CELLPHONE HAZARDS ON HEARING- AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY IN MUMBAI POPULATION

Abstract

Background: The mobile phone is an essential part of communication in the 21st century. However, the widespread popular use of the mobile phone device has also given rise to cautious apprehensions regarding the health hazards that might originate due to usage of the mobile phones or due to close proximity of the user to the radiofrequencies emitted from the device itself and also from the base stations.

Objectives: of the study was conducted to evaluate, compare and correlate the hearing changes in mobile phone users and non-users.

Methods: To study the impact of mobile phone usage on hearing, this study was conducted on Mumbai population, included 200 mobile phone users and non-users each, between the age group of 18-35 years.

Results: In this study, heating sensation of ears (27%) followed by blocked sensation in ears (16%), tinnitus (10%) and difficulty in hearing (4%) were the main symptoms in the study group at the time of presentation. The study and control groups were found to be comparable with respect to the sex distribution. In group 1, 5% and 3% of cases had minimal sensory-neural hearing loss in the right and left ears respectively, while in group B, 2% had sensory-neural hearing loss in the left ear only.

Conclusion: To conclude, our study did not show any significant hearing loss in mobile phone users since 0-25dB hearing loss is taken for all practical purposes as normal.

Keywords: Cell Phone, Electromagnetic Fields, Radio Frequency Radiation, Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) Radiation, Microwaves.