AS Science in Society – Topical issue sample 1
Mobile Phones – to blame for cancer surge or not?
Abstract
In this report I am investigating if mobile phones are as dangerous as the media portrays. I
will give details about how mobile phones work and the electromagnetic spectrum. The
scientific studies which give support to both sides of the question will be discussed and
evaluated. Finally I will give my opinion about whether mobile phones are to blame for
cancer and what we should do about it.
Introduction
Mobile phones are becoming increasingly popular worldwide; however the growing number
of mobile phone users seems to coincide with the growing number of cancer cases,
especially brain cancer as mobiles phones are held against the dead. Mobile phones emit
small amounts of electromagnetic radiation; there are debates as to whether this type of
radiation has a negative effect on living cells. Articles in the media portray most radiation
types negatively; this may contribute towards the public’s fear of developing a serious illness
due to mobile phone usage. The effects of mobile phones on humans is not yet clear,
although experiments carried out on other living animals seems to suggest the radiation
damages cell tissue and causes many side effects, does this apply to humans also?
Main points
A mobile phone has a transmitter inside it which takes the sound of a person’s voice and
encodes it into a continuous sine wave. A sine wave is a type of continuously varying wave,
this wave radiates out from the antenna of a mobile phone into space. The radio waves that
send the encoded signal are made up of electromagnetic radiation (waves of electric and
magnetic energy moving at the speed of light). All electromagnetic radiation is measured on
a scale called the Electromagnetic Spectrum; this measures the frequency of the radiation.
The higher the radiation frequency, the more damage it does to biological tissues.
As you can see on the Electromagnetic Spectrum, mobile phones have the same
electromagnetic radiation levels as microwaves. In the 1970s, there were concerns raised
about magnetic fields from power lines causing leukaemia in children. Subsequent
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AS Science in Society – Topical issue sample 1
epidemiological studies found no connection between cancer and power lines. Similar
concerns about computer monitors went unfounded. Mobile phones have a larger radiation
frequency and so will pose more of a risk to biological tissues.
Mobile phone radiation and living tissues
Radio frequency radiation emitted by mobile phones has the ability to heat human tissue,
much the way
Microwaves heat food. Damage to tissue can be caused by exposure to radio frequency
radiation from mobile phones as the body is not fully equipped to cope with excessive
amounts of heat. An Australian study (no name and date given) that mice exposed to pulsed
mobile phone radiation over 18 months had twice the risk of developing cancers due to the
electromagnetic radiation. Similar tests were carried out on rats, learning and short term
memories were impaired after 45 minutes exposure to electromagnetic radiation.
Studies of electromagnetic radiation on pregnant mice suggest that high exposure to mobile
phones can affect the development of embryos: there was double the amount of birth
defects in the mice which had been exposed to the radiation, compared to the control group
which had not been exposed.
All of the evidence collected from the testing of electromagnetic radiation on animals seems
to suggest mobile phones are linked to the rate of cancer growth among other side effects,
for example; damage to biological tissue, birth defects and different cancer types.
The effect of mobile phones on humans
It has been proven that mobile phone radiation causes damage to living cells and biologist
Roger Coghill’s latest research, 15th October 1998, suggests the radiation reduces the
body’s ability to fight disease and infection. Coghill took white blood cells form a donor, kept
them alive and then exposed them to different magnetic fields for 7 hours. 13% of the cells
exposed to mobile phone radiation remained intact and able to function, compared to 70% of
cells exposed to only the magnetic field produced by the human body. The depletion of white
blood cells makes the body more susceptible to many types of disease and infection;
cancerous cells cannot be effectively fought off, so the chances of getting cancer will
increase. Other biologists would argue the right kind of data is hard to collect; assessing the
risks of mobile phone radiation on humans involves interpretation and judgement. Results
from radiation testing on rats and mice could mean nothing to humans; the affects could be
totally different. Rats and mice are much smaller than humans, and so the dose of radiation
would be much greater to them, this may mean the risk of cancer is nearly non-existent to
humans as the dose is relatively low to us. Mobile phones are seen as having non-ionising
energy, which basically means the energy produced is usually safe and causes little more
than a heating effect. Ionising sources have enough electromagnetic energy to strip atoms
and molecules from biological tissue and alter chemical reactions in the body: examples of
ionising sources are gamma rays and X-rays. Ionising radiation causes damage to living
tissues. As mobile phone radiation is non-ionising, people automatically assume mobiles are
safe to use.
