medicine, nursing and health sciences where is your phone? a survey of phone location and perceived...
TRANSCRIPT
Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Where is your phone? A survey of phone location and perceived risk:
A pilot study
Mary Redmayne Centre for Population Health Research on Electromagnetic Energy (PRESEE),
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Background
Mobile phones emit electromagnetic radiation
All mobile phones emit a regular ‘handshake’ transmission
Apps make frequent transmissions while phone is in stand-by
This raises the question of possible health effects related to carrying a phone in stand-by against the body
Manufacturers advise against carrying or using against the body
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Aims and purposes
1. To describe where cell phones are carried by adolescents and young women (age 12-40) when being used for a variety of purposes.
2. To enable power calculation for future women’s health studies.
3. To ascertain perception of health risks associated with cell phones and other transmitting devices
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Methods
The survey is by questionnaire and answered online using Survey Monkey®.
Time 10-15 minutes depending on responses
Female adolescents and young women aged 12 to 40 are eligible to participate
Aim for broad socio-economic backgrounds and walks of life
Study being undertaken in Australia and Germany (P. Wiedemann, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Berlin, Germany)
Just Australian interim results presented here
A wide variety of places were approached and asked to notify their students/employees/members about the survey
Posters and notices for emailing were provided
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Interim results (data collection not finished)
At the time of this preliminary analysis, there were 183 participants
Age range 13-40
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Split into 5 equal sized categories for preliminary analysis
13-2122-2627-3031-3637-30
For how long have you carried a mobile phone for with you at least half the time?
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A = In your hand
B = In a pocket, at or below
waist level
C = In a bag, or elsewhere
not in your clothing
D = In a breast pocket or
hanging against your chest
E = In your bra or fitted
sports top
F = Against your upper arm
G = Tucked into your hijab
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0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
A B C D E F G
Location of phone when outside or in a vehicle and
not using it. Tick all that apply over the last 7 days
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
A B C D E F G
Location of phone for online passive use eg
podcast, GPS. Tick all that apply. over the last 7 days
KEY Locations of phone Note different scales
Nos. Nos.
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In what mode and how far from your head is your phone at night?
10% have the phone turned off at night
More than 80% keep the phone in stand-by overnight. Of these:
13% (of N=166) have the phone in stand-by and within 20 cms of their head
57% (of N=166) have the phone in stand-by and between 20 and 50 cms of their head
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Stand-by? Flight mode?Turned off?
Why does this matter?
Because smartphones frequently transmit while in stand-by
Perceived health risks
We asked about a wide range of health conditions from headaches to cancer
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Do you consider that exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation causes or worsens human health problems with respect to: Definite’ or ‘Probable’ risk
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Symptom Yes and Probably
Sleep 65%
Cancer 59%
Headaches, dizziness 56%
Thinking, memory, concentration 53.5%
Emotional/Mental health (anxiety, mood, depression) 48.5%
Fertility 39%
Vision 35%
Nervous system (tingling, numbness) 33%
Blood pressure 23.5%
Motor (aches, pain, weakness) 23%
Immune system 23%
Heart function 21.5%
Digestion 15%NB Excludes those who definitely thought there were no health implications and who weren’t asked the risk perception questions
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AcknowledgementsOur thanks to: •NHMRC who funded the Centre for Population Health Research on Electromagnetic Energy (PRESEE)•All participants
Photo in bra credit: http://www.news4jax.com/image/view/-/20951588/highRes/2/-/maxh/360/maxw/640/-/100k0udz/-/Cell-phone-breast-pix.jpg
Thank you