Cellular telephone. How does a cell phone affect your health? Harm of mobile phones

Still, they are harmful. A $30 million study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) found a link between long-term cell phone use and brain tumors. The researchers' conclusion directly contradicts many years of statements from mobile operators and mobile phone manufacturers that their use is absolutely safe.

The World Health Organization will publish a formal, detailed report on the study by the end of the year. In the meantime, we can only be content with fragmentary comments and excerpts from the study. For example, it is known that 12,800 people from 13 countries took part in the project, many of whom suffer from one form or another of brain tumors, others are completely healthy. One thing they have in common is that they have all been using cell phones for quite a long time.

Study coordinator Dr. Elisabeth Cardis noted that even if the results are not clear, many studies and surveys have suggested that radiofrequency radiation can have detrimental effects on human health. Others involved in the project are more forceful, citing a "significantly increased risk of certain types of brain tumors" associated with cell phone use for 10 years or longer.

Mobile phone harm

It has now been proven that electromagnetic waves stimulate changes at the cellular level, cause disruption of gene order, and contribute to the appearance of diseased cells and pathogenic tumors. Electromagnetic fields can also cause memory loss in animals. For example, chicken embryos irradiated with electromagnetic waves became three times more susceptible to cancer. This article contains information about the dangers of mobile phones on the human body.

Immune system strain.

As studies conducted by scientists from Norway and Denmark show, cellular users more often than others complain of headaches, drowsiness, and become irritable. All these signs are characteristic of vegetative-vascular dystonia. In addition, under the influence of harmful electromagnetic fields generated by a mobile phone, a so-called immune system stress reaction occurs in the body. According to doctors, this may reduce the body's resistance to disease and other harmful external influences. If you use your mobile phone like a regular home phone, that is, indefinitely, your immunity is at serious risk. In America in the early 90s, a very unusual process was won. Lawyers were able to prove that the cause of death of a woman suffering from a brain tumor was precisely the harm of a mobile phone.
Take care of your head.

Scientists have found that mobile communications, like any other source of harmful electromagnetic radiation (computer, TV, microwave oven or radiotelephone), is biologically active, i.e. affects human health. Moreover, according to doctors, this influence has a “negative direction.” But, unlike other devices, a mobile phone is in close proximity to the brain and eyes during operation. In addition, among the technical means (for example, a computer, television or radiotelephone) there are none that could be compared with the harm of a mobile phone in terms of the level of electromagnetic radiation affecting a person.

Harm from a mobile phone to a person

Electromagnetic radiation of the radio frequency range generated by the tube is absorbed by the tissues of the head, in particular, by the tissues of the brain, the retina of the eye, the structures of the visual, vestibular and auditory analyzers, and the radiation acts both directly on individual organs and structures, and indirectly, through a conductor, on the nervous system " Scientists have proven that when electromagnetic waves penetrate tissues, they cause heating. Over time, this adversely affects the functioning of the entire body, in particular, the functioning of the nervous, cardiovascular, and endocrine systems.

Cell phones affect your eyesight and immunity.

Experiments on rats conducted in Russia showed that in animals exposed to harmful electromagnetic radiation at an intensity 20 times higher than normal mobile phone radiation, electromagnetic waves have a detrimental effect on vision. Radiation also negatively affects the state of the immune system of animals, only confirming the harm of a mobile phone.

Scientists warn that children who use mobile phones are at increased risk of memory and sleep disorders.

Dr Gerard Hyland from the University of Warwick says the main cause of the disorder is low-intensity electromagnetic radiation, which can penetrate a child's less massive and thinner skull. This radiation affects brain rhythms and can harm the child's immune system, which is in the process of development. The effect of harmful electromagnetic radiation is similar to radio interference, the radiation disrupts the stability of body cells, disrupts the functioning of the nervous system, causing headaches, memory loss and sleep disorders.

A mobile phone prevents you from getting enough sleep.

Even the most ordinary non-working mobile phone, if it is just lying next to your bed, can prevent you from getting enough sleep. The fact is that electromagnetic radiation from a mobile phone, even in standby mode, negatively affects the central nervous system, disrupting the normal alternation of sleep phases. This is what Russian scientists from the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences think. According to experts, electromagnetic radiation with a frequency of 900 megahertz, created by a modern mobile phone, can interfere with natural electromagnetic radiation created by living cells (which also has a frequency in the range of 800-1,000 megahertz). Consequently, this radiation can cause certain malfunctions in the functioning of the nerve centers that regulate the functions of the body - for example, the alternation of sleep and wakefulness or the alternation of phases of fast and slow sleep.

