07 MAY 2019: “Ladies and gentleman welcome to Toronto! The local time is 7:15am.” The end of your journey at 35,000 feet is signified by that familiar landing announcement, and of course, the symphony of chimes, dings and tweets as fellow passengers disable airplane mode and reconnect back to the ‘real’ world. Everyone associates airplane mode with its usefulness in flight, but have you ever considered its superpowers on land?
Forget about Siri, airplane mode may be the best thing your smartphone can do for you.
Airplane mode turns off the wireless transmission functions that allow your phone to send and receive texts, phone calls, and Donald’s infamous tweets. As its name implies, this function was specifically designed for use on board an aircraft. At those altitudes, your phone has to work harder with boosted signals to find cell tower reception, which means draining your battery and a risk of interfering with the sensitive navigation equipment on board. While you’re not about to fall out of the sky by interrupting cockpit communications, a safe landing is in everyone’s best interest.
But the benefits of airplane mode go far beyond in-flight safety.
Our brains send electric signals along nerve cells to communicate with the rest of our body. A similar process happens when our phones send electro-magnetic frequencies (EMF’s) to deliver a text to Mom. Just as our phones can interfere with the in-flight communications, studies show that they can also interrupt the communication between cells in our body. Though studies on long term effects are limited, EMF exposure has been linked to symptoms such as headaches, skin rashes, low sperm counts, and has also been listed as a “possible carcinogen” (cancer-causing) to humans.
The good news is most cellular devices are designed to funnel the majority of this radiation out through the back of the phone so that they’re sent away from your body. Storing your phone in your pocket, or in your bra, is not the best idea. A distance of 1 inch (or more) away from your person is ideal. In the event that you need to keep it in your pocket, be sure the screen is facing you.
Better yet, you can put your phone on airplane mode.
This function helps to spare your battery life, helps your phone charge faster, and it stops your device from transmitting these signals right through your tissues, protecting you against side effects that are largely unknown. Of course, there is no point in having a cell phone if you’re just going to have it off all the time, but we can all benefit from incorporating more airplane mode periods wherever possible.
The easiest thing you can do right away is put your phone on airplane mode while you sleep. Turning on airplane mode an hour or so before you go to sleep cuts your EMF exposure almost in half, gives you less stimulating blue light exposure from the screen, and stops alerts and notifications while you’re sleeping. Maybe you start Cell-Phone-Free-Sundays, or pick an evening or two during the week where the phone goes away. Even switching to corded headsets or using speaker phone to hold the device away from your body will help to limit exposure.
As with everything, my biggest piece of advice is to always minimize stress. Sure we’re living in crazy times and we’re exposed to things now that have never existed before, but worrying about stuff beyond our control does nothing but make things worse. Do what you can to limit your exposure, eat nutritious whole foods, drink lots of water, stay active and have faith that your body will take care of the rest.