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You’ve lost your cell phone and running late for that important work meeting. Last night you downloaded all your work on to that damn machine. Where can it be??!! I left it on the kitchen bench!! My presentation is doomed without those files!! That promotion is going to someone else…
The modern day technology dependency; your cell phone sits right bang in the middle of this phenomena. Your work, your schedules, all your contacts, your pictures and your music – hey, your life practically centers around that little package of micro chips, metal and plastics.
Ahhh, sometimes you long for the days of the fixed line phone….if you were sick of it, you can walk out the door without it.
The modern wireless cell does have some disadvantages:
- 1. Health hazard
The debate is fierce; however there is enough research to warrant some worrying of potential health risks from cell phone radiation. Cell phones communicate with base stations through GSM and CDMA technologies – basically they “use microwave radiation to communicate” . Plenty of research point to the link between excessive microwave exposure to cancer, infertility, stress and migraines. The debate is whether the volume of microwaves and the frequency of exposure provide a big enough threat for serious health warnings to be put in place and for regulations to be enforced to fix the problem. It’s an on going concern.
- 2. Interference
Cell phones have been shown to affect navigation equipment on airplanes. Obviously this is a major concern as the potential for catastrophe is real. Medical equipment in hospitals can also suffer interference to the detriment of patients. Other personal medical aids like heart pumps have also been known to fail due to cell phone radiation interference.
- 3. Battery
1Control Your Impact, “7 Disadvantages of Cell Phones” http://www.controlyourimpact.com/2008/03/disadvantages-of-cell-phones/
Most modern cell phones have lithium batteries which provide outstanding efficiency. However, there are increasing cases of lithium batteries exploding when exposed to heat, pressure and when charged with incompatible chargers.
- 4. Distraction
Cell phones are always within reach – when driving vehicles or other heavy machinery, cell phones can provide a fatal distraction, enough to cause serious injuries or deaths. On a more subtle scale, health professional are warning cell phones are literally stressing out users as they are constantly within reach of work and friends. There is little time to tune out and relax. There also has been increasing cases of injuries from overuse of text messaging. RSI (repetitive stress injury) from constantly typing at tiny keypads is a common stress related problem. Cell phone users are getting younger too – children are often taking cells to school to the detriment of their concentration.
- 5. Environment
Cell phones and cell phone batteries contain a few dangerous elements including lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and beryllium. Direct contact with human is not common but if not recycled properly, these parts can leak into ground water (which supplies irrigation and some drinking water) from landfills. The food chain can be influenced and health problems like cancer, nervous system damage and digestive tract issues. The problems are probably yet to surface on a large scale, but will billions of cell phones being used around the world and only a small portion of that been recycled, you can image the scale of the toxic problem that we face.
- 6. Cost
Cell phones can damage the finances in a major way. Go over plan limits and you are likely to be slugged big penalties. Sign out to a contract that you can’t afford, your credit rating could be shot forever. Like shopaholics, there is a growing band of cell phone addicts that form destructive usage habits.
There’s absolutely no doubt about the convenience and benefits the cell phone have brought to our lives. Like all good things, too much of it can be bad. The ell phone has many disadvantages from health issues to costs to the hip pocket. The recommendation is, use in moderation. Be its master and not the other way around!
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