It take years to prove whether or not mobile phones cause a growth in the rate of cancer
cases, the only way to be 100% sure would be to expose 10,000 humans to the radiation
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AS Science in Society – Topical issue sample 1
from birth and compare the effects to 10,000 others who had not been exposed to the
radiation This type of experiment would be illegal and pretty inhumane, although it would
prove whether or not mobile phone radiation causes an increase in cancer cases or riot. If
mobile phone radiation does actually cause an increase in the amount of cancer cases, this
would show in the results as there would be a significantly larger amount of cancer cases
than in the control group. The results from this experiment would relate to humans, as the
results from experiments on other animals may be insignificant to mankind.
Discussion
I believe mobile phones do emit a relatively large amount of electromagnetic energy for their
size, this can be seen on the electromagnetic spectrum. Although mobile phones are said to
be non-ionising, I believe they do have enough electromagnetic energy to alter chemical
reactions in the body, this is shown by biologist Roger Coghill’s research using white blood
cells. The white blood cells exposed to the mobile phone radiation were nearly all unable to
function, compared to 70% of cells able to function after being exposed only to the body’s
natural magnetic field. I cannot ignore the evidence from the exposure of the rats to the
radiation; all of the rodents experimented on showed increases in rate of cancer growth
among many other side effects. The effect of mobile phone radiation on the rodents cannot
be that different to the effects on human cells as the cells are more or less the same only
with different DNA inside and so will both be susceptible to cancer. This evidence shows
there will most definitely be a risk to humans in my opinion. Low doses of radiation e.g.
mobile phone radiation, do not have immediate effects like high doses, but rather increase a
person’s risk of illness in the future. If a person constantly uses a mobile phone I believe
they are more likely to develop a side effect such as cancer (because of the above reason).
An irradiated object does not become radioactive, but ionisation can cause damage to living
cells. Although mobile phones do not emit ionising radiation, I believe the damage they do is
just as harmful in the long run due to repeated exposure. Repeated exposure to mobile
phone radiation damages the white blood cells in the body and so it is harder for the immune
system to fight off cancerous cells and the disease is free to grow.
Conclusion
The information I collected whilst researching this topic has given me very clear views on the
question “Mobile phones- To blame for cancer surge or not?”. There is a very strong link
between mobile phone usage and cancer growth rate, the strongest piece of evidence I
believed to be was the information on the depletion of white blood cells supplied by biologist
Roger Coghill. This information shows how a person may be more susceptible to cancer due
to mobile phone radiation, it is a fully explained and logical theory which I believe to be
correct. The theory explains that the immune system can no longer defend the body against
cancerous cells, and so the disease is left to grow. Therefore more usage of mobile phones
leads to more chance of cancer development. Negative articles in the media about mobile
phone radiation are well justified. I believe warnings should be given to each person who
wants to buy a mobile phone, similar to health warnings on the packaging of cigarettes,
mobile phones may lead to cancer, and people should be made aware of the health risks
they are taking.
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AS Science in Society – Topical issue sample 1
Glossary
Radiation frequency- amount of times a wave oscillates up and down per second. Sine
waves are measured in terms of frequency.
lonising radiation-Radiation which has enough
electromagnetic energy to strip atoms and molecules from biological tissue and alter
chemical reactions e.g. gamma rays, X-rays.
Non-ionising radiation- Radiation which is typically safe, causes some heating effect, usually
not enough to cause any long term damage e.g. radio frequency.
References and sources
-Article from The Daily Mail, January 1998 (facts and figures).
-Howstuffworks.com
• Quotes and information on Roger Coghill
• FCC (Federal Communications Commission) USA (information).
• Information on how mobiles work.
-www.bbc.co.uk (health)
• Mobile phones are linked to cancer (Monday, November, 1998.
• Immune system ‘Attacked by mobile phones’ (date unknown).
-GAO report
• “Research and regulatory efforts on mobile phone health issues”. (published May
2001).
-Text book- A New Introduction to Human Biology
• Authors- Bill Inge, Martin Rowland and Margaret Baker.
• First published 2000.
-Used to research about cancer.
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©The Nuffield Foundation, 2009
Copies may be made for UK in schools and colleges