More than two billion people use mobile phones today. In many places, it is more common to use a
mobile phone, or cell phone, than a landline. Mobile phones are especially popular with young people.
They find that the phones are more than a means of communication-having a mobile phone shows that
they are cool and connected.
The explosion in mobile phone use around the world has some health professionals worried. Some
doctors are concerned that in the future, people may suffer health problems from using mobile phones.
Even now, there are people who claim that their mobile phones are making them sick. In one case, a
young salesman had to stop working because of serious memory loss. He couldn't remember even
simple things. He would often forget the name of his own child. The man used to talk on his mobile
phone for six hours a day, every day of his working week, for a couple of years. His family doctor blamed
his mobile phone use, but his employer's doctor disagreed. Of course mobile phone companies are
worried about the negative publicity of such stories. They say that there is no proof that mobile phones
are bad for your health.
While there still isn't any proof that mobile phones are bad for your health, neither is there any proof
that mobile phones aren't bad for your health. Research has shown that using mobile phones affects
brain activity, but it isn't clear why or what effect it might have over the long term.
What is it that makes mobile phones potentially harmful? The answer is radiation. Radiation happens
when one object sends heat or energy to another object. Heat radiation from the sun, for example, is
heat sent from the sun to the earth. High-tech machines can detect very small amounts of radiation
from mobile phones. The amount of radiation from mobile phones falls between the lower amount that
radio waves produce and the higher amount that microwaves make. It's a fact that some radiation
comes from mobile phones. While mobile phone companies agree with this fact, they say the amount is
too small to worry about. Some scientists, however, disagree. They say we still don't know if small
amounts of radiation over a long period of time can cause health problems.
As the debate about the safety of mobile phones continues, you might want to take some advice from
scientists. Use your mobile phone only when you really need to. Keep your telephone calls short. Turn
your phone off when you aren't using it. When you do use it for long calls, try using earbuds instead of
holding the phone to your ear. In the future, mobile phones may have a warning label that says they are
bad for your health. So for now, be careful.