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It’s nearly impossible to get by today without using a cell phone, especially as smartphones become more ubiquitous and our daily tasks require their use.
Many people have to be in constant communication for their job, and the always-on functionality of cell phones makes that a reality.
Socially, we’ve become very reliant on them to get in touch with friends and family as well as provide us with various forms of entertainment.
The problem with cell phones, however, is that they emit electromagnetic radiation which can be harmful to our bodies.
There are many ailments that have been associated with EMF radiation, including insomnia, lowered immunity, chronic pain, anxiety, fatigue, and even an increased risk of cancer.
I know that I was amazed when I first heard about all the negative effects of radiation, and I wanted to make an immediate change to protect myself.
If you have the same concerns as I do about cell phone radiation, I have 10 tips to help you reduce your overall exposure to radiation. But first, let’s go over why you’ll want to do this.
Cell Phone Radiation Can Increase Your Risk for Cancer
While you won’t immediately get cancer just from using a cell phone, research shows that the increased exposure to radiation can raise your risk for developing cancer.
Your tissues absorb the radio waves, and this can lead to alterations in the makeup of your tissue. This makes it easier for cancer to develop and spread.
The risks aren’t nearly as high as, say, working in a nuclear power plant, but they still exist and are something that should be protected against.
Radiation Can Degrade Your Overall Health
In addition to the long-term risk of cancer, daily exposure to radiation can be a burden on your everyday health.
When your body spends its energy trying to fight off the harmful effects of radiation, you become more fatigued. This may result in you needing more sleep, or not sleeping well throughout the night.
As this continues to happen, your immune system will begin to weaken, making you more susceptible to illness and a variety of diseases.
If you are sick all the time, you open the possibility that you will develop something more serious that can have a debilitating effect on your life. All this just because you wanted to be on a cell phone for several hours a day.
How to Protect Yourself from Cell Phone Radiation
So, what can you do to ensure that you won’t suffer from these ailments as a result of cell phone usage? I’ve taken it upon myself to take some drastic steps, and fortunately for you, I’ve put together a list to help you out.
You can protect yourself from the harmful effects of cell phone radiation by following the practices as listed below.
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- Keep Your Distance
- Use Speakerphone and Headsets for voice calls
- Turn Data and Wi-Fi off when you don’t need them
- Try to Text more
- Turn GPS Off when Unneeded
- Get an EMF Shielding Device
- Use airplane mode as often as possible
- Sleep at a safe Distance
- Try different forms of communication
- Reduce your overall usage
Keep Your Distance
Research has shown that there is a major reduction in the amount of radiation you will consume when you are not in contact with your cell phone.
This means that having it in your pocket or in your hand puts you at a much higher risk of radiation. Your best bet is to keep your phone in a bag or purse.
There will obviously be times when you will need to be in contact with your phone, but you should minimize these by taking it out of your pocket and keeping it on a desk or table when you are not using it. This will greatly reduce the likelihood that you will be in contact with for several hours a day.
If you are constantly on the go and need to use your phone for work, there are several options for you.
As I mentioned, using a backpack, purse, or another bag can help prevent your phone from staying in contact with you at all times.
However, you can also get belt clips or loops that will keep your phone connected to you but not necessarily in contact with your body. This isn’t as effective as keeping it in a bag, but it still greatly reduces the amount of radiation that will affect you.
Use Speakerphone and Headsets for Voice Calls
When you bring your phone to your head to make calls, you are bringing the radiation even closer to your brain, where it can be the most harmful.
If you can, try to perform all of your voice calls on speakerphone or through a headset. Even a Bluetooth headset emits far less radiation than your phone, which is communicating with satellites and cell towers whenever you are on a call.
I recommend a wired headset as this will give off the lowest level of EMF rays, but anything is better than no headset at all. As an alternative, go for an air tube headset (read my article here).
I know there will be times that you don’t have a headset on you and that you may not want to use speakerphone being a public place.
The best thing to do here is to turn the handset volume up and keep the phone at least an inch away from your ear.
As I mentioned before, close contact is where most of your radiation is absorbed, so if you keep the phone off even a little bit, you are making a significant reduction in risk.
It may be a little annoying not to be able to hear the other party as clearly, but it is worth it for your long-term health.
Turn Data and Wi-Fi Off When You Don’t Need Them
When you have Wi-Fi on, your phone is constantly searching for networks to join, even if there aren’t any around.
With data on, you are inviting EMF rays from all surrounding cell phone towers and satellites. Turning both of these off will reduce the amount of radiation by a considerable amount.
This was personally one of the most challenging things for me to do, as I am someone that is constantly surfing the internet on the phone and looking up information.
However, once I committed to keeping them off most of the time, I noticed that I was better able to enjoy the environment around me rather than keeping my face buried in my phone at all times. You may experience the same benefit.
If you absolutely must look something up or if you’re expecting messages, you can always toggle data on and off intermittently.
You will be exposed to some radiation when it is on, but the amount will be far less than if you left it on at all times.
If you have the option between data and Wi-Fi, use the Wi-Fi as it emits slightly less radiation than data, which reaches out to cell towers. Read my article on the comparison between Wi-Fi, cellular and Bluetooth radiations.
Try to Text More
Yes, you are still using your phone when you are texting, but it is actually far more effective than talking. If you can, try to text, because when you do, you are only pinging the cell phone tower for the amount of time it takes for the text to come through.
