Could our mobile phone be accelerating our ageing?

I was out at dinner with a group of close friends the other night and the conversation turned to mobile phones and where we leave them at night time. 

The shocked gasp of disbelief at me charging my iphone on my bedside table at night went something like this, “OMG Jos you are crazy! Do you know how dangerous it is to sleep near your mobile phone!”

But my addiction to my iphone was too great to even contemplate the idea of switching it off or housing it in another room and I laughed them off for being overly dramatic. After all, I rely on my iphone alarm to wake me up most mornings.

In bed I check the weather forecast for the following days’ most appropriate attire, I check for any last social media posts or emails. I type up tomorrow's 'to do' list in the notes section. I add in a couple of school dates I’ve forgotten to the calendar. Sometime later whilst listening to my husband snore, a wave of inspiration and work ideas swamp me like a tsunami and so again I reach for my iphone. (And when my eyes are too tired to focus on the screen, I’ll sleepily call the Spa and leave reminders on the voicemail for the staff… I'm probably sounding like a workaholic too now.)

So you see, my iphone is very much my reliable PA and the idea of leaving it in another room leaves me with major withdrawals.

That being said though... that electrical buzz that I can hear in the air when the house eventually falls completely silent has been playing on my mind. (Along with my good friends anguish at my possibly detrimental phone usage.) So last night, I googled Electro Magnetic Field Radiation in iphones, hoping that it might just say that switching to 'airplane mode' at night may be a safe enough alternative. Well it turns out that while this will lower the emissions considerably, it is still not the best solution.

EMF Radiation (Electro Magnetic Field) seems to be bad news unfortunately and the Australian Govt recommends that heavy exposure to EMF's be avoided if possible. The phone companies say their mobile phones emit radiation levels within the legal 'safety parameters' however mobile phones have several transmitters that can simultaneously emit microwave radiation, which include Cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radiation. When all these transmitters are turned on, these safety levels come very close to that legal limit and that value is only tested when the phone is more than 5mm away from your body. If these levels were tested from your hand or in your pocket or worse still down your bra like I've seen some crazy ladies do, most mobile phones would fail the SAR test as the radiation absorption increases dramatically when the phone is close to the body. 

While there has never been proof of EMF Radiation causing cancer, or numerous other suggested health concerns, could you imagine if that were ever proven? If the EMF’s are really causing degradation of our biological cells, think of the accelerated ageing on every organ, including our skin! My kids are ageing me enough, now my iphone could be accelerating ageing? EEK!

It poses the question, will the big tech companies in the future find themselves in the same boat as cigarette companies now and be served with law suits and forced to label everything they sell with warnings? 

I am certainly no expert and I'm only sharing what I've read, however I am allowed to have my opinion and that is that the heat and buzzing produced by my iphone and ipads cannot be beneficial for my family, nor myself and after surfing the net for information on EMF Radiation it leaves me feeling concerned and I’m quite sure I’m not alone. So from now on I am definitely making some changes and hopefully if you haven't already made some, you will too.

I have decided to invest in a very unstylish but supposedly ‘EMF safe’ iphone case and I will be doing away with my night time PA and replacing it with a good old fashioned notepad and pen and a tick tock wall clock... because really, who needs a pretty diamond studded iphone cover and the soothing sounds of a harp to wake up to, when you can look after your health with a safe but dreary phone cover and wake up to loud, crazy children like I have!! …. coffee anyone?