Possible health risks of mobile phone use
Mobile phones have only been in widespread use for a comparatively short time, so there is not much data about the possible long-term dangers of using them.
The phone is held close to the user’s head so the radio waves may have a small heating effect on the brain.
One of the few known effects of radio waves on the human body is a very small rise in temperature of up to 0.2oC.
Do mobile phones cause cancer?
According to Cancer Research UK, the best scientific evidence shows that using mobile phones does not increase the risk of cancer.
The radio waves that mobile phones or phone masts transmit and receive is non-ionising and is very weak.
This non-ionising radiation does not have enough energy to damage DNA and cannot directly cause cancer.
But research is still continuing, to make sure there aren’t any potential long-term effects.
Concerns have been raised that exposure to radio waves from mobile phones might cause various health problems, ranging from brain tumours, cancer and infertility to headaches, sickness and memory loss.
So far, studies have not found that users have suffered any serious ill effects.
