NEW DELHI: How addicted are you to your cell phone? According to the health ministry's admission on Wednesday, talking for too long on a cell phone could be seriously affecting your health.
Quoting a small-scale PGI Chandigarh study, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday that sensorineural deafness could occur in 30% of people using mobile phones for more than two hours a day over a two-year period.
Azad said people should not talk on their mobile phone continuously for more than one hour a day.
According to Azad, the use of hands free technology could reduce the side effects of excessive use of mobile phone on users, including hearing defects. "In a research study done in PGI, excessive use of mobile phones was found to cause deficient hearing and tinnitus (ringing in the ears)," Azad said.
Meanwhile, the ministry's admission should finally be able to make the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sit up and approve the proposal to conduct a large study to gauge the exact effect cell phone use has on human health.
ICMR has been sitting on the proposal to study the effects of radio frequency radiation (RFR) from mobile phones on humans for over a year now.
Indian scientists had found during animal studies that radiation emitted from mobile phones caused DNA damage, low sperm count leading to infertility and reduction in testis size in rats.
ICMR DG Dr V M Katoch told TOI on Wednesday, "The project protocol has been sanctioned. Discussion on how much money will be allocated to the study is also in its final stages. The study should start soon."
To be spearheaded by the ICMR, the five-year study is to be conducted by JNU's School of Environmental Sciences and the departments of obstetrics and gynaecology, neurology and biochemistry of AIIMS.
The study will look at the effect RFD has on neurological disorders like cognitive function and cognitive impairment, depression and sleep related disorders.
Scientists will look at whether excessive mobile phone use changes the white matter of the brain and causes physiological abnormalities. The team will also study RFD's effect on reproductive health like menstrual cycle, hormonal changes in women, its effect on male reproductive functions and whether it causes abnormalities in the male reproductive tract.
The study will recruit 4,000 subjects, who will be divided into five groups —heavy exposure male group (1,000 men who talk on the mobile phone for more than 4 hours a day), moderate exposure male group (1,000 men who speak for more than 2 hours and less than 4 hours), control group (1,000 men who don't use a cell phone), 500 heavily exposed females and 500 female control group.
Speaking to TOI, an ICMR scientist said, "We will calculate the specific absorption rate (SAR) — how much RFD is absorbed by our body when we speak on the cell phone — and the power density — power generated by the phone both inside and outside our head when we talk. This will help us quantify the magnitude of damage caused by radiation. We will also measure the wave length and frequency of RFD emitted from various types of cell phones used in India."
At preset, India has 391 million cell phone users. By the end of 2010, India is estimated to have 500 million cell phone users.
Quoting a small-scale PGI Chandigarh study, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday that sensorineural deafness could occur in 30% of people using mobile phones for more than two hours a day over a two-year period.
Azad said people should not talk on their mobile phone continuously for more than one hour a day.
According to Azad, the use of hands free technology could reduce the side effects of excessive use of mobile phone on users, including hearing defects. "In a research study done in PGI, excessive use of mobile phones was found to cause deficient hearing and tinnitus (ringing in the ears)," Azad said.
Meanwhile, the ministry's admission should finally be able to make the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sit up and approve the proposal to conduct a large study to gauge the exact effect cell phone use has on human health.
ICMR has been sitting on the proposal to study the effects of radio frequency radiation (RFR) from mobile phones on humans for over a year now.
Indian scientists had found during animal studies that radiation emitted from mobile phones caused DNA damage, low sperm count leading to infertility and reduction in testis size in rats.
ICMR DG Dr V M Katoch told TOI on Wednesday, "The project protocol has been sanctioned. Discussion on how much money will be allocated to the study is also in its final stages. The study should start soon."
To be spearheaded by the ICMR, the five-year study is to be conducted by JNU's School of Environmental Sciences and the departments of obstetrics and gynaecology, neurology and biochemistry of AIIMS.
The study will look at the effect RFD has on neurological disorders like cognitive function and cognitive impairment, depression and sleep related disorders.
Scientists will look at whether excessive mobile phone use changes the white matter of the brain and causes physiological abnormalities. The team will also study RFD's effect on reproductive health like menstrual cycle, hormonal changes in women, its effect on male reproductive functions and whether it causes abnormalities in the male reproductive tract.
The study will recruit 4,000 subjects, who will be divided into five groups —heavy exposure male group (1,000 men who talk on the mobile phone for more than 4 hours a day), moderate exposure male group (1,000 men who speak for more than 2 hours and less than 4 hours), control group (1,000 men who don't use a cell phone), 500 heavily exposed females and 500 female control group.
Speaking to TOI, an ICMR scientist said, "We will calculate the specific absorption rate (SAR) — how much RFD is absorbed by our body when we speak on the cell phone — and the power density — power generated by the phone both inside and outside our head when we talk. This will help us quantify the magnitude of damage caused by radiation. We will also measure the wave length and frequency of RFD emitted from various types of cell phones used in India."
At preset, India has 391 million cell phone users. By the end of 2010, India is estimated to have 500 million cell phone users.
TOI
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