Introduction 

Smartphones has become an integrated part of the our lifestyle in the past 5-10 years in such manner that we, human beings, can't imagine a single second without them. We have accepted the uses of smartphones in our daily life to the extend that now even if we wanted to minimise the use of them, it seems like an impossible task.

The usage of smartphones have been very beneficial to the human kind but at the same time it has bought many drawbacks into our lives, especially on our health. The most beneficial change smartphones has bought into our lives is that they have opened the door of instant communication, it has not only made contacting & nbsp; your family and friends quicker but also your work colleagues or business partners, who might be miles away from you.

During this pandemic, mobile phones has also become a very important part of the education system. They have helped the schools and the students to be able to take part in online classes and workshops, to ensure that our future generation doesn't meet with a backlog due to these tough times. 

Even though there are many more benefits of using smartphones, there are several disadvantages which can not only affect us physically but also mentally and emotionally. 

As they say "Excess of anything is bad", in this case, excess usage of smartphones is addictive. The more one uses smartphones in their daily routine even for smallest of things, i.e., checking the time, the more one is in habit to repeat it everyday.        

Smartphones might help one to stay in touch with friends and family far away, but it can effect the relationships closer to us. For instance, at a family gathering you might find the family members being engrossed in their phones rather than interacting with each other, and sharing experiences. 

Smartphones radiation

Mobile phone uses RF ( radio-frequency) radiation to connect with the Base station, which also emit RF radiation, for the call to connect. Once the call has been connected, the level of emission of RF radiation from the handset can vary according to these factors:

 1) The duration of the call.

 2) The distance between your phone and your body.

 3) The distance between the handset and the Base station.

These three factors can increase and/ or decrease the level of radiation emitted from the handset. If the radiation emitted from mobile handset exceeds a certain level, it can have a thermal effect which then causes the body temperature to rise.

What is radiofrequency? 

Radio frequency is a way of measuring the electromagnetic waves emitting from various wireless communication devices through space. Electromagnetic radiation is made up of two different waves, as the name suggests, namely, electric and magnetic field, which are always perpendicular to each other.

The measurement of RF energy in terms of units is known as Hertz (Hz), as one hertz is used to measure one cycle. It indicates the number of cycles per second everytime a radio wave is transmitted. 

The electromagnetic spectrum framework can range from low-frequency (9 khz) to high-frequency (upto 300 Ghz). Electromagnetic radiation can be coveyed in terms of energy, frequency and wavelength depending on the radiation that is required to be recorded. The lower the frequency, the longer the wavelength and vice versa.

Electromagnetic radiation ,that are at the lower level of the electromagnetic spectrum, are invisible to the human eye. 

As RF radiation is a part of electromagnetic spectrum, it can be divided into two groups, ionising and non-ionising radiations.

Ionizing radiation is on the upper level of the electromagnetic spectrum because it's emission range is high and thus causing the wavelength to be shorter and easier to identify. As the frequency of ionizing radiation is high , it produces so much energy that it can break chemical bonds of atoms and /or molecules. For example, X-rays waves , Gamma rays etc. 

The energy released by ionising radiation is considered to be very harmful to our health because the changes in the chemical bonding can have a huge impact on the tissues in our body, which can result in health problems such as cancer.

On the other hand, non-ionising radiation is on the lower end of the electromagnetic spectrum because the waves emitting has low frequency and longer wavelength causing the identification to be more difficult. Unlike ionising radiation, this kind of radiation produces no or very less energy, which can cause the atoms and /or molecules in a chemical bond to vibrate only. For example: microwaves, infrared radiation etc.

As the energy released by non-ionising radiation is low emitting, it doesn't have a huge impact on the human health but it can cause small health issues from using the smartphones for a long period of time, such as headaches, neck problem, effect on eyesight and many more. 

How RF radiation from smartphones effect human health? 

The radio-frequency radiation that is released from using smartphones is non-ionising radiation, it can have an impact on the human health, as stated above, but it is not considered to be life threatening as ionising radiation.

Even though, smartphones radiation is considered not to be harmful, it is still our responsibility to ensure that we should not make a habit of relaying on smartphones for things that we are able to achieve without them.