Dear Editor,

In 2011, a quiet tremor of concern rippled through the world. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization (WHO), classified mobile phones as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, placing them in uneasy company with lead, engine exhaust, and chloroform.

This unsettling label sent a shiver through a society growing ever more inseparable from its screens, where each call or text seemed to carry a silent threat.

But this was not a sentence, only a suggestion — a murmur, not a shout.

The science at the time was fragile, woven more from curiosity than certainty. Yes, studies hinted at a possible link between mobile phone radiation and health risks, but the connection was delicate, a thread tugged more by fear than fact.

The concern wasn’t just about bodies, but minds. Were our always-on devices tugging at the edges of our mental peace? For Jamaicans immersed in an increasingly digital tide, the question hit home.

Children, in particular, stood beneath the spotlight, small hands clutching glowing screens, their developing brains exposed for hours. The WHO acknowledged their potential vulnerability, yet even then, no evidence could cement these anxieties into truth.

And so, the phones stayed close, vibrating in pockets, pressed to ears, pulsing in the rhythm of modern life. Then came 2024. Like dawn breaking over a clouded sea, a systematic review, published in Environment International, delivered long-awaited clarity. After nearly 30 years of research, the review found no strong link between mobile phone use and brain cancer. Despite their growing presence, mobile phones had not driven cancer rates upward.

This conclusion echoed earlier studies. Researchers at the University of Manchester had seen no spike in brain cancer from 1998 to 2007, years when mobile phones soared in popularity.

The science became clearer: Mobile phones emit non-ionising radiation, gentle, low-energy waves too weak to damage DNA. Unlike the searing energy of ionising radiation, these waves whisper rather than roar, offering warmth but no threat.

The 2024 review carefully considered the variables, age, gender, geography, to paint a full picture. Its verdict was calm and confident: Within regulated limits, mobile phones pose no major health risk.

Still, caution lingers, not from fear, but wisdom. Agencies recommend small habits: using speaker mode, keeping phones off the body, texting instead of calling. These are not warnings, but quiet gestures of care.

What began in uncertainty has found its peace. Mobile phones, once shadowed by doubt, now shine as companions, linking lives, minds, and hearts, safely.

Horatio Deer

horatiodeer2357@gmail.com