Are you male or Female?
Male ▢ Female ▢
Have you or anybody you know suffered from cancer?
Yes ▢ No ▢
If so, what type of cancer?
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Would you assume that if you had received cancer, you would die?
Yes ▢ No ▢
Do you agree with the concept of voluntary euthanasia?
Yes ▢ No ▢
Why do you believe this?
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Do you trust your mobile phone?
Yes ▢ No ▢
Have you ever thought twice about using your mobile for the fact that it may affect you?
Yes ▢ No ▢
Do you personally believe that mobile phones can cause cancer?
Yes ▢ No ▢
Why do you believe this?
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From my results, it is clear to me that several people disagree with this statement. Some people believe this is because the fact that scientists believe there may be a correlation is ridicules. Others believe if this were to be true, why haven’t they stopped making mobile phones and why haven’t they tried to stop retailers and other businesses to stop selling mobile phones. On the other hand, those who agreed with this statement said as the mobile phones with these new features have come out recently; we do not know the long term effects some of these applications will have on human beings. From my results, it is evident that several people believe there is not a correlation between Mobile Phones and Cancer. In addition, my responses told me that they do not know any long term affects that device such as Bluetooth and what affects can have upon us and how they work.
As this is a debate that is going on worldwide, my first piece of research is from the BBC. They had said, “Mobile phone use does not raise the risk of cancer, at least in the first 10 years of use”. As the BBC is a big organization, this information can be trusted. In addition, although it says that it doesn’t affect them within the first 10 years, what about later on when they’ve used it longer then 10 years. This source does not state that so in the long term there is still a chance that they could get cancer. Although they believe that within ten years of mobile phone use does not increase the risk of getting cancer, on this same page they then say when they had done research in a few countries in Europe, and they had found out that it might cause acoustic neuroma. “Acoustic neuroma is a noncancerous (benign) tumor that develops adjacent to your brain on a portion of the eighth cranial nerve, which runs from your brain to your inner ear and controls balance and hearing”. The latest data from the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, included 678 people with acoustic neuroma and 3,553 without this form of tumor. The fact that 678 people got acoustic neuroma from mobile phones is horrendous. So already from my research, I’ve found out that mobile phones can cause acoustic neuroma.
But if mobile phone use does turn out to have health risks, children would be more at risk because
- Their nervous systems are still developing
Due to this information, as parents are purchasing phones for their children at a younger age, if mobile phones do cause cancer, their may be a greater chance of children receiving cancer. “Is it true that using a mobile phone hands-free ear piece will cause cancer”? I had also found this on the cancerhelp website which states mobile phone hands-free ear pieces can cause cancer. This is due to as they use radiowaves which are so powerful; they may cause the following symptoms; impaired memory and ability to reason and the loss of control over both body movements and heart rate. Therefore this could this possibly state that the older version of phones based between the 1900’s and 1990’s, often referred to as the brick, could cause cancer if they’re used for a long period of time.
The final piece of evidence that I’m going to use is going to be from the cancer research website. As cancer research is such a well established charity that has the main objective to try and abolish cancer, I’m assuming that they’re likely to have a good understanding of this debate and whether it is true or not. In addition, Cancer research funds itself therefore it’s not using taxpayer’s money or other sources. Most of the people who work for cancer research do it for the good cause rather then the money or any other reason.
“Scientific evidence so far shows that using mobile phones doesn't increase your risk of any type of cancer”. If this piece of evidence is true then the answer to my question has been solved. However, from my earlier results, I had found that just fewer than 70% of the people asked to complete my questionnaire had thought twice before using their mobile, as they believed it could affect them. So although the cancer research website may have tried to reassure people that mobile phones do not cause cancer, other websites and the media have tried to persuade the public to such an extent that some people think twice before using their mobiles.
“The largest study so far on mobile phones and cancer is a Danish study, which looked at over 420,000 people. It found no link between mobile phones and any type of cancer including brain cancers and leukemia”. This could possibly state the answer to my original question. The fact that 420,000 took part in this experiment means that they will have a good understanding of the results. In addition, from 420,000, they may be able to find out if there is a correlation or cause between the two things. “A few studies have found that people with brain cancer are more likely to develop the disease on the side of the head that they hold their phone to”. So although it is suggesting that mobile phones do not cause cancer, they’re now stating the fact that very few reports have stated that people can receive brain cancer from mobiles. They believe that depending on what side of your head you hold a mobile on, that side of the brain may get brain cancer. Although the cancer research website is trying to reassure people that mobile phones don’t contribute to cancer, this quote states that mobiles still have a connection with cancer.
Conclusion
Overall, I believe that mobiles may cause acoustic neuroma however other then brain cancer, I personally believe mobile phones cannot cause any other cancer. This is because I personally believe that if you use a mobile regularly and you use it on the same side of your head for a long time, you could get brain cancer. Some of the symptoms of brain cancer are; Headaches, Seizures, Nausea, Vomiting, Vision problems, Hearing problems, Dizziness, Hydrocephalus, Brain swelling, Behavioral problems, Personality changes, Cognitive problems, Memory problems, Memory loss, Motor problems, Weakness of arms or legs, Numbness of arms or legs, One-sided body weakness, Stumbling, Lack of coordination, Gait problems, Balance problems, Speech problems and Hallucinations. In 2005 alone, there were approximately 3425 deaths of brain and nervous system deaths. Therefore, as mobile phones contribute to brain cancer, I assume that the number will rise rapidly in the next 10 years. In addition, the fact that parents buy phones for their children at a younger age, I believe that the government or a charity of some sort should advertise this in some way because children will get affected the most by using their phones at a younger age. This is because the radio waves are more likely to be more effective to a child rather then an adult. Also, if there are more cases of a brain cancer, the death rate is expected to increase in which it may give the U.K a bad name.
On the other hand, the argument that states that mobile phones may give you several types of cancer, I believe that argument is untrue as there hasn’t been any proof unlike brain cancer where several huge organizations have said it happens. I trust the information from big organizations as if they’re not telling the truth; they could get big punishments regardless of where they’re from. Though, I do believe that mobile phones may give some people acoustic neuroma.
However, the main question has been answered. Mobile phones can only cause Brain Cancer. Any other reports that state mobiles cause other types of cancer may be a lie or untrue for now.
Sources Table
I would like to say thank you to all the following websites that I have used for letting me use a quote or some information from their website.