Bad news guys; especially for those of us attached to our phones: Sleeping next to your mobile phone could have adverse effects on your health. Placing it under your pillow doesn’t make life better.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) warns that sleeping with your phone in your bed, or near to your head, could increase the risk of brain cancer [1, 2].
How does this work?
Because they send and receive information from surrounding cell towers,
Cellphones emit radio frequency (RF) energy and that RF may be dangerous. Or not.
The RF waves come from the antenna, which is part of the body of a phone. The waves are strongest at the antenna and lose energy quickly as they travel away from the phone. Typically, the phone is held against the side of the head when in use. So the closer the antenna is to the head [3], the greater a person’s chance of being exposed to RF energy.
Although there is no concrete evidence yet, the possible health effects of RF exposure include “brain cancer and tumors of the acoustic nerve (needed for hearing and balance) and salivary glands, lower sperm counts and inactive or less mobile sperm, headaches and effects on learning and memory, hearing, behavior and sleep.”
In 2011, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also classified mobile phone radiation [4, 5] possibly carcinogenic, meaning that there “could be some risk” of carcinogenicity, so additional research into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones needs to be conducted.
So basically, nothing is confirmed yet.
How can you reduce the harmful effects of cell phone radiation?
CDPH has this to say:
- Don’t sleep with your phone in your bed or near your head.
If you have to, put the phone on “airplane mode” (which shuts down the transceiver) or turn it off. If you need to be available for calls, place the phone several feet away from your bed.
- Reduce the amount of time you stay on the phone. I wouldn’t take this advice if I had a new crush…just saying 🙃
- Try to keep the phone away from you. Use the speaker mode on the phone or a corded or cordless earpiece. This moves the antenna away from your head, which decreases the amount of RF waves that reach the head
- Avoid using your cellphone when it’s sending out high levels of RF. This happens when only one or two bars of service are displayed, when you’re in a fast-moving vehicle, when streaming audio or video or when downloading or sending large files.
While more research is needed to identify short- and long-term health implications of cellphone use, I think it’s best to exercise caution in using them.