Scientists are starting a new debate about the dangers of cell phones.

As it turns out, it’s not just the electromagnetic radiation from a phone that can pose a danger to human health. More recently, a new round of debate on this topic was caused by events in China, where several people were injured by a lightning strike on a cell phone. In France, the meteorological service also warned all residents of the country that it is dangerous to use mobile phones during a thunderstorm, since “they are conductors of electrical discharge and can cause lightning to strike a person.” At the same time, you don’t have to call on it; it is enough that it is turned on.

Research data from scientists from all over the world on the dangers of electromagnetic radiation from phones is very contradictory. According to Oleg Grigoriev, director of the Center for Electromagnetic Safety at the Institute of Biophysics of the State Scientific Research Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, the problem is that different people react to the radiation generated by cell phones in different ways: 15% of those who are especially resistant simply do not notice it, 70% turn on compensatory mechanisms, and negative consequences appear only after some time, and 15% of users are hypersensitive to electromagnetic radiation. Even after a single conversation on a mobile phone, they experience increased fatigue and sleep disorders, and subsequently develop a reaction resembling an allergy, headache and pressure changes.

In Sweden, they officially recognized the existence of allergies to mobile phones and took an unprecedented step: all mobile allergy sufferers can receive a substantial amount from the budget (about 250 thousand dollars) and move to remote areas of the country where there is no cellular communication or television.

In Russia, a national program to study the harmful effects of mobile phones on human health should be adopted in September. However, as Oleg Grigoriev said, “one must understand that the study of long-term consequences will take more than one year. We will be able to put an end to the discussion about the degree of harmful effects of cellular communications only in a couple of decades.”

The debate surrounding how harmful communication using mobile phones is to a person began several decades ago, from the very moment these portable devices began to be in demand, first in individual countries, and then throughout the world. Scientists and doctors around the world have been conducting thousands of experiments and studies for many years in order to prove or refute certain popular versions about the influence of mobile phones on human life and health. Let's look at the most popular of them, so that in the future each reader can answer the question, has he felt the harm of mobile phones or is it just a myth?

The influence of electromagnetic waves on human health. Scientists have long proven that they are capable of stimulating changes at the cellular level and causing disturbances in the gene order, as well as promoting the appearance of diseased cells in the body and even pathogenic tumors. So how harmful is the influence of mobile devices, the operation of which is a source of constantly generated electromagnetic waves?

A number of experts who have studied this issue have come to the conclusion that mobile devices can negatively affect health only with excessive, almost round-the-clock use of modern devices, or with the use of outdated, very first mobile phones, which “emitted” much more electromagnetic waves due to imperfection technologies at the dawn of the wireless era. Thus, you can safely communicate using modern mobile phone models, but do not abuse such communication. The manufacturers of such devices themselves do not believe that the products they produce are more dangerous than the same ones that no home can live without in our time.

Negative effect on the immune system. With constant unlimited use, the harm of mobile phones becomes especially noticeable. Research shows that participants in experiments in Denmark and Norway who used mobile phones every day for a long time began to complain of drowsiness, headaches and became more irritable than subjects who limited their communication via cellular communications.

Scientists have also found that constant use of mobile phones can significantly weaken the immune system, which will lead to the emergence of a number of diseases and can aggravate chronic diseases. Therefore, the harm and benefit of cellular communications is the totality of the reasonable use of such brainchildren of progress.

The influence of electromagnetic waves on the brain. Many scientists primarily associate the harm of mobile phones with the influence of electromagnetic radiation on the head. Moreover, such radiation is created around not only mobile phones, but also a number of other devices that have confidently entered our lives - computers, televisions, microwave ovens, radiotelephones and other devices.

This affects not only brain tissue, but also retinal tissue, visual, auditory and visual structures. Minimizing the harm of mobile phones on “our heads” will again allow limiting the use of these devices in everyday life.