Once it is sent, the EMF waves reduce back to the usual amount. When you are on a phone call, continuously talking, you are also continuously bombarded by radioactive frequencies.
The beauty of texting is that it also allows you to follow step number 3 without feeling guilty. If you were to just cut off in the middle of a call, it would seem rude. However, it is perfectly acceptable to have a delay between text messages.
You can toggle your data on and off and simply respond to messages at your own pace. This also allows you to get more time away from your cell phone and minimize the amount of radiation that you are being exposed to.
Turn GPS Off When Unneeded
GPS is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to emitting radiation, as it uses strong signals to connect with satellites to help you find where to go.
It is highly convenient and can be a major benefit when you are lost, but it is important to keep it off when you don’t need it.
Although most GPS-enabled devices have been manufactured according to government regulations on radioactivity, you are still exposing yourself to quite an array of harmful rays when you use them.
If you must use GPS, keep it on only for the amount of time that you need to navigate your route. You may also consider printing out directions before you head somewhere. This will be safer as you drive anyway, as you won’t be distracted by other programs or text messages.
When you are at home or in a familiar place, turn off GPS as there is virtually no reason to have it running and sending out harmful rays.
Get an EMF Shielding Device
If your lifestyle or career requires you to constantly be on your phone, unable to follow many of these steps, you may consider getting an EMF shielding device for your phone.
These products are made of special materials that help to minimize your risk of being exposed to radiation. They aren’t 100%, of course, especially when the phone is in use, but they do a great job of keeping you protected while the phone is not being used in your bag, purse, or pocket.
When you purchase one of these shielding devices, make sure to check the SAR, or specific absorption rate value. Check out my article on SAR of smartphones.
The product should be able to block the vast majority of electromagnetic frequencies. It is important that you do your research when buying one because many of them barely reduce your exposure at all and are just looking to make a quick buck.
However, when they report their SAR value, they are restricted by government regulations, and you should be able to trust that they will provide ample protection.
Use Airplane Mode As Often As Possible
This is similar to turning off data and Wi-Fi, but it actually goes a step further in protecting you from harmful radiation.
Airplane mode turns off pretty much all communication, so the only radiation that is being emitted is similar to that of any standard electronic device that isn’t connected. This is also a useful trick for when you are running low on battery or simply want to be left alone for a certain period of time.
I know that I often turn my phone to airplane mode when I am trying to read, rest, or just have a conversation with someone nearby.
Airplane mode is convenient because it can usually be turned on with a simple motion or click of a button.
Instead of having to go through multiple menus to toggle between different settings, airplane mode will get the job done in just a few seconds.
If you need to toggle it back on to check for messages or updates, it is just as easy. This lets you stay productive while greatly reducing the level of radiation that you are being exposed to.
Sleep At a Safe Distance
Sleep is one of the most important times to protect yourself from radiation, as your body is regenerating and creating new cells. If these cells are exposed to harmful levels of EMF waves, you may not sleep as well, and you may even suffer from other health problems.
Many people, however, continue to sleep with their phones right next to them, and they even fall asleep with them on their bodies as they are browsing the internet or getting work finished, whether sending out emails or filling spreadsheets.
It is best to put your cell phone at the opposite end of the room. This way you are barely being exposed to any of the rays that it emits. If you secured one of the EMF shielding devices, you’d be virtually fully guarded against radiation.
If you want to take it one step further, I suggest putting it in another room altogether. I know that this can be a painful step for people, as they feel that they need the phone there in case of emergency, but once I started, I very much preferred being away from my phone and having some time to myself.
We get too hooked to technology at times, and it is nice to disconnect and get some uninterrupted sleep.
Try Different Forms of Communication
Although the cell phone is extremely convenient, there are still many other electronic forms of communication that are much healthier with regards to radiation levels.
Landlines are very cheap these days and emit far less radiation than talking on a cell phone. Just be sure to get a wired phone if you really want to cut down on EMF rays.
Your laptop gives off some radiation, but it is far less than what is associated with a cell phone. You can look into newer communication software such as Skype and Slack. These allow you to text, make voice calls, and even make video calls.
This is a more advanced form of communication than the standard voice call, and it comes with less radiation!
Reduce Your Overall Usage
This is where most people look at me like I’m crazy – when I suggest that they reduce their overall cell phone usage.
We have become so attached to these advanced devices that we can hardly imagine going an entire day without using them. However, it is not only far safer for you to do so, but it can also be extremely rewarding!
Studies have shown that constant connection to the news, social media, and other sites has decreased the overall quality of life for many people. In order to fight this, all you have to do is put your phone down and find another activity!
You don’t have to quit using your phone entirely, and you can slowly wean yourself off of your dependency on it.
Set aside a few hours a day where you tell yourself that you aren’t going to use your phone at all, except in case of emergency.
Maybe even start with just a half hour and gradually increase that time to what you see fit. It will become easier as time goes on, and you’ll notice your overall happiness improving (partially due to your decreased radiation exposure, as too much exposure can lead to anxiety and depression).
When you get the urge to browse the internet for news or videos, consider picking up a book or magazine instead.
This will satisfy your need for entertainment without exposing you to those pesky radioactive waves.
If you find yourself getting antsy, go for a walk or a run, or try any other form of exercise. You’ll see that you don’t need that cell phone for security as much as you think you do.
Keep in mind that the cell phone is merely a tool for convenience and shouldn’t be thought of as an integral part of your everyday life.
Thanks for reading! If you liked this article, please share it. You may also like to check out my recommended products for EMF radiation protection.