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Is It True That Cell Phone Radiation During Sleep Can Cause Brain Tumors?

30 Dec 2022

Source: https://www.republika.co.id/berita/r04us7425/jauhi-hp-saat-tidur-bisa-pengaruhi-otak

A cell phone is one example of the technology that has become ingrained in modern life. Mobile phones are portable communication devices that are easy to transport. Due to technological advancements, mobile phones are now used for entertainment purposes such as games, hobbies, and others in addition to communication. Therefore, it is usual for people to always have their phones with them, even when they go to bed. However, because they produce radiation, mobile phones have a detrimental effect. Particularly if the phone is close to the body while sleeping, this leads many individuals to worry that it may induce brain tumors.

Cell phones emit radiation like radio frequency (RF) energy of the electromagnetic spectrum like Second-, third-, and fourth-generation cell phones (2G, 3G, 4G) emit radiofrequency in the frequency range of 0.7-2.7 GHz. Fifth-generation (5G) cell phones are anticipated to use the frequency spectrum up to 80 GHz. Cell phones can cause cancer in the brain and nervous system because hand held phones are used close to the head and because ionizing radiation, a higher energy form of radiation than what cell phones emit has been found to cause some brain cancers. Energy from ionizing radiation can damage DNA. DNA damage can cause changes to genes that may increase the risk of cancer. The human body will absorb the energy from devices that emit radiofrequency radiation. The only consistently recognized biological effect of radiofrequency radiation absorption in humans that the general public might encounter is heating to the area of the body where a cell phone is held. There are also frequencies categorized at nonionizing range of the spectrum, which is low frequency and low energy to damage DNA.

Cell phone radiation has effects that are quite harmful to humans. From difficulty sleeping, recurring headaches, and depression can be caused by the radiation.

  • Difficulty sleeping
    A study strongly suggests that the blue light from cell phones can delay melatonin production in the human body. Humans need this hormone melatonin to control our body’s internal rhythms. Other than that, human brains are very sensitive to light. The lack of this hormone caused by the blue light radiated from cell phones can lead to insomnia or make it difficult to fall asleep.

  • Headaches
    It’s not uncommon to find young people or even adults using their cell phones at night, either for work or just scrolling on social media. This habit sometimes would cause pulsing and throbbing pain on the front or back side of the head. A study shows that this condition is called Occipital Neuralgia where human nerves become compressed and emitted headaches caused by radiation and cell phone screens.

  • Depression
    It’s very important to understand the danger of cell phone radiation. It also has an effect on human mental health. In fact, a study said that people, especially teenagers, who were always on their phones were less happy than people who spend little time on screen activities. In addition, cell phones can cause depression or any mental distress.

From 1995 to 2008, cases of brain tumors have increased. Of course, researchers often suspected the existing trend, whether the existence of mobile phones equipped with radiation can cause brain tumors. So to find out more, researchers from Oxford Population Health and the International Agency for Research on Cancer conducted further research. Radiation caused by handphones cannot cause brain tumors. This has been studied by Oxford Population Health and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which states that the use of handphones or smartphones will not cause the onset of brain tumors and has no causal relationship. This has been said by one of the research researchers from the Oxford Population Health Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Kirstin Pirie. This has also been reinforced by the Update of the Study on Millions of Women in the UK on Cell Phone Use and Brain Tumor Risk, which has been conducted on more than one million women in the UK. However, it should also be noted that cell phones that are traded have followed the radiation standards set by the Federal Communications Commission, which is 1.6 Watts per kilogram. So mobile phone users will not get brain tumors. 

Prevention is the key to avoid cell phone radiation while you are sleeping. Immediately move your cell phone away from the head and body area while sleeping to reduce the risk of radiation exposure. Here are the things that can be done to avoid cell phone radiation while sleeping:

  • Place your cell phone in an area that is far enough from where you sleep to provide the distance of radiation that can be emitted from the cell phone.
  • You can change your cell phone setting to airplane mode if you still want to put it near your sleeping area.
  • You can change habits along with your cellphone to be less. So that the time you spend near your cellphone is minimal.

This is a concern for many people about the radiation that can be emitted from the cell phone itself. It would be nice if we were able to use cell phones within reasonable time limits. Even more so at bedtime which is the time to rest for humans. Even though it is true that there is no strong evidence to state that cell phone radiation can cause brain tumors, as humans we still have to take preventive measures. There is nothing wrong if we start trying to prevent cell phone radiation emission.

References:

Retno Shintya Hariyani, Natashya Susanto, Vanessa Calista Handoyo, Vaniecia Citra Dewi, Edric Januar