Mobile phone and children. Due to the fact that a child's skull is thinner and less massive, electromagnetic radiation has a much greater impact on our children than on adults. Therefore, the harm of mobile phones on children’s bodies is much more noticeable than the impact on the health of adults. Because of this, scientists around the world are calling for the most careful monitoring of the time children spend talking on mobile phones.

Thus, we can safely say that the harm and benefit of a mobile phone in the modern world are relative concepts. Everything will depend solely on the intensity of use of this type of device - with a reasonable approach, a mobile phone can bring exclusively benefits to its owner, almost completely eliminating the negative impact on the body.

Just recently we did not know about its existence, but now everyone has it, even children. It is no longer just a means of communication: having acquired new capabilities, it has become our favorite toy, an indispensable assistant, practically a friend.

But is everything so rosy in our relationship with him? Is a mobile phone really dangerous for our health, what diseases can become constant companions for those who are addicted to talking on a mobile phone, how to protect yourself from harmful effects, for whom it is strictly not recommended to use mobile communications?

The influence of a mobile phone on a person

Over the past few years, the telephone, while retaining, of course, its direct, original purpose, has to a very large extent become a means of entertainment (primarily this applies to young people and teenagers). With a mobile phone, with all its capabilities, there is almost never a dull moment. For children and teenagers, a mobile phone is gradually turning (or has already turned) into a beautiful, but quite expensive toy. For older people, a mobile phone, its model, and ringtone become part of their image. Now we can paraphrase the famous saying: “Show me your mobile phone, and I will tell you who you are.”

Currently, it is clearly established and proven that addiction to mobile phones exists and is progressing.

This is one of the key problems of modern society. Closedness and inability to communicate with others and get in touch with them greatly interferes not only in personal life, but also in many areas of professional activity.

In the modern world, the demand for sociable and open people is increasing, but their number is increasingly decreasing. And one of the main reasons for this is the passion for communicating via SMS and mobile dating.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with mobile dating if you don’t take it too seriously and bring communication with other people to the fore without neglecting it.

In some cases, people who met through mobile chat services do not even want to meet each other in person. They are quite happy with everything, and such communication is enough. But if for some reason access to this cellular communication service is temporarily or permanently closed, such people believe that there is absolutely nothing interesting in life.

But, returning to the advantages of communicating in mobile chats, we can highlight the absence of the need to look good, dress, comb your hair, brush your teeth... Holding a mobile phone in your hands, you can listen to music, eat something, do other things at the same time, and the interlocutor will never know about this if you don’t tell him, and he won’t blame you for not only being busy with him. As a result, we often see disheveled, chewing people hanging out on mobile chats and forums.

People dependent on mobile communication thus gradually lose their appearance and become more and more distant from other people.

It’s paradoxical, but true: people who buy a cell phone really out of necessity, who actually have to talk on it a lot (most often due to professional duties), subconsciously hate it, and once again do not want to pick it up, turning it off the first time. these are opportunities. But such opportunities, unfortunately, for these people, are extremely rare. At the same time, such people, being busy, self-sufficient and without free time, often know nothing about the structure of their mobile phone, except for the way in which they should make and receive calls and (and not always) read and write short text messages. Most often, they may not even be aware of the presence of interesting games, numerous melodies, etc. in their mobile phone. Many also avoid using the camera built into the phone, preferring higher-quality photographs and video recordings taken using specialized digital equipment.

Harm of mobile phones: dependence on radiation

In addition to numerous theories explaining mobile addiction for psychological reasons, there is a hypothesis based on the negative effect of electromagnetic mobile phone radiation.

According to this assumption, mobile phones have a certain kind of effect on the human body that is initially imperceptible, but still exists. Sooner or later, as in the situation with traditional mind-stupefying substances, the body gets used to this radiation, it becomes acutely and systematically necessary for a person, therefore, with its long absence, the body feels discomfort not only on a psychological, but also on a physiological level. True, this hypothesis has not yet been precisely confirmed, although it has its own weighty premises and it certainly contains a significant amount of truth and has the right to life.

Thus, there are many reasons for the development of a painful addiction to mobile phones, and almost all of us (at least at certain moments) are potentially susceptible to it. But this does not mean that we should all abandon this fashionable and convenient technological achievement. You just shouldn’t go to extremes and, as a result of some circumstances, become slaves to your mobile phone. It should be remembered that it was invented by man to make his life easier; the telephone is designed to work for him, and not vice versa. In case of life failures and stressful situations, they should be solved as they arise, relaxing when you really need it, but not allowing your mobile phone to make your life dependent on it.

