McIver 1

Jeremy McIver
4-1-2015
UWRT 1102 E02
Raymond

Surprising Discoveries
During the initial stage of the semester-long project, after some brief discussion, my
group decided to present on the influence of technology on society. We knew from the start that
we wanted to talk about a relevant topic and thought this would be the ideal subject considering
how technologically advanced our world has become. The focus of our project will obviously be
on smartphones. After confirming our topic, we each decided to branch off and research specific
sub-topics, which include the psychological effects of smartphones, potential adverse health
effects due to frequent use, utilization in the business world, and their technological
advancements into the future.
The part of my research that surprised me the most was when I found out about how
prolonged exposure to RF (radiofrequency) energy can lead to damage of our DNA. I always
knew of the radiation but never considered the possible adverse effects on DNA. As I dove
deeper into researching, I discovered that high amounts of RF energy can damage our biological
tissue because it increases our body temperature. My Health Issues article from the USFDA
mentioned that while most of the body can usually deal with carrying off excess heat through
blood flow, the eyes are one of the most vulnerable parts to RF heating due to relatively little
blood flow. Even though cell phones have been known to emit low amounts of RF energy, this
raises the question about how much of it our bodies can take before we do start to encounter
adverse health effects. With technology advancing as rapidly as it is, I wont be surprised if

McIver 2
experts do come out with studies showing a correlation between RF energy exposure and health
problems.