Human health impacts
Since the introduction of mobile phones, concerns have been raised about the potential health impacts from regular use. As mobile phone penetrations grew past fixed landline penetration levels in 1998 in Finland and from 1999 in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, the Scandinavian health authorities have run continuous long term studies of effects of mobile phone radiation effects to humans, and in particular children. Numerous studies have reported and most studies consistently report no significant relationship between mobile phone use and health. Studies from the Institute of Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute and researchers at the Danish Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen for example showed no link between mobile phone use and cancer.The Danish study only covered analog mobile phone usage up through 1995, and subjects who started mobile phone usage after 1995 were counted as non-users in the study.The health concerns have grown as mobile phone penetration rates throughout Europe reached 80%–90% levels earlier in this decade and prolonged exposure studies have been carried out in almost all European countries again most reporting no effect, and the most alarming studies only reporting a possible effect. However, a study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of 4,500 users found a statistically significant link between tumor frequency and mobile phone use.
The link between cellphones and low sperm quality suggests that the radiation emitting from mobile phones may be potentially dangerous and should be considered as such.
There has been one reported death from a mobile phone malfunction. In 2007, it was reported that a mobile phone battery exploded killing a man in Korea.It was later discovered to be a lie.
Environmental impacts
Like all high structures, cellular antenna masts pose a hazard to low flying aircraft. Towers over a certain height or towers that are close to airports or heliports are normally required to have warning lights. There have been reports that warning lights on cellular masts, TV-towers and other high structures can attract and confuse birds. US authorities estimate that millions of birds are killed near communication towers in the country each year.
An example of the way mobile phones and mobile networks have sometimes been perceived as a threat is the widely reported and later discredited claim that mobile phone masts are associated with the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) which has reduced bee hive numbers by up to 75% in many areas, especially near cities in the US. The Independent newspaper cited a scientific study claiming it provided evidence for the theory that mobile phone masts are a major cause in the collapse of bee populations, with controlled experiments demonstrating a rapid and catastrophic effect on individual hives near masts.Mobile phones were in fact not covered in the study, and the original researchers have since emphatically disavowed any connection between their research, mobile phones, and CCD, specifically indicating that the Independent article had misinterpreted their results and created "a horror story".While the initial claim of damage to bees was widely reported, the corrections to the story were almost non-existent in the media.
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Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Mobile phones and driving safety
Prevalence
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that in 2005 about 10% of all vehicles on the road at any given daylight hour were using a mobile phone, up from about 8% the previous year.
Handsets
Research indicates that using a mobile phone while driving is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated and mobile phone use while driving is far more prevalent than drunk-driving. Talking and driving at the same time lowers the driver's reflexes, rendering them slower to react to and avoid other drivers.
One study of almost seven hundred Canadian drivers showed a rate of collision four times higher when using a mobile phone than when a mobile phone was not being used. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine reports that drivers who used mobile phones while driving were four times more likely to crash than those who don't, a rate equal to that for drunken driving at the 0.08 g/dL blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level.[citation needed]
An experiment conducted by the American television show Mythbusters concluded that use of mobile phones while driving poses a similar risk as someone operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Hands-Free
Several studies argue that the increased "cognitive workload" involved in holding a conversation is the real danger, not the use of hands. Several studies carried out at the Accident Research Unit at the University of Nottingham have warned of the dangers posed by driving while talking on a mobile phone.As these studies deal with the effect of increased attentional load on driving performance, they also apply to hands-free phones, which are considered by some countries to be safe. The major problem is that the person with whom the driver is conversing cannot see the traffic situation and therefore does not regulate their level of conversation to allow the driver to concentrate when, say, approaching a junction. This problem does not apply to conversations with a passenger, as passengers can regulate the flow of conversation according to the perceived level of danger, and also provides a second pair of eyes to spot hazards.
A study carried out by the University of Utah found that driving while using a mobile phone is "at least as dangerous as driving while over the legal alcohol limit". They also found that hands-free devices do not reduce the distraction caused by talking on a mobile phone. According to a study published in the British Medical Journal and funded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there was only a slight safety benefit from using a hands-free phone. The study showed that drivers who use cell phones, even hands-free models, are four times as likely to be involved in wrecks involving a serious injury than are drivers who do not use cell phones.
from: wikipedia
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that in 2005 about 10% of all vehicles on the road at any given daylight hour were using a mobile phone, up from about 8% the previous year.
Handsets
Research indicates that using a mobile phone while driving is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated and mobile phone use while driving is far more prevalent than drunk-driving. Talking and driving at the same time lowers the driver's reflexes, rendering them slower to react to and avoid other drivers.
One study of almost seven hundred Canadian drivers showed a rate of collision four times higher when using a mobile phone than when a mobile phone was not being used. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine reports that drivers who used mobile phones while driving were four times more likely to crash than those who don't, a rate equal to that for drunken driving at the 0.08 g/dL blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level.[citation needed]
An experiment conducted by the American television show Mythbusters concluded that use of mobile phones while driving poses a similar risk as someone operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Hands-Free
Several studies argue that the increased "cognitive workload" involved in holding a conversation is the real danger, not the use of hands. Several studies carried out at the Accident Research Unit at the University of Nottingham have warned of the dangers posed by driving while talking on a mobile phone.As these studies deal with the effect of increased attentional load on driving performance, they also apply to hands-free phones, which are considered by some countries to be safe. The major problem is that the person with whom the driver is conversing cannot see the traffic situation and therefore does not regulate their level of conversation to allow the driver to concentrate when, say, approaching a junction. This problem does not apply to conversations with a passenger, as passengers can regulate the flow of conversation according to the perceived level of danger, and also provides a second pair of eyes to spot hazards.
A study carried out by the University of Utah found that driving while using a mobile phone is "at least as dangerous as driving while over the legal alcohol limit". They also found that hands-free devices do not reduce the distraction caused by talking on a mobile phone. According to a study published in the British Medical Journal and funded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there was only a slight safety benefit from using a hands-free phone. The study showed that drivers who use cell phones, even hands-free models, are four times as likely to be involved in wrecks involving a serious injury than are drivers who do not use cell phones.
from: wikipedia
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