The main thing is a sense of proportion, as in everything else.

Harm of a mobile phone for children and pregnant women

Research by scientists has shown that the most sensitive to the effects of various radiations are organisms in which intensive cell division occurs - one of the foundations for intensive growth, reproduction and healing of cells, tissues and the entire organism. Therefore, it is no coincidence that many researchers note the special sensitivity and, consequently, the high danger of radiation for children and fetal development during pregnancy. It turned out that when using a mobile phone, a child’s body gets tired much faster and more often than adults, mental instability, stress, aggressiveness and depressed mood develop faster, and the immune system is destroyed.

Voluntary exposure of the brain to microwaves from a mobile phone is the largest biological experiment on humans.

Currently, almost the entire population, scientists, doctors, physicists are very concerned about this problem - the effect of a mobile phone on the human body. This is due to the fact that, firstly, the number of cellular users is increasing daily and hourly in geometric progression, and secondly, the number of base stations is growing, and they are also a direct source of radiation. And, finally, the proximity of the telephone receiver to the head, and the recorded increase in cases of brain tumors also make us wary and link the telephone and the deterioration of human health together.

Harm from mobile phones: studies from different countries

The Swedish National Institute of Labor and the Radiation Protection Authority in Norway carried out research into the effects of mobile phones on health. And they found out an absolutely incredible thing: it turns out that even if a person uses a mobile phone for less than 2 minutes a day, this person still experiences unpleasant sensations, and various side effects occur.

Research conducted in Israel has shown that talking on a mobile phone for long periods of time can lead to visual impairment. It has been found that people who talk frequently and for a long time on a mobile phone put themselves at greater risk of developing cataracts.

In addition, lovers of messages and mobile toys also risk greatly reducing their visual acuity. When reading messages or other information stored on the phone, we strain our eyes. In addition, in daylight conditions, the mobile phone screen becomes very dark. Imagine how our eyes strain, trying to figure out what is written there.

As for the thermal effects of electromagnetic radiation, numerous studies on earthworms in Scotland have shown that when the worms are irradiated with microwaves, they seem to have received sunstroke or heatstroke and the structure of their protein has changed and mutated. Microwave radiation can heat living tissue not only outside, but also inside a person, which leads to various changes at the molecular level, often unfavorable. Outwardly, a person may be completely healthy, but micromutations have already affected his body and have begun to accumulate, and they can also be transmitted to offspring. And who knows what effect these mutations will produce when they appear after several generations. Our descendants will reap the “fruits”.

Studies conducted in the USA have shown that over 70% of radiation from a phone is absorbed by the user's tissues. In addition, mobile phone radiation causes changes in the bioelectrical activity of the brain.

Some features of mobile phone radiation

It must be said that the electromagnetic transmitter of a mobile phone is constantly looking for connections with the nearest source of the same waves, attracting them to itself. Therefore, users who talk on the phone in a train, car, or subway car expose themselves to the greatest danger to their own health. This is due to the fact that the phone begins to emit the most powerful radiation, seeking a connection with the source of the waves, that is, with an antenna that is not nearby. And in conditions of unstable reception (poor connection or interference), the transmitter power is automatically increased to the maximum value in order to contact the base station. Can you imagine the radiation index in a subway car if everyone has a telephone and every second person is talking at the moment? It seems that the air should thicken from so many electromagnetic waves. Therefore, if you see that the connection is, to put it mildly, bad, it is better to wait for good reception.

