A new study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee shows that many cell phone users experience many negative effects from their daily cell phone use. The study pinpointed the lives of over 1300 adults over the course of 2 years. This study showed that people who consistently used a cell phone or pager throughout the study experienced increased levels of “spillover” between work and home. This led to decreased satisfaction with family life overall. The report suggested that women were more likely to experience the spillover than men at work and men more than women at home. In other words, women seemed to get more calls at work about problems with the kids and so on, while men would get more call at home about work, both disrupting the other (Reimer).
A study by Dr. Argawal, PH.D, shows that we are exposed to microwave radiation through our cell phone use. In detail, this causes electromagnetic waves to alter and cause problems while we sleep, trouble when trying to concentrate, fatigue, and increases symptoms of headaches, among other things. Even more severe, they have been shown to damage key brain cells and trigger early indications of Alzheimer’s disease. The cell phones have also been shown to negatively affect the areas of the brain that deal with memory, learning, and movement. A study performed by Swedish researchers suggests this information. This study was performed on rats that experienced radiation equivalent to that of a cell phone for 2 hours. In the study, researchers reexamined their brains after approximately 50 days only to find that their was an abundance of dead brain cells.
There is also the potential negative risk associated with cell phones and driving while talking on them. Dr. Rothman states that the risk of getting into an accident while driving and talking on a cell phone or shortly after a cell phone was about 4 times greater than driving without one or with hands free devices like Bluetooth. This information was from the Epidemiology evidence on health Risks of cellular phones. This makes sense in that if we are driving and talking, we are simply less likely to concentrate on the road than we normally would be. These negatives are in addition to studies showing increased stress levels and negative effects on the environment.
Overall, cell phones have positives and negatives, but it seems indicative through research that the positives are more for convenience while the negatives can be life and/or death. A healthy balance may be what society needs to strive for. Anyway, I got to go, my cell phone is ringing !!!
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http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2006/01/5909.ars
http://www.controlyourimpact.com/2008/03/disadvantages-of-cell-phones/
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The spillover you talk about is funny because my wife and I experience it in the oppososite manner. I have a work cell that I do not turn on when I am off, so I never get calls on it. While I am at work though, she is always calling me about something. She, on the other hand, is a teacher and director of a the preschool grades, so she doesn't get too many calls at school while she is teaching, but gets a lot from other teachers and parents while at home.
ReplyDeleteI stay home with the kids so I dont have to worry too much about the spillover. My husband does get calls from work, so I guess it is partly true in our household.
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