Smartphones & wearables dangerous to health?

January 12, 2020

Smartphones & wearables, real wounds or, on the contrary, blessings? If recent studies seem to show that these devices could represent a danger to our health because of the waves, others try to dediabolize them. What is bothering? What impact do waves have on our metabolisms? Risk or not of cancer… Here is the debrief.

There are many suspicions hanging over smartphones and smart health connected objects, particularly because of the waves they emit. A recent study, “Oxidative mechanisms of biological activity of low-intensity radiofrequency radiation", published in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, has collected experimental data on “oxidative effects of low intensity radiofrequencies (RFR) in living cells ”.

According to this study, the oxidative stress, a type of aggression on cell constituents, an inflammatory and mutagenic factor, when caused by repeated exposure to RFR is thought to be linked to cancer as well as other diseases. "These data are a clear sign of the real risks that this type of radiation poses to human health."Said the study's co-author, Dr. Igor Yakymenko. According to it, “The ordinary wireless radiation could trigger the production of ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species)".

When opinions diverge

For Dr. Yakymenko, use a cell phone while 20 minutes a day for five years increases the risk of brain tumor up to three times; using it an hour a day for four years would increase the risk by up to five times. Dr. Yakymenko told the New York Daily News that “data were obtained from adults who have used their mobile phone for more than ten years". The situation would be even more dangerous for children using these devices since their body is more sensitive than that of an adult person.

If all these observations can, at the choice, worry or leave marble, the most skeptical remind that the published study is based on the results of other studies, and describes it as "meta-study". On the website Androidcentral.com, reporter Derek Tessler differentiates in an article the different types of existing waves, recalling that those used by smart health connected objects and mobile phones were the lowest and the least harmful.

The different types of electromagnetic waves

The electromagnetic spectrum represents the different types of existing electromagnetic waves depending on their wavelength, frequency and energy.

"X-rays have 12 million times more energy than your smartphone or watch, and gamma rays, very dangerous, at least 120 million times more energy (…)“, Explains the journalist. The radio waves emitted by smartphones are of the order of 700 MHz to 2.5GHz, for Wi-Fi, we speak of 2.4GHz and 5GHz, as for Bluetooth, it emits an energy of 2.4 GHz. These energies are therefore much weaker than those clearly harmful to humans.

There is no clear evidence of an increased risk of cancer

In his reasoning, Derek Tessler highlights the fact that the 21st century is one of questioning around the airwaves of devices such as mobile phones and their possible impact on health, particularly in terms of the increased risk of cancer. The journalist recalls, however, that doctors and engineers assured that there was no scientific evidence proving that. Certainly studies have shown that we cannot definitively rule out the idea that wireless devices emit harmful waves, however all remain cautious and use the term “may be".

PubMed.gov website, seems to agree with the journalist, “Epidemiological data on the relationship between RFR and cancer are examined. Communications by radio waves are widely used in modern society; we are therefore all exposed to RFRs, created by radio, television, wireless telephony (…). Interest in the effects of RFRs has been motivated by the rapid growth of wireless communications and by reports expressing their concern that diseases could possibly be linked to RFR (…)". At the end of the paragraph, after explaining that experiments have been carried out on laboratory animals, the author concludes “Our current state of knowledge on exposure, mechanisms, epidemiology and animal studies does not identify significant cancer risks".

The National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health in the United States also sided with Derek Tessler, “There is no evidence from cell, animal, or human studies that radio frequency energy can cause cancer". TheAmerican cancer society also states that “RF waves emitted by mobile phones don't have enough energy to directly damage DNA or heat the body tissues". If these conclusions are to be believed, we can therefore wear our smartwatch or smart health connected bracelet without worrying too much and continue to phone, in moderation, at the risk of burning up our package.

[ad_2]