Another important aspect of the impact mobile phone radiation on the immune system: our body productively “cohabits” with a large number of microorganisms that live in our intestines, on the skin, in the mouth, etc. Such cohabitation is called symbiosis and pleases both parties. The microflora of a person is formed the moment he is born into the world. Microorganisms help us digest food, secrete necessary substances and protect us from the invasion of “aggressors” - bacteria and viruses that can cause any disease. Microbes produce vitamins and participate in the synthesis of certain hormones. The largest number of them are found on the skin, in the intestines, in the mouth, and on the mucous membranes. Electromagnetic radiation can cause the death of some microbes that are beneficial to us, as well as change their properties. This leads to the fact that half of our microbes die, and half mutate - turning into aggressors. In place of the dead, pathogenic microflora colonize and cause the development of intestinal infections of various etiologies. Result: the occurrence of all kinds of dysbiosis, fungal infections, digestive disorders and many other diseases. Dysbacteriosis, by the way, is quite difficult to treat. With this disease, qualitative and quantitative changes in the composition of microbial communities in the gastrointestinal tract are observed. After all, these microorganisms also protect our immunity, being responsible for protecting us from unexpected “intrusions.” You need to take care of your own microflora, and then it will also protect you.

Thus, we conclude: electromagnetic mobile phone radiation has an inhibitory effect on the formation of the immune response and makes the body more vulnerable to external environmental factors. We stop coping with infections, they become severe, and with a significant decrease in immunity, infections can be layered on top of each other, and this is very difficult to cure.

The influence of mobile phone radiation on human reproductive function

It's no longer a secret that mobile phones (or rather, the electromagnetic radiation emitted by them) can affect reproductive function - the ability to conceive. Men are more fortunate in this sense, because sperm are periodically renewed and mutations do not accumulate in them; but women are most sensitive to these influences - female eggs are not renewed throughout life. The accumulation of mutations in the egg increases the risk of such a woman having an unhealthy child with congenital malformations, perhaps incompatible with life. But still, Hungarian scientists have found that electromagnetic radiation from a cell phone can affect a man’s sperm. It is noticed that the number of sperm decreases, there are almost half of them, and in addition, they begin to move in the wrong direction and more slowly than they should. Of course, in this situation it becomes difficult to conceive a child. Therefore, a warning would be useful: do not carry your phone on your belt or in your pockets.

Tips for limiting exposure to cell phone EMFs:

do not place mobile phones near where you usually sleep;
do not talk on it unless absolutely necessary;
do not use a cell phone for persons who are predisposed to various mental illnesses, as well as persons suffering from sleep disorders, decreased mental and physical activity and activity;
Pregnant women should refrain from using mobile devices;
do not recommend the use of mobile phones to minor children;
do not carry a cell phone on your chest, belt or in your chest (or inside) pocket for a long time;
use radiotelephone models with a lower UPR value;
when talking on a radiotelephone, it is recommended to take off glasses with metal frames, since the presence of such frames can lead to an increase in the intensity of the electromagnetic field affecting some areas of the user’s head;
constantly use the “hands free” system;
ensure that the distance from the radiotelephone to surrounding people is at least 50–80 cm;
in conditions of unstable reception, the power of the device automatically increases to the maximum value, therefore it is recommended to either limit or completely abandon long-term negotiations, or use a negotiation location with favorable (stable) reception;
at a dacha or in a country house, it is more advisable to use a stationary external omnidirectional antenna (for example, a car antenna) or a special directional antenna;
ISP relays also pose a certain danger. The repeater antenna regularly emits a very strong signal in all directions. The best way to avoid exposure to EMF repeaters is to change your place of residence or work, or change your house to a panel house. The fact is that the panel reinforcement somewhat shields the apartment. A metal mesh on windows with a cell size of no more than 10 cm helps protect against the harmful effects of EMF;
do not damage the telephone antenna, since changes (violation of the structure) of its geometric parameters (dimensions, bends, torsion, etc.) worsen communications (change reception conditions, increase transmitter power);
When purchasing a new phone model, opt for mobile phones equipped with an external antenna, as well as good sensitivity, as stated in the characteristics;
adhere to a balanced diet and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Cell phone A compact, sophisticated, high-tech electronic mobile communication device. Includes a transceiver for 2-4 microwave bands, a specialized control controller, interface devices, a display, and a battery.

The cell phone and base station maintain constant radio contact. When moving, a cell phone periodically switches from one base station to another, choosing the station that has a stronger signal. Even when the phone is in call waiting mode and there is no conversation in progress, it operates in pulsating mode.

The network computer always knows with which base station a given mobile phone maintains stable radio communication. The communication computer stores the time of negotiations and the location of the subscriber.

