【电话与癌症】Cell Phone Safety Tips

The recent report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) about the potential connection between cell phone use and cancer is big news to media outposts and the general public. Prior to the report, scientists told us no evidence existed that cell phones were carcinogenic. And now? According to the IARC, research now proves that there is evidence that cell phones might in fact be carcinogenic. The potential villains in this scenario are radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, which are emitted by a cell phone’s antenna, and which the agency says may be linked to two types of brain cancer.

The World Health Organization will study the report and release a statement and guidelines in July. Until then, keep these tips in mind for safer chatting:

1. Talk less, text more.

The further you keep your phone from your head, the smaller the risk of RF energy exposure to your brain. If you just need to relay information or ask a basic question, do it with a text rather than a call.

2. Keep your mobile conversations to a minimum.

Phone conferences and leisurely gabfests should be done on a landline. When you need to make a call on the go, keep it short and sweet.

3. Use a headset.

Ditched the landline? Use a hands-free device like a headset or talk on speaker phone (preferably the former when in public).

4. Keep your kids’ phone use to a minimum.

Since children’s skulls are thinner than adults’ and their nervous systems are still developing, researchers believe they may be at a greater risk for cell phone-related cancers. They’ll also be exposed to the potentially harmful radiation significantly longer than their parents’ generation. Until more is known about the possible carcinogenic effects of cell phone use, curb your kids’ cell phone habits by encouraging texting or using a landline instead.

近期，国际癌症研究署发布了一则关于手机和癌症有潜在联系的报告，引起了各大媒体和公众的注意。在发布这则报告之前，科学家告诉我们没有证据能证明手机是致癌的。现在呢？国际癌症研究机构称，目前已有研究证明手机可能会致癌的事实。潜在的致癌因素是由手机天线产生的射频电磁场，研究院称这种辐射可能与两种脑肿瘤有联系。

世界卫生组织将对该报告做进一步研究并于七月发布了一份声明和准则。到那时，就要牢牢记住这些安全聊天的小诀窍：

1、少讲电话，多发短信

你的头部离电话越远，大脑受到辐射能量风险就越小。如需要转达信息或问问题，发短息而不是打电话。

2、尽量缩短通话时间

电话会议和长时间的闲聊应该用座机。当你需要大移动电话时，保持简短和亲切。

3、多用耳机

除了座机，用免提设备像耳机或者用扬声器电话交谈（公开场合前者更好）。

4、尽量少让小孩用电话

由于小孩的头骨比成人小得多，而他们的神经系统也仍处于发育阶段，研究人员认为孩子们患上手机相关癌症的风险更大。他们还将面临比父辈更长的潜在有害辐射。在了解到更多手机可能致癌信息之前，控制小孩使用手机的习惯，鼓励他们多发短息、多用座机。