The Unknown Dangers of Cell PhonesWhen I was sixteen, I wanted a cell phone more than anything. Not only did all my friends have them, but my parents wouldn't let me talk to my boyfriend Jimmy. So I thought that having a cell phone would be the instant solution to all my problems. Not only could I talk to Jimmy whenever I wanted, but having a cell phone would give me a lot more independence. Not to mention the fact that they were extremely glamorous and simply the thing to have. Unfortunately, you have to be eighteen to get a plan with a cell phone company, and my parents didn't even entertain the idea, so all my begging and hoping came to nothing. At first the situation made me furious, but after researching the risks of cell phones, I began to think that not having a cell phone was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Sixty years ago, sixteen-year-olds and adults ignored it. of the dangers of smoking. People were captivated by the glamor projected in cigarette advertisements. Millions of people started smoking without having the slightest idea of ​​the risks they were running. It was not until 1948 that Ernst Wynder published the first study linking lung cancer to cigarettes (Wynder). Even though the link between cigarettes and cancer has been proven repeatedly, forty-eight million Americans still smoke (Cancer.gov). A similar situation occurs with cell phones. Although people have used cell phones for many years, only recently has there been concern about the possibility of a link between the growing number of cell phone users and the increasing incidence of brain cancer. Cell phones grew in popularity throughout the 1990s. Today there are more than ten million cell phone users in America alone, and it is estimated that by 2005 there will be