Harm

Damage from a cell phone

Scientists have found that mobile communications are a source of harmful electromagnetic radiation for human health. It has now been proven that electromagnetic waves stimulate changes at the cellular level, cause disruption of gene order, and contribute to the appearance of diseased cells and pathogenic tumors.

Scientists have proven that when electromagnetic waves penetrate tissues, they cause heating. Over time, this adversely affects the functioning of the entire body, in particular, the functioning of the nervous, cardiovascular, and endocrine systems. This proves that the harm of cell phones is enormous.

Many subscribers when using cell phones experience unpleasant heating in the head area and around the ear. Young people under thirty are at greatest risk.

Harm from cell phones for children

Children are especially sensitive to mobile phone radiation. Scientists warn that children who use mobile phones are at increased risk of memory and sleep disorders. The main cause of the disorder is low-intensity electromagnetic radiation, which is able to penetrate the child’s less massive and thinner skull.

This radiation affects brain rhythms and can harm the child's immune system, which is in the process of development. The effect of harmful electromagnetic radiation is similar to radio interference, the radiation results in:

Violation of the stability of body cells
Disruption of the nervous system
The appearance of headaches
Memory loss
Sleep disorder

The effect of a cell phone on health

The main symptoms of adverse effects ( cell phone harm) on health status are:

Headache
Drowsiness
Irritability
Memory impairment and decreased ability to concentrate
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Pain and pain in the eyes
Dryness of the mucous membrane of the eye
Progressive visual impairment
Changes in blood pressure and pulse

All these signs are characteristic of vegetative-vascular dystonia. In addition, under the influence of harmful electromagnetic fields generated by a mobile phone, a so-called immune system stress reaction occurs in the body. According to doctors, this may reduce the body's resistance to disease and other harmful external influences.

According to scientists, prolonged exposure to sources of electromagnetic radiation can cause asthenic syndrome, premature aging of the body, metabolic disorders, diseases of the nervous system, sensory organs and a number of other diseases.

Different people react to the radiation generated by cell phones in different ways: 15% of those who are particularly resistant simply do not notice it, 70% turn on compensatory mechanisms, and negative consequences appear only after some time, and 15% of users are hypersensitive to electromagnetic radiation. Even after a single conversation on a mobile phone, they experience increased fatigue and sleep disturbances, subsequently developing a reaction resembling an allergy, headache and changes in blood pressure and pulse (it has been proven that after talking on a mobile phone, blood pressure increases by 5-10 mm Hg ).

Benefit

The benefits of a cell phone

Cell phones are compact and multifunctional.

Cellular communications allow people to communicate from almost anywhere in the world. Currently, cellular communications are the most common of all types of mobile communications.

How to use a cell phone

Limit the time and frequency of cell phone use - more than 2-3 minutes per call and more than 10-15 minutes per day. You can use a wireless headset while away from your phone, or use speakerphone if possible.

Don't sleep next to your cell phone. Electromagnetic radiation from a mobile phone, even in standby mode, negatively affects the central nervous system, disrupting the normal alternation of sleep phases.

Try to carry your cell phone close to your body as little as possible, for example in your pockets; it is better to carry it in a bag.

When at home, place it at a distance of at least 50 cm from yourself.

It should be taken into account that in shielding conditions (cars, reinforced concrete buildings), the flux density of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) affecting a person increases many times over.

Try, if possible, not to use the phone in places where there is poor reception (elevator, underground premises, transport, etc.), since with poor reception the mobile phone tries to find the transmitter antenna, and because of this, its radiation is amplified many times over .

It is less common to use a mobile phone in enclosed spaces (car, house), since the waves emitted by it can be reflected by walls and coatings, which increases exposure several times.

Do not put your mobile phone to your ear while it is in the process of searching for a network operator (this also happens when you turn on the phone and when the reception is very poor). At this moment it emits the strongest.

The same applies to rural areas, where, far from antennas, there is also often poor mobile reception.

The wireless method of transmitting data from one mobile phone to another (developed under the Bluetooth brand) adds additional radiation power to the mobile phone.

When choosing a phone, take an interest in its radiation level (SAR) and try to choose a phone with the lowest rating.

If you follow basic safety rules of use, the harm from microwave radiation from a cell phone will be minimized.

