A Review of Harmful Aspects of Mobile on Health and Environment

Abstract

Background: Cell phone based on communication and digital technology has become inseparable elementin life of users and has proved to be a panacea of all information and communication needs over the years.But as a necessary evil it may cause harm to both health and environment. Objectives: It is envisaged to beaware of the potential health hazards, dos and don’ts towards healthy use of cell phone. The aims to create abackground to find level of awareness for health aspects related to mobile phones and disposition behaviourfor discarded mobile phones based on previous studies.Methods: The study highlights the harmful aspects of mobile on health and environment from the literaturereview perspective.Results: Review of previous studies show that there is very less awareness for harmful effects of mobilephones on health and environment. Disposition of EoL mobile phones in proper manner is very limited.Conclusion: Studies indicate the risks associated with cell phone due to its electromagnetic fields (EMF)while in use and health hazards at the end-of-life or not in use or discarded mobile phones. Therefore healthydisposal methods of mobile phones in the context of sustainable electrical and electronic equipment wastemanagement have also emerged as a significant issue.