Is Cell Phone Hazard On the Rise?

Cell phones hazards have become so common that Highway Traffic Laws now contain clauses that include offenses punishable by law by reason of cell phone related problems.

With a bit of research around this, or most recently smartphones, we can’t help but wonder if cell phone danger is actually on the rise? Follow through as we update you on some recent discoveries.

– Doctors have coined a new one of recent, called, “transient smartphone blindness.” Writing in The New England Journal of Medicine, a team in Britain outline the case studies of two women who went to a clinic complaining of temporary blindness in one eye, early in the morning and late at night, respectively. The doctors figured out that what was going on wasn’t cause for concern, but just a temporary condition caused by looking at a smartphone in the dark with just one eye.

The first patient had a habit of gazing at her smartphone before falling asleep. She’d lie on her left side and look at the screen primarily with her right eye. Her left eye was often covered by the pillow.

The other patient, who was in her 40s, had similar problems when she woke up in the morning before sunrise and checked the news on her smartphone before sitting up. It had been going on for about a year, ever since she’d injured her cornea.

This is just the latest health-related issue that smartphones have presented and it doesn’t just end there.

– Another possible hazard is that of food poisoning. Many components of mobile phones are considered toxic like arsenic, lithium, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc.

These poisonous substances may leach from decomposing waste in landfills, seep into groundwater and contaminate the soil. When these metals build up in the soil by reason of accumulation, they can then enter the food chain and in sufficient concentrations may cause health problems.

– Cell phones emit a form of radiation called radio waves, which can be absorbed by skin tissue near where the phone is held, according to the National Cancer Institute. This type of hazard is considered to contribute to cancer.

– As though we hadn’t had enough, there is also the; Text neck and “cell phone elbow” cell phone hazard.

Chiropractor Dean Fishman conceived the term “text neck” after handling repeated cases of young persons for neck problems, which he realized were due to the angle at which one has to bend one’s neck to look at a cell phone. Cell phone elbow happens when you talk on the phone a lot–holding the phone up to the ear, the ulnar nerve gets compressed over time, which can lead to problems with motility and sensation.

– It’s no longer news that in the past we have recorded cases having to do with cell-phone induced accidents most of which have led to a good number of deaths.

Texting while driving is the most obviously life-threatening one but we are not to easily forget the twin-sister, which is; ‘Text-walking’. This practice is less safe than talking on the phone while walking, since you can’t see where you’re going when you’re texting, and people have been known to absentmindedly walk into traffic. Researchers have suggested that texting while walking is responsible for not only slowing us down while we walk, but also making us swerve off course.

These hazards are collective problems that concern not just an individual who is affected but the society at large. Technology is a welcome development but we can’t over emphasize the need to re-adjust our lifestyles to be able to embrace the civilization which advance in technology brings with it. Here is my little advice; life is a single exit with no multiple visas; when we go about our businesses using these cell phones, let’s put these hazards into focus and lead a life that is worthy of emulation!