How harmful a cell phone can be when you talk often. Is it dangerous to talk on the phone while it is charging? Is it possible to protect yourself from radioactive radiation from a mobile phone?

As children, many of us have probably heard the phrase: “When I eat, I am deaf and dumb!” We didn't understand then Why can't you talk while eating?, without taking seriously the warnings of loved ones. Few people understand that this habit is very dangerous for the human body and can be fatal.

To prevent this, let us consider in detail the swallowing mechanism. It is complex, so let’s talk specifically about its main aspects:

  • Chewing food thoroughly, we use our tongue to gradually push it towards the esophagus. During this, a small tongue closes the passage between the cavities of the nose and mouth. Remember, when talking while eating, pieces of it may accidentally move into the nasal cavity.
  • You can choke and develop chronic bronchitis.
  • Food can enter directly into the respiratory tract. The human body is protected by a special cartilage called the epiglottis, which closes the passage to the larynx during food intake. By inhaling air deeply at this time, or laughing sharply, you can open the hole slightly, opening the way to the windpipe. This incident could be fatal. Food entering the lungs can cause asphyxia and suffocation.

Now you will understand why can't you talk while eating? or laugh. Death is no joke.

What dangers await us while eating?

In addition to the above, there may be other dangers associated with talking while eating. Research by scientists has proven that a person conducting a conversation at the table while eating food may encounter the following problems:

  • Excessive fluid intake. When distracted by conversations, most people drink a lot of liquid with food. Drinking water or soda subsequently negatively affects the digestive process.
  • Lack of feeling of satiety. This problem often leads to excess weight and overeating.
  • Risk of poisoning. When communicating with friends or work colleagues in public places, you may not notice stale food, which increases the risk of food poisoning.

Based on the above, we can summarize that talking while eating is completely inappropriate and life-threatening.

Some rules of behavior at the table during meals

When developing correct eating habits, we must learn three main rules of behavior at the table:

  1. chew food thoroughly (this will improve the digestive process);
  2. While eating, avoid talking, reading, or watching your favorite TV programs or movies (concentration will help you avoid hazardous health consequences);
  3. do not rush (the meal should take place in a calm atmosphere).

We also don’t forget to teach children proper table manners. Explain to them in detail that talking at the table is very dangerous and can lead to undesirable consequences. If you have any difficulties with this, consult a specialist (dietitian).

And if at the dawn of the advent of cell phones timid statements were heard about the bad influence of these portable devices on a living organism, now such warnings are sounding more and more loudly. And today our editors will try to figure out is a smartphone really harmful?, as they say about him.

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Phone damage

They are studying quite serious organizations. Thus, the US National Cancer Institute has identified three main reasons that make one fear mobile phones.


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Still, most scientists consider it doubtful that frequent use of a mobile phone leads to cancer. Indeed, during a conversation, when the device is pressed to the ear, the radiation acts in such a way that tissues close to the phone become hot.

But no direct relationship was found between such a rise in temperature and cancer. And if a person uses a headset or speaks on a speakerphone, then the radiation has almost no effect on him.

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However, there are other factors that are not in favor of phones:


In addition, a smartphone has an extremely bad effect on the quality of sleep, which entails a number of other health problems. And the stupid habit of charging your phone next to your bed only adds to the overall harm.


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Are phones dangerous?? Everyone must answer this question for themselves. But while there are discussions about the possible harm of electromagnetic radiation to the human body, we see a very real danger from portable devices. Therefore, mobile phones should be used wisely, without becoming a hostage to new technologies.

How often do you use your smartphone?

Russians, who at work have to communicate on a cell phone for three hours a day, should be given, if not milk for its harmfulness, then scientists offer other benefits. And doctors will prescribe temporary isolation from cell phones for many patients. And for at least two weeks. Such unexpected proposals were made at the round table, which was held at the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia. Our conversation with the head of the laboratory of radiobiology and hygiene of non-ionizing radiation at the FMBC im. A.I.Burnazyan FMBA of Russia Oleg Grigoriev.

Oleg Alexandrovich, is it true that if you talk on your cell phone for five minutes, it won’t do any harm?


