Emission of Ionizing Radiation from Active and End-of-Life Mobile Phones and Batteries

Abstract

The use of mobile phones and discarding them before or after their end-of-life has become a recent trend. This practice increases environmental pollution and health hazards worldwide. Besides pollution, mobile phones and their batteries emit electromagnetic radiation during their lifetime and after their end-of-life. This study aims to measure ionizing radiation this is emitted by mobile phones and mobile phone batteries using a Geiger–Muller (GM) counter. To conduct this study, 15 active, 10 end-of-life mobile phones, and 10 waste lithium-ion batteries will be evaluated. Emissions from these devices will be compared with background radiation. The maximum counts per minute (CPM) for waste mobile phone batteries was 18 CPM and the minimum was 14 CPM for waste batteries and waste mobile phones. The average and standard deviation values for background radiation was 14.000 ± 0.404 CPM. The average and standard deviation values were 16 ± 1 CPM for active mobile phones, 16.00 ± 0.73 CPM for waste mobile phones, and 16.00 ± 1.19 CPM for waste batteries. Therefore, the continuous use of mobile phones and stockpiling should be avoided, and proper management processes should be developed to minimize environmental pollution and human health hazards.