DIAL M FOR MALADIES
Central Indictment Of Cell Phones Pleases Experts
Central Indictment Of Cell Phones Pleases Experts
Mumbai: Your cell phone could be providing more than just a ticket to easy communication.It could be giving you a mild headache or a persistent buzz in your ears.It has the power to increase your stress hormones and affect your sleep patterns.
As reported by TOI on Thursday,a Central government committee has held that radiation from mobile phones and their towers are a definite health hazard.It also blamed the radiation for the dwindling number of bees,sparrows and insects.
The committees verdict is a vindication of many city-based experts who have been relentlessly calling attention to the illeffects of the cell phone.
For years we have been saying that mobiles have a way of affecting your health.Be it your endocrine system that generates hormones or heart rhythms,mobile radiation have a way of interfering, says endocrinologist Dr Shashank Joshi.
Joshi says that mobile phones should be treated as an emergency tool that one picks up only when in need.It is most distressing to see people under 18 hanging on to mobile phones.It affects their system much more than adults. Joshi had published one of the most comprehensive reviews on mobile phone radiation in JAPI,the peer-reviewed medical journal of the Association of Physicians of India.
Members of the Mobile Tower Grievance Forum,a group of citizens who believe that mobiles cause cancer,are most happy.The report has said exactly what we have been saying for long.Cell phones and their towers are harmful to health, said the forums Milind Bembalkar.
Abroad,there are radiation values given on every cell phone set.But in India,we do not follow such practice.Also,the radiation from the towers here is ten times more than what it is in European counties (as compared to 0.001 watt/sq mt there,we have 10 watt/sq mt in India).This is done so that they dont have to build up more towers.But that invariably happens,as there are so many companies in the market, Bembalkar added.
The group now wants to meet officials of the Maharashtra government to ensure that the state,like many other Indian states,draws up rules and guidelines.
The cell phone industry has repeatedly said that long-term studies from across the world have not shown any significant link between peoples health and mobile radiation.However,a recent paper by British telecom officials said that precautionary principle is best given the lack of scientific data.So,as Joshi says,Reduce your talk time.You can either SMS or use your smart phone to send an email.Digital phones emit less radiation than analogue ones.