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Faith Hamphill

Mr. Campbell

UWRT 1104

7 November 2017

About 90% of Americans own a cell phone or a similar mobile device. Cell phones have evolved

from being a luxury to an absolutely necessity in American society. There is no question that this is a

sure sign of technological advancement over the years, seeing that there was no such thing as a phone

before 1973. But, in the past few years there has been a question introduced to America society: could

cell phones have adverse effects on human health? And this is the question that I chose to center my

Extended Inquiry Project around. I found the topic very intriguing and decided to do some in-depth

research. I wanted to know what about cell phones was harmful to the human body? How does that

harmful substance enter our bodies? And what kinds of illnesses could it causes?

Many doctors and researchers are digging deep and trying to find answers to these questions.

Just as I am. Many organizations believe that cell phones are dangerous and should be monitored

carefully in order to prevent significant illnesses spreading throughout America as a result of cell phone

use. I would like to believe that cell phones are harmless because I own one and I use it very often, but

there is only one way to be sure. So, I have decided to do my own research in order to be able to

establish my own view of the topic.

While completing my research the first thing I needed to know was which aspect of the cellular

device is harmful? Is it the entire device as a whole or just one particular feature? I found that the radio

frequency electromagnetic waves are what causes hazardous effects. Dr. Argarwal, a professor in the

Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University states that "Exposure of radio frequency

energy depends upon the frequency of the cellular phone being used. Also, while reading his article "Cell

Phones and Male infertility: dissecting the relationship" I learned that radiant energy can be absorbed
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into human body three ways. The first is by the aerial effect: when our body receives and absorbs the

radio frequency signal depending upon the size of the body part and wavelength of the signal. Second is

coupling of the radio frequency signal with our bodily tissues. And third is resonant absorption. The

federal Communications Commission suggests cell phones users to keep a minimum distance of 20

centimeters from the handset to significantly reduce radiation exposure. This was a proposed solution

after the commission informed American that Adults and especially children can suffer the long-term

effects of radiation waves on the brain.

One of the most common yet least expected negative health effects caused by cell phones is

male infertility. In 2005 a study was done on 371 men undergoing infertility evaluations. It was proven

that the duration of possession and daily usage time of cell phones correlated negatively with the

proportion of rapidly progressive spermatozoa. This suggests that frequent use of cell phones has a

negative effect on sperm motility, or its ability to move around. Researchers have also proven that when

radio frequency radio is at a high frequency it has heating properties that lead to thermal effects. And an

increase in our bodily tissues temperature on exposure to electromagnetic waves can cause reversible

disruption of spermatogenesis. Which is the process in which male organisms produce sperm. Another

way that electromagnetic radiation can cause infertility is when it causes scrotal heating and induces

DNA damage in male sperm.

Throughout my research process I found that the most prominent illness caused by cell phones

is cancer. While reading an article on the better health channel website I learned that radiation can be

separated into two groups: ionizing and non-ionizing. Non- ionizing radiation which can prompt

molecules to vibrate and rise in temperature. And ionizing radiation which the website states can cause

changes in atoms or molecules in the body that can result in tissue damage such as cancer. Also, in her

womens Health Magazine, Sascha De Gersdorff wrote that radio frequency can transfer energy waves

into our body and disrupt its normal functioning leading to DNA damage which is a precursor to cancer.
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Additionally, there was an interphone study done in 2010. It is the largest study to date on radio

frequency exposure. The results of the study proved that people that talked on their cell phones for

thirty minutes a day throughout the course of ten years saw their risk of developing glioma, a type of

brain tumor, increase by forty percent.

There are many other health effects that are less severe yet just as important to be aware of.

