnetic energy to break up molecules and atoms from human tissue. X-rays and ultraviolet radiation are some examples of ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation is considered to be safe. It has some heating effect, but it is usually not sufficient to cause long term issue. Cell phone radiation and visible light are some examples of non-ionizing radiation.

<font face= "Arial" size = "3">How does Cell Phone Radiation Work?


Cell phones emit radio-frequency energy (RFR) which is a form of electromagnetic radiation. When you are talking on a cell phone, the transmitter encodes the sound of your voice into sine wave, which is then emitted out of the antenna and picked up by local cell phone towers. The signals transmitted from the antenna is the electromagnetic radiation.

Electromagnetic radiation generates heat, similar to that of a microwave releasing radiation to heat up food. When people use cell phones, human tissue has a potential to absorb the energy and with long term exposure, negative effects may be visible.

<font face= "Arial" size = "3">Effects/ Disadvantages of Cell Phone Radiation
Some of the effects due to long term cell phone use include the following: <ul>Fatigue</li> Headaches</li> Burning sensations on the skin</li> Increase blood pressure</li> Neurological disease & Genetic damage: cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's</li> Increase in adrenal response, which increases stress responses</li> Brain tumor</li></ul>

<font face= "Arial" size = "3">How to Prevent Cell Phone Radiation
Some of the ways you can reduce the negative effects of cell phone use are listed below: <ul>Limit the number of calls you make on a daily basis.</li> Limit the length of each call.</li> Hold the phone a slight distance away from your head.</li> Reduce the number of calls made when your signal is weak (more radiation is emitted to make up for the lack of a strong signal).</li> Don't use a cell phone at such a young age (around 16 years of age).</li></ul> Note that following these guidelines does reduce the risk of negative effects due to long term cell phone use, but it does not guarantee that you will not experience any of the negative effects.

<font face= "Arial" size = "3">Conclusion
In conclusion, even with all the recent studies on cell phone radiation, there is not enough proof to determine whether long term cell phone use is actually dangerous. However, just because we cannot prove that it is harmful does not necessarily mean that it is safe. The best way to react to a situation like this is to follow the How to Prevent Cell Phone Radiation guide so that if cell phone radiation is actually harmful, then this would be the best way to prevent it. Better to be safe than sorry.

Also see
Here are some video examples of testing cell phone radiations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfXdHu9nUlk&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQr6SbYpTYM&feature=related

<font face= "Arial" size = "3">References
1. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-radiation.htm Retrieved on March 17, 2009. 2. http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phone-radiation-levels Retrieved on March 17, 2009. 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_radiation_and_health Retrieved on March 18, 2009. 4. http://www.mercola.com/forms/ferrite_beads.htm Retrieved on March 19, 2009. 5. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/how-much-radiation-does-your-phone-emit Retrieved on March 20, 2009. 6. http://www.networkworld.com/research/2001/0702featside.html Retrieved on March 21, 2009. 7. http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2000/600_phone.html Retrieved on March 20, 2009. 8. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/radiation_nonionizing/index.html Retrieved on March 20, 2009. 9. http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/about/what_is_ir/en/index.html Retrieved on March 19, 2009