- Studies on volunteers conducted in our laboratory have shown that the human body begins to respond to the electromagnetic field emitted by a cell phone after approximately 30 seconds. There will be no harm in only one case - if you use hands-free and do not bring it closer than 50 cm to your head. In general, our experiments have proven that with a single exposure to the electromagnetic field created by a mobile phone, changes occur, after which the body is quite easily restored. That is, such an effect cannot be called pathological. Therefore, it is not the one-time impact that is taken into account, but the total impact throughout the day. For example, if you talk for more than an hour in total, you receive an energy load comparable to the radiation dose allowed in industry (those who work in such industries are under the close supervision of doctors). And if you “hang on the phone” for about 3 hours a day, then you are seriously harming your body. This may not appear immediately, but after six months or, say, 10 months. By this time, the total energy load will accumulate and reach a certain critical threshold.


Therefore, we propose to consider people who make a lot of calls at work as professional mobile phone users and conduct in-depth medical examinations of them at least once a year. This must be legislated. We have now begun to develop a method for adequately measuring the energy load on a cell phone user. It will allow you to make accurate calculations - who is entitled to a medical examination and who is not.


- First of all, these are children and adolescents, since their brains are still developing. In addition, people with diseases of the central nervous system and asthenics should be especially careful. There is also a hidden risk group - allergy sufferers. And, finally, people with increased sensitivity to electromagnetic fields (by the way, these constitute approximately 5% of the entire population).


- Today it is possible to determine how badly the body has suffered specific person from EMF generated by mobile phones?


- We are currently developing such a standard. This is revolutionary work, since no one in the world has done this before. We began to compile a “Protocol for establishing a connection between health conditions and electromagnetic exposure when using a cell phone.” In it we will introduce an accounting of individual sensitivity to mobile phones. For your information: 10% of the European population believe that cell phones are harmful to their body. Among them, there are three categories: those with high sensitivity to EMF; people who just talk a lot on their cell phones; and, finally, those prone to neurasthenia - it only seems to them that something is wrong with them. So this protocol will differentiate all three categories to help them. Thanks to it, it will be easier to determine the degree of damage to the body.


- Do many Russians injured by mobile phones turn to doctors? And how are they being helped today?


- People come to us at FMBA every day. And methods of recovery and treatment are selected individually, and this is where the protocol will help us. This could be some kind of medication, physical therapy aimed at improving overall health. But we definitely prescribe isolation from mobile phones. Usually for 3-4 weeks, but sometimes the body needs more.


- What would you advise for a quick recovery for a person who just had to hang on the phone for half an hour?


- Take as long a break as possible before calling again. Do exercises that improve cerebral circulation.


- Your research has shown that the human body reacts differently to each communication standard. Which one is easier to tolerate?


- There is no definitive data. In addition, we conducted all the studies in laboratory conditions, and the mode of operation of the phone in an urban environment is very different from them.


- Are the current cellular communication standards in Russia too lenient?


- I wouldn't say that. The American standard makes only one requirement for phone manufacturers - the absence of a thermal effect (say, so that the user’s head does not heat up by more than 1 degree). Russian ones are more humane in this sense - they say that mobile phones should not have a negative impact on the central nervous system.


- Should the sale and use of mobile phones be limited?


- It is impossible and unnecessary to restrict sales - the phone is dangerous only if used excessively. But on each device or box in which it is packaged there must be an inscription - something like “the Ministry of Health warns: use is not recommended for children under 18 years of age.” Almost like on cigarette packs. By the way, our Sanpin norms actually contain such an instruction; all that remains is to oblige manufacturers to remind people about it. We also suggest using posters and signs in all public places to remind people about the moderate use of cell phones. And, of course, you shouldn’t be allowed into schools or institutions where pregnant women are being monitored with cell phones.


- Some believe that in a few decades the human body will adapt to mobile phones...


- It has long been proven that a person can normally exist only in natural, natural electromagnetic fields created by the Sun, Earth, etc. It can be assumed that sooner or later he will adapt to artificial fields. But if, due to underestimation of the danger of mobile phones today, only 1% of people suffer, then we are talking about millions of patients. And here it’s scary to even imagine the consequences for the economy and history.