Bader K AlZarea and Santosh Patils article Mobile Phone Head and Neck Pain Syndrome: Proposal of a

New Entity highlights this stating that even though mobile phones have been proven as the best and

efficient way for communication between families and friends, and among various professionals surplus

usage of this device may adversely affect the health of an individual. It then went on to explain an

experiment that was done and the results of the experiment that proved how cell phones can cause

adverse effects on human health. I learned that the purpose of this study was to assess the health

effects of mobile phone use among university students of Saudi Arabia. In this study 369 students at

Aljouf University were given self-administered pre-tested questionnaires that included various mental

and Physical health symptoms that are related to mobile phone usage. The results showed that the most

common symptom experienced was cervical pain, it was reported by 71.2 % of the students. Headaches

were the second most common, reported by 63.3%. 54.5 % reported irritability, 50.7 % reported anxiety,

47.4% lack of concentration, 36.8% reported straining of eyes, 31.3% reported insomnia, 28.5% reported

memory problems, 19.6% reported depression, and lastly, 16.91% reported itching or irritation of skin.

Just as I have plenty of researchers that found information that proves cell phones can be

dangerous and cause certain illness for humans, I have also found that some doctors and organizations

believe that the danger of cell phones is being exaggerated or just hasnt been proven enough. For

example, the World Health Organization says Mobile Phones are transmitting radio waves through a

series of base stations where radio frequency waves are electromagnetic fields that cannot break

chemical bonds or cause ionization in the human body. Also, a study was done in 2010 by a Health
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Protection Agency group set up to examine the safety of mobile phones. The study found that there

was no convincing evidence of cell phones causing any adverse effects on human health.

I believe that the information that I have found is extremely important to American society

today because mobile phones have become such a huge part of American culture. This is something that

has the potential to impact millions of people and I believe that they should be aware of the illnesses

that cell phones have the potential to expose them to. In my opinion, there is more than a sufficient

amount of evidence to prove that cell phones can be dangerous when used frequently. Several studies

have been done and the results supports the claim that cell phones can cause cancer, male infertile,

headaches, fatigue, anxiety and many other adverse effects on human health. I believe that some

doctors or other professional may not want to accept that this is true because cell phones are so

important in todays society and it would be extremely hard for Americans to adjust to a life without

them. I also think that these doctors know that if they were to try to extract cell phones from American

society the resistance would be difficult to overcome and could possibly cause major conflict between

American citizens and researchers. Overall, I now believe that cell phones, if used frequently enough,

could definitely be harmful to human health because I know that they can cause cancer, male infertility,

headaches and many more adverse health effects. I believe that this is something that they public

should be more aware of and I hope that doctors as well as technological workers are looking for a

solution for these potential problems.

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Works Cited

Agarwal, Ashok. Cell phones and male infertility: dissecting the relationship. Reproductive Biomedicine

Online, 25 June 2007 http://www.rbmojournal.com/article/S1472-6483(10)60338-0/pdf

Better Health Channel. Mobile Phones and your Health. June

2014https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/mobile-phones-and-your-

health?viewAsPdf=true

Gersdorff, Sascha. Health Risks of Mobile Devices Womens Health Magazine.

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/sex-and-love/cell-phone-radiation

Patil, Santosh R. Mobile Phone Head and Neck Pain Syndrome: Proposal of a New Entity. OHDM

October 2015. Vo. 14, no. 5 https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/mobile-phone-head-

and-neck-pain-syndrome-proposal-of-a-new-entity-2247-2452-1000833.pdf

PEER REVIEW COMMENTS

Faith, your topic is really interesting and popular, Ive heard about all the harms youre mentioning.

Your paper is written from your own experience researching the topic and I think thats a good move for
the introduction (I did the same), however, I would try to be more engaging. You could try to drag the
readers attention even more. Also, you could avoid expressions like I believe or I think, because I
could make the essay look like it is about you and your experiences, instead of research and concrete
details. On the other hand, I would go back and make sure that your paragraphs are not that long.
Remember that its better if you mention only one or two sources per paragraph, and some insight or
explanation of those sources. You could also use different transitions to go from one paragraph to
another, or to go from one idea to another. What I do is that I look up transition words in google and
pick different ones, or you could use the templates of writers moves we used for our previous studio.
Those are helpful, they make your paper look awesome and help the reader understand your points. Also
make sure to check Purdue Owl to see if youre citing your sources correctly.

Overall, I think you did a good job !!

Valentina Rojas.
Nov. 21, 2017
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