First, you must realize that your mobile phone, similar devices, and cell phone towers are not phones. They are radio transmitters and receivers. They emit low-power radiation during operation.
Health Canada had asked The Royal Society of Canada to review and recommend any changes to its Safety Code 6, which sets out limits on radio-frequency fields.
The Society was to review latest research on negative health affects linked to radio waves from mobile phones, cellphone towers, wi-fi equipment, and commercial radio/TV broadcast antennas.
There has been much anecdotal evidence of negative health effects from mobile phone use, but little definitive connection. The World Health Organization (WHO) in a study of scientific research said in May 2011, that mobile phone use is –possibly-carcinogenic resulting in increased incidence of glioma, a malignant brain cancer.
Because we hold the phones close to our heads, mobile phone use has also been suspected as a possible cause of tumours in the head and neck, and in the salivary glands,
Also, research from the journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine found that compared to other men, those who chat on their phone for more than four hours a day had a lower average sperm count and fewer viable sperm.
There has also been suggestions that women who tuck phones into their bras may also increase their risk of breast cancer.
However, the links are so far not conclusive although researchers and health professionals advise people to take precautions nonetheless, such as using the speaker option to keep the unit away from your head.
In its report, the 8-member Royal Society panel says, “The Safety Code 6 limits are science-based and are designed to avoid all known hazards of radiofrequency radiation ,and we do not believe at this time that additional precautionary measures should be introduced directly into the exposure levels or limits.”
Panel chair Paul Demers, director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre in Toronto added “However, we did have a number of other recommendations to Health Canada about precautionary measures that can and should be taken,”
The report said Health Canada should:
- “aggressively pursue scientific research aimed at clarifying” whether there is a link between radiofrequency energy and cancer.
- Give consumers more information about wireless radiation including “recommendations on practical measures that Canadians can take to reduce their exposure around cellphone use (for example, limiting use in areas with low signal strength, and using an earpiece).”
- Investigate and figure out what is causing the debilitating symptoms of people who say they are hypersensitive to radiofrequency radiation – a condition known as idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF).
- Develop a way for the public to report suspected disease clusters and for those suspected clusters to be investigated.
At lease one group was dissatisfied with the report. Canadians for Safe Technology is a non-profit group whose stated goal is to educate Canadians and policy makers about the dangers of exposure to unsafe levels of wireless radiation
The organization accused the panel of siding with the wireless industry and ignoring scientific data warning of health risks.
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