health risks from mobile devices

 Electromagnetic field (RF-EMF)‑emitting phones are a challenge to public health (Morgan et al., 2015). The CERENAT is a multicenter case-control study carried out in France to collect data about mobile phone use. The CERENAT found an increased risk of glioma with the use of mobile phones for over a decade and then compared those that have shown a risk of meningioma and mobile phone use (Morgan et al., 2015). According to Morgan et al. (2015) RF fields should be classified as a Group 2A human carcinogen from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) criteria.  Their stance is the As Low As Reasonable Achievable (ALARA) principle should be adopted for using this technology. Meanwhile, a major cross‑disciplinary effort is being generated to train bioelectromagnetics researchers and provide monitoring for potential health impacts from RF‑EMF. 

Research tells us that evidence has not been entirely conclusive on this issue, but leans toward caution for mobile device use. Research of systematic reviews, case-control studies, cohort studies and meta-analysis looking at an association between exposure to radiofrequency (RF) from mobile phones and tumours in adults revealed that it is not possible to determine a relationship in the short term of an increased risk, however long-term (over 10 years) RF emitted by mobile phones has been shown to cause tumour effects (Bielsa-Fernández & Rodríguez-Martín, 2018) . Unfortunately, although it is clear RF from mobile phones has cancer-causing effects for humans there is insufficient scientific evidence available to fully support those claims (Bielsa-Fernández & Rodríguez-Martín, 2018). More rigorous, larger, broader follow-up studies should be performed to uncover more long-term effects (Bielsa-Fernández & Rodríguez-Martín, 2018). There is an absence of an exposure-response relationship for the amount of mobile phone use or by localization of the brain tumor that argues against a causal association (Aydin et al., 2011).

A mobile phone is versatile, accessible, and attractive, especially for younger people, and using one involves the risk of abuse and addictive behavior (Pedrero et al., 2012). Increasingly the younger population with the personality traits most consistently associated with addiction such as low self-esteem, and extraversion has been associated with more intense use (Pedrero et al., 2012). Also, women especially with low self-esteem are the most vulnerable population, and most commonly with an associated psychopathological symptom of depression. Unfortunately, Pedrero et al. (2012) states that evidence of a problem in relation to mobile phone use, the vagueness of what constitutes cell phone addiction, and the poor quality of studies makes it hard to generalize results. Thus, it is necessary to define and unify data with a mission to carry out more quality studies that allow better comparisons.

Children and adolescents are also more at risk to health effects from mobile phone exposure compared to adults (Aydin et al., 2011). Mobile phone use has been associated with the risk of a brain tumor among children and adolescents says a multicenter case-control study conducted in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland (Aydin et al., 2011). Brain tumor risk is related to time elapsed since the mobile phone users’ age when they started, but not to the amount of use and there is no increased risk of brain tumors observed for brain areas receiving the highest amount of exposure.

References

Aydin, D., Feychting, M., Schüz, J., Tynes, T., Andersen, T. V., Schmidt, L. S., Poulsen, A. H., Johansen, C., Prochazka, M., Lannering, B., Klæboe, L., Eggen, T., Jenni, D., Grotzer, M., Von der Weid, N., Kuehni, C. E., & Röösli, M. (2011). Mobile phone use and brain tumors in children and adolescents: A multicenter case-control study. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 103(16), 1264–1276. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djr244 or https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21795665/

Bielsa-Fernández, P., & Rodríguez-Martín, B. (2018). [Association between radiation from mobile phones and tumour risk in adults]. Gaceta Sanitaria, 32(1), 81-91. doi:10.1016/j.gaceta.2016.10.014. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28411874/

Morgan, L. L., Miller, A. B., Sasco, A., & Davis, D. L. (2015). Mobile phone radiation causes brain tumors and should be classified as a probable human carcinogen (2A) (Review). International Journal of Oncology, 46(5), 1865-1871. doi:10.3892/ijo.2015.2908. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25738972/

Pedrero Pérez, E. J., Rodríguez Monje, M. T., & Ruiz Sánchez De León, J. M. (2012). [Mobile phone abuse or addiction. A review of the literature]. Adicciones, 24(2), 139–152. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22648317/