By Nitesh Nirala
Can you guess how many mobile phone users are there in Nepal now? According to the last three months' records at Nepal Telecom, more than 117,000 of post-paid and over 916,600 prepaid cards and some 105,800 of CDMA mobile phone connections have been issued. So if you just calculate an approximate estimate, you would surely find over a million such telephone users. There are still many waiting to get their own new mobile connections and buying new mobile handsets.
But how many are really aware of the radiation problems caused by the use of mobile phones?
Talking to Bipendra Singh, who is a college student, he says, “I spend on average four hours a day on my mobile phone talking to my friends and relatives. Over a week, that could total 28 hours or so."
What he is revealing about himself applies to us as well: every time we use our mobile phones, we get an earful of what's called "radio frequency" or "microwave" radiation. Some of the radiation is absorbed by our body tissues. The radiation is enough to make tissue molecules vibrate and increase in temperature by a fraction of a degree. But it's so small we're not even aware of it.
But in course of time, this radiation bombardment is enough to cause such problems as headache, short-term memory lapse, depression, and sleeplessness. Studies also indicate that there are increased risks of tumors, cancer, genetic damage and other health problems from use of mobile phones. Also, the case of electromagnetic hypersensitivity has been growing among high-rate mobile users, and this is likely to become a serious health issue in the coming years.
Moreover, men who use mobile phones frequently are also apt to develop lower sperm counts than normally, as radiation from their handsets could be damaging their fertility.
People should, therefore, be very restrictive with using mobile phones as there is a growing body of convincing scientific evidence indicating serious hazards other than the ones mentioned above. Especially, the already growing numbers of studies indicating increased risks for brain tumors should be worrisome.
But this doesn't mean we should stop using mobile phones as this might not be possible since such gadgets have become our daily necessity. The best we can do, therefore, is to decrease the use of mobile phones by resorting to them only in emergency. Try using landline connections as far as possible as this means low risks of radiation effects. Also, another way is to use mobile phones which have low specific absorption rate.
Beside this, you can also take care while placing your mobile in your pocket. Avoid keeping your mobile in side pockets which are close to your heart. You can use a mobile holder belt which is a much safer way.-
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