How cell phone radiation works

Potential health hazards?

A British study announced that radiation from mobile phones may speed up users' response times, possibly resulting in detrimental effects on the brain.

In another study, two Swedish professors discovered a chilling finding: people who had used analog mobile phones for up to 10 years had a 26 percent higher risk of brain cancer compared to a control sample.

However, there have been studies that offer different conclusions. In December 2001, US researchers found that people who used mobile phones regularly for five years or more did not appear to have a greater risk of developing brain cancer.

The following year, a Danish study mirrored the above findings. It found that mobile phones, even when used regularly for as long as 18 years, did not seem to increase the risk of developing brain cancer, leukemia or cancer of the pancreas.

According to a recent new study conducted by Hungarian researchers, men who consistently carry a mobile may have their sperm count reduced by up to 30 percent. Although there're similar studies in the past, this is the first to suggest that radiation by the handset, even when it's not in use, may impact male fertility.

Amid all these conflicting reports, more researchers are heeding the WHO's call made earlier this month to conduct further mobile phone tests.

"Based on current epidemiological evidence, there is no evidence of a strong association between RF (radio frequency) exposure and cancer," said Elisabeth Cardis, chief of radiation and cancer at WHO's International Agency for Research in Cancer. "One can't rule out that there is a risk, but if there is a risk to mobile phone users it would be very small. More research is needed," she said.

Meanwhile, according to Stephen Chong, Singapore's Health Sciences Authority director of Center for Radiation Protection, the handsfree kit is the "only effective device" recommended by WHO in reducing mobile phone users' exposure to radiation.

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Measuring SAR

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Potential health hazards?