You and I are so accustomed to always “being in touch” that we don’t even remember and don’t want to remember how we lived 20 years ago without this very connection. We stood in lines at telephone booths, always had two kopecks in our pockets, and knew the phone numbers of friends and colleagues by heart. But technological progress got us hooked on cellular communications, and now literally everyone uses mobile phones, from first-graders to pensioners. But is everything so good and safe? Isn't there a great danger hidden in a small device for us and, first of all, for our children?

To whom do we owe the appearance of the mobile phone?

In the 30s of the 20th century, the Detroit police first tried to use one- and then two-way telephone mobile radio communications to transmit information. During the Great Patriotic War, in 1943, the Soviet electrical engineer and inventor Babat G.I. created and tested the “great-grandfather” of the modern mobile phone – a monophone that works wirelessly.

In 1946, Soviet engineers Shapiro and Zakharchenko and, in parallel with them, the American company Bell Laboratories tested radiotelephone communications from a car. In 1947, the Americans developed the operating principle of mobile telephony - hexagonal cells. And in 1957, Moscow engineer Kupriyanovich L.I. introduced to his compatriots the first telephone that could be carried with you, and a base station for it. It weighed almost 3 kg, worked within a radius of up to 30 kilometers without changing batteries during the day.

Thus began the era of mobile phones. In Russia, cellular communications became firmly established in 1991, when the Delta Telecom company was created in St. Petersburg.

What is SAR and what is it for?

Modern mobile phones have become completely different. They are light, beautiful, compact, multifunctional. Only one thing has not changed: the “mobile phone” was and remains a source of electromagnetic radiation dangerous to humans. Since mobile communications cannot be taken and erased from the life of modern society, it became necessary to clearly (in numerical terms) explain to people that there are dangerous cell phones, and there are very dangerous ones. In order to assess the harmful effects of mobile phones on the body, a special indicator was introduced - the specific absorption rate of electromagnetic energy (SAR). It shows how much electromagnetic field energy (in Watts) was absorbed by one kilogram of the human body in one second.

SAR- this is the first thing you need to ask when buying a new cell phone, looking at the instructions included with it. If the SAR does not exceed 0.2 W/kg, the phone has a very low irradiating ability. If this indicator falls within the range of 0.2–0.5 W/kg, it is low, and if it is more than 0.5, but less than 1.0 W/kg, it is average. The irradiation capacity is considered high for devices with SAR exceeding 1.0 W/kg. Unfortunately, the world has not yet developed a unified method for determining this coefficient, so the results of identical studies conducted in different laboratories differ significantly from each other.

The impact of a cell phone on the human body consists of two components: thermal and non-thermal.

Thermal or temperature effects are the ability of the device to heat objects adjacent to it. In this case, these are organs and tissues, especially those that contain large amounts of water: the brain, salivary glands, thyroid and parathyroid glands, pituitary and pineal glands, eyes. When talking on the phone, which is usually always near one ear, the blood vessels on one side of the head dilate due to an increase in local temperature. Compensatoryly, on the other side, the vessels narrow, causing hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) of the tissues.

The non-thermal effect is based on the fact that the mobile phone generates low-frequency electromagnetic waves. The frequency of some of them coincides with the frequencies of bioelectric impulses recorded on the EEG in the brain, and this threatens the onset of resonance, the consequences of which are difficult to predict. Convulsive seizures, mental disorders, etc. cannot be excluded.

It is impossible not to mention rare, but very real cases from life when cell phones exploded in the hands of their owners, causing damage to their health of varying degrees of severity.

Consequences of a child's first acquaintance with a cell phone

For the first time, a child is exposed to radiation from a “mobile phone” while still in the womb. For the baby, the mother’s addictions to chat for an hour or two with a friend, to “sit” on social networks on the phone, or, which is not excluded, to watch a movie missed on TV, do not go unnoticed. And electromagnetic radiation at this time “does its dirty work”:

“interferes” with the structure of the fetal chromosomes, provoking the formation of malformations and anomalies;
causes a narrowing of peripheral blood vessels, due to which the fetus experiences oxygen deficiency;
disrupts the metabolism in cells, they lack oxygen, and they lose the ability to divide normally;
“shatters” the hormonal balance of the female body, which can result in a miscarriage;
affects the central nervous system of the unborn baby, which may manifest itself in the future as increased excitability and inappropriate behavior.

