Bad News

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Big news today, cellphones may be carcinogenic to humans.

WHAT?!

Yup! The sweet gadget you wear proudly on your hip, or hold tenderly in your hands or whip out to impress someone may very soon be linked to CANCER. I know that word brings the fear of Goliath into my heart, I'm not quite sure about you.

In our modern view of cancer, images of suffering come to mind. The pain, the expensive treatment, the complications that may follow and the looming threat of death. While many cancers are treatable, the one being referred to in the article released by WHO, a glioma, typically grows in the spine or in the brain where glial cells can be found. It is a malignant cancer, which basically means it is the killing kind and it is very rarely curable.

A 2010 survey showed that women of color were the greatest users of cell phones in the United States and with the incredible proliferation of cell phone usage in Africa, which recently surpassed the number of cell phones purchased in Europe, we know that even more people of color around the World are using cell phones to communicate with one another.

According to the WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC that included 31 scientists from 14 different countries that met in Lyon, France, exposure to the non-ionizing radiofrequency electromagnectic fields produced by cell phones increases the risk of cancer. This poses a serious public health concern since there are estimated to be well over 5 billion cell phone users globally and rising quickly. Of course more research needs to be conducted, and conducted quickly so that the proper measures are taken.

So what does this mean for you? Cell phones have become vital to the convenience of our lives. A single text message routed to friends and relatives on the other side of the World lets them know you are thinking about them. Cell phone use was responsible for bringing us up to date information from the ground this past February as we watched Africa's second largest economic power relieve themselves of an oppressive dictatorship. We need our cell phones to find out if the restaurant we want to visit is open, but there are ways to use it and reduce the amount of exposure to the electromagnetic waves.

1. Purchase a pair of ear pieces (no blue tooth gadgets either. They are just as bad).
2. Purchase a phone that will allow you to have a conversation via speaker-phone.
3. Turn off your cellphone whenever there is a stretch of time that you will not be using it.
4. Put your cellphone in airplane mode so it does not continue to search for a connection to a tower.
5. When you are not using it, keep your cellphone away from your body.