Maria Selivanova, economic commentator for RIA Novosti.

“Using a mobile phone is harmful to your health” - such an inscription, it seems, can already be placed on every handset. For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially announced a possible connection between mobile phone use and the development of brain cancer in humans. Many Russian doctors confirm the WHO's findings. To minimize harm to active mobile phone users, they recommend not holding the phone to their head, but using so-called hands-free headphones.

Although group 2B, which is assigned to electromagnetic radiation from cell phones, only means “possibly carcinogenic,” this finding may prompt the WHO to change its rules for cell phone use.

Non-medical experts point to the lack of specific data on illnesses caused by cell phones, continued progress in reducing phone radiation, and the fact that ease of use cellular communication overcomes any fear in people.

The risk is confirmed by statistics

Three dozen scientists from 14 countries told a meeting of the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that a review of all available scientific evidence makes it possible to classify the use of mobile devices as "potentially carcinogenic".

“After reviewing virtually all the current evidence, the working group of scientists classified high-frequency electromagnetic fields as potentially carcinogenic to humans,” Reuters quoted Jonathan Samet, head of the IARC team of scientists working on the issue, as saying.

According to the expert, there is evidence that “mobile” radiation can increase the risk of developing glioma, a type of brain tumor.

Research on the connection between electromagnetic radiation from cell phones and the possible occurrence of cancer has been ongoing since the advent of mobile phones. In the process of research, scientists analyze the life circumstances of people with a certain type of cancer, including their habits of using a mobile phone, the head of the laboratory of radiobiology and hygiene of non-ionizing radiation at the FMBC told RIA Novosti. A.I. Burnazyan of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) of Russia Oleg Grigoriev.

Over the past 15 years, at least two dozen different studies have been conducted. The findings tended to contradict each other.

Experiments at the FMBA have proven that already 30 seconds after the phone turns on (which the subject does not know), the body begins to react to this with a change in bioelectrical activity. For the average healthy person, such a single exposure is absolutely safe, says Grigoriev. But over time, people who often talk over mobile phone, begin to complain of fatigue, poor sleep and memory, which indicates degradation of the central nervous system, said a representative of the FMBA.

"There is such a thing as the energy load of an electromagnetic field - this is the value to which the sanitary standard is tied. If a person uses a mobile phone for one hour during the day, then, according to the criterion of energy load, he falls into the category of professionals associated with servicing electromagnetic field sources (these are radio installers , radio technicians, workers servicing electrical networks), says Grigoriev. “They are recommended to undergo an annual medical examination.” If a person uses the phone for more than three hours a day, then he exceeds even the “professional” dose.

Children are at particular risk

If the connection between the use of a mobile phone and the occurrence of cancer is still controversial, the harm caused by radiation from mobile phones to the health of children is already obvious to Russian scientists.

“In children who use mobile phones, radiation affects a larger volume and a greater number of brain structures, since the child’s brain is smaller than that of an adult, and the permeability of the child’s brain tissue is greater than that of an adult,” says Oleg Grigoriev. In addition, children will have a longer history of cell phone use than adults because they start using it earlier. Sanitary standards in force in Russia do not recommend the use of cell phones by children under 18 years of age.

The Russian National Committee for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection proposes to label each phone as a source of electromagnetic fields. “After all, it’s difficult to explain to a child and parents that a phone has an electromagnetic field: people don’t feel or see it,” says Grigoriev.

In 2008, the committee made a forecast about the immediate and long-term consequences for children of the electric field of a cell phone. “We should expect possible immediate disorders: weakening of memory, decreased attention and mental abilities, irritability, sleep disturbances, increased epileptic readiness,” Oleg Grigoriev quotes the scientists’ forecast. Among the long-term consequences, scientists then included tumors of the brain, as well as auditory and vestibular nerves.

In 2011, the FMBA specifically analyzed the impact of cell phones on children.

