Are Cell Phones Safe?

The topic of this paper is cell phone radiation and whether or not it is harmful to a person’s health. My position on the topic is that cell phone radiation is harmful to people’s health, as has been shown in numerous studies (Nylund & Leszczynski, 2006; Gandhi, Morgan, de Salles et al., 2012). Two opposing viewpoints on the topic are that 1) cell phone radiation is not harmful to a person’s health—which is what the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has argued, and 2) there is just not enough information on the topic to make an informed decision.

Three reasons to support my position are: 1) that cell phones have been shown to affect brain development (Kesari, Siddiqui & Meena, 2013); 2) cell phones have been shown to affect fetal development and children’s development (Gandhi et al., 2012); and 3) cell phones have been shown to alter the way cells grow, which is a potential link to cancer (Nylund & Leszczynski, 2006).

The first reason supports my position because if cell phone radiation is negatively changing the brain, it cannot be said to be good for someone. Kesari et al. (2013) clearly show in their research that cell phones can cause neurodegenerative disease if one endures prolonged exposure to cell phone radiation. This is obviously problematic for constant cell phone users.

The second... As Gandhi et al. (2012) show, cell phone radiation does alter the development of babies and children.
The third reason supports my position because if cell phone radiation is altering the way cells grow, then it could potentially be a cancer causing agent. Nylund & Leszczynski (2006) show in their research that cell phone radiation can produce alterations in gene and protein expression in human endothelial cell lines. This means cell phones are not safe.

What led me to believe things were this way was my initial skepticism regarding technology. I am by no means a Luddite, but I am suspicious of holding a device that emits radiation up to your head all the time. Maybe it is just the common sense in me talking, but I feel that if you are going to constantly expose yourself to a piece of equipment that is continuously giving off radiation, you should probably expect there to be some adverse effects happening in your health.

Two biases that I experienced in my examination of the topic were cultural bias and confirmation bias. My biases did not contradict the position I took because in the end what I suspected all along was what the evidence did indeed show…