Pregnant women who are responsible for the health of the child should use cellular communications only when absolutely necessary.

Even after birth, a child is an easily vulnerable object for electromagnetic radiation. Why? An adult is a fully formed organism with a reliable defense system. A child's body continues to grow and develop until the age of 16–18. Imperfection of the musculoskeletal, nervous, immune, endocrine, hematopoietic and other systems in a growing body turns a child into an easy target for harmful environmental factors. The younger the child, the higher the likelihood that electromagnetic waves from a cell phone will “hit the target.”

Possible consequences of a child being exposed to a mobile phone:

Numerous studies and experiments conducted by scientists from different countries confirm that sooner or later the following happens in the human body, constantly exposing itself to electromagnetic waves:

In brain cells, the content of reactive oxygen species increases, which causes oxidative damage to DNA. And this leads to an increased risk of developing cancer, feelings of fatigue and headaches;
the risk of developing glioma, one of the common primary brain tumors, increases;
the risk of developing salivary gland cancer and epilepsy increases;
in the brain, the alternation of the phases of slow and fast sleep, periods of wakefulness and sleep is disrupted;
the risk of developing cataracts and myopia increases;
bone density decreases in the area of the body that is constantly in contact with the “mobile phone”;
Blood pressure steadily rises.

Psychological dependence on a cell phone is another problem in childhood. Some children merge with the device into a single whole, not letting it out of their hands day or night. Attempts by parents to separate their child from their mobile phone result in hysterics and even attacks of rage and aggression. Neither persuasion nor threats help. And then you have to resort to the help of specialists: a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a neurologist.

Another danger of a cell phone (especially an expensive one) is that, having such a device, a child can become a victim of fraud at any time. Dishonest people go to any lengths and tricks to force a child to voluntarily give up his cell phone. If they fail, they are able to use force and not only cause moral trauma to the child, but also cause physical harm to his health.

The desire of parents to always know where their child is, how he feels, and what he is doing is quite natural. But if a child attends a preschool, he will definitely get by without a cell phone. The teacher has all contact phone numbers to contact parents.

It’s another matter if you often have to leave your child under the supervision of a neighbor or nanny. These are strangers, no matter how well they know their parents. In this situation, you can buy your baby a “mobile phone,” but only a special one, not “the same as dad’s.” Phones for preschoolers resemble bright toys in appearance; they have only the most necessary buttons (7 pieces): answering a call, hanging up, an “SOS” button and four buttons for communicating with parents and two more relatives. The built-in GPS navigator is an opportunity to monitor where the child is. Such “mobile phones” are programmed via SMS, so the baby will not be able to change the settings.

Parents, when sending their child to first grade, include a cell phone in the list of required school supplies. Only a few of them will hear advice to buy a simpler and cheaper model, while the rest will make a choice based on their financial capabilities. It’s good if they ask about the SAR value. Therefore, today's schoolchild without a mobile phone is nonsense. And there is no need to convince anyone - the 21st century is just around the corner.

After purchasing a phone, parents must use any means to convey to the child and instill in him that a cell phone is a means of communication, and not a game console or a camera. This is difficult to do, but necessary.

Parents should also teach schoolchildren how to use a mobile phone and handle it correctly. . Here are the points on which they should focus their child’s attention:

at school during lessons, in the theater, in the hospital, in the library, switch the phone to “silent” mode;
do not forget to return it to normal mode if there are no restrictions;
carry your phone in your briefcase and not in your pocket;
do not use a mobile phone in transport;
during a conversation, do not cover the phone with your entire palm, but hold it with three fingers by the lower part of the case;
when talking with a subscriber, move the “mobile phone” from one ear to the other;
do not leave the device on the desk, in the hallway on the windowsill or in any other place unattended;
do not answer calls from unknown numbers;
while walking, do not talk on the phone or write messages;
do not give your mobile phone to strangers, even if they ask;
do not wear a cell phone on a neck lanyard;
do not use a wireless headset;
write a message instead of a call, if possible;
do not put the phone to your ear while connecting with a subscriber;
do not talk to the subscriber for more than two minutes;
turn off your cell phone at night and wake up when your regular alarm clock rings;
remember that someone else’s phone is an inviolable thing.

Zaluzhanskaya Elena Aleksandrovna, pediatrician