“According to Rosstat, the incidence of diseases for the diagnoses that we called possible is experiencing a steady increase,” says Grigoriev. “This increase is especially noticeable among young people aged 15-19 years, who have been actively using mobile phones for several years.” In particular, the number of cases of epilepsy increased by 36%, the number of diseases of the central nervous system in adolescents aged 15-17 years increased by 85%, and the number of blood diseases and immune disorders increased by 82%.

Scientists attribute the increase in incidence to widespread mobile communications, insists Grigoriev.

Experts consider the consequences of the “second echelon” to be a decrease in cognitive abilities, that is, the ability to learn and absorb knowledge. “These violations lead to the fact that children do not grow up the way they should have grown up,” explained Grigoriev. “They do not receive the full amount of knowledge, which in the long term leads to loss of money due to increased costs for treatment, as well as to the inability to getting a good profession."

Comfort is stronger than fear

However, experts not associated with medicine are in no hurry to connect the use of cell phones with an oncological diagnosis.

“There is no exact data today. WHO just suggested that using a mobile phone can cause cancer, but did not provide any specific data from clinical trials on brain cancer,” Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, told RIA Novosti.

There is simply no more accurate data on the impact of mobile phones on health. The fact is that clinical trials have been conducted for about ten years, the expert says. During this time, technologies change, one type of communication replaces another. For example, now GSM connection differs from what it was a few years ago, Murtazin explained. Radiation from mobile phones is getting lower.

“Mobile communications users assume that communication on a cell phone is not safe, but convenience overcomes this fear,” concludes Eldar Murtazin.

04/11/2019: B In the comments there were examples from life about cancer of the salivary gland and more.

Mobile phone radiation affects health.
But the tube will not cause harm if you follow six safety rules.

These tips are quite simple, and if you follow them, the harm from microwave radiation from a cell phone will be minimized. And the hypotheses of some researchers that smartphones can cause cancer and Alzheimer’s disease will no longer cause panic fear and the desire to immediately get rid of the annoying “beeping” device in your pocket.

To minimize risk possible harmful effects of radiation waves from a working cell phone, if possible, you should:

1 – Limit time and frequency phone use. Still, you need to remember that a smartphone is not a landline device. secure phone, on which one could talk for hours. More 2-3 minutes per call and you should not talk on your cell phone for more than 10-15 minutes a day.

2 – Try as much as possible do not use the phone in places where there is poor reception(elevator, underground premises, transport, etc.), since with poor reception the mobile phone tries to find the transmitter antenna, and because of this, its radiation (the properties and effects of which on humans has not yet been fully studied ) is amplified many times over.

The same, by the way, applies to rural areas, where poor mobile reception is also often observed far from antennas.

3 – Use less often mobile phone indoors(car, house), since the waves emitted by it can be reflected by walls and coatings, which increases the radiation exposure several times.

4 – Keep in mind that the Bluetooth wireless data transfer method adds to the mobile phone's additional radiation force. Therefore, use a wired headset.

5 – Don't apply smartphone to ear at the moment when he is in the process of searching for a network operator(this happens when the phone is turned on and the reception is very poor). At this moment, it radiates the most, harms, so to speak, to the maximum.

6 – And finally, get rid of the bad habit of sleeping next to your cell phone, and even more so of putting a switched on, working (and therefore constantly emitting!) cell phone under your pillow! Be sure to turn it off before going to bed or turn off its transmitter!

Also, if you are used to using your mobile phone as an alarm clock, you can snooze keep him away from you. This will not only significantly reduce the risk of exposure to your phone during restful sleep, but will also greatly increase the likelihood of you successfully waking up. After all, in order to turn off the alarm, you will definitely have to get out of bed.

P.S. Useful additions were made in the comments:

1. Allow children to use a mobile phone only in emergency situations.

2. During calls and conversations, keep the phone at a distance: use a speakerphone or a wired headset (it is preferable to a wireless one). If this is not possible, change ears regularly when talking for a long time.

3. Do not carry your phone while it is turned on in your pockets. Better - in a bag.

4. SMS is preferable to calls and conversations.”

Write your additions in the comments!

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