Mobile Phone Use and Risk of Thyroid Gland Lesions Detected by Ultrasonography

In recent years, widespread use of mobile phones has led to a public debateabout possible harmful effects on human health. A lot of researchers studied thepossible effect of radiofrequency energy (RFE) emitted from cell phones on the humanbody. Up to our knowledge no one studied the effect of these waves on the thyroidgland by Ultrasonography (US). Our aim was to investigate the possible effects ofEMR arising from cell phones on the thyroid gland using US. A prospective studywas done on 180 participants, 110 females and 70 males, ranging in age from 15 to65. A constructed questionnaire was distributed among them before performing USof the neck. Demographic data along with US findings were collected and statisticallyanalyzed. A total of 46.7% of our participants had abnormal findings of the thyroidgland more in non smart phone users and more in females. The commonest abnormalitywas multinodular goiter (54%). Expanded researches are still needed to answer thequestion about the hazards of RFE on human health. All efforts should be made toencourage users of cellular phone to follow mobile device recommendations of manufacturersand avoid its possible hazards as possible.