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  1. Cell Phones

Children and Teens and Cell Phones

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A photo of a teenager texting from a smartphone

Current scientific evidence does not show a danger to any users of cell phones from radio frequency (RF) energy, including children and teenagers. There are also simple steps that anyone, including children and teenagers, can take if they would like to reduce RF exposure.

  • Reduce the amount of time spent using the cell phone.
  • Use speaker mode, head phones, or ear buds to place more distance between the head and the cell phone.
  • Avoid making calls when the signal is weak as this causes cell phones to boost RF transmission power.
  • Consider texting rather than talking — but don’t text while driving.

A large epidemiological study of the effects of cell phones in young adults aged between 10 and 24 was completed across 14 countries in Europe (the MOBI-KIDS study). The case-controlled study was conducted "to evaluate whether wireless phone use (and particularly resulting exposure to radiofrequency (RF) and extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (EMF)) increases risk of brain tumours in young people." The subjects (899 with brain tumors and 1,910 age matched controls) were between age 10 and 24 and the vast majority were described as regular cell phone users. The study concluded that there was no evidence of a link between cell phone use and brain tumors in young people. For more information, see Wireless phone use in childhood and adolescence and neuroepithelial brain tumours: Results from the international MOBI-Kids study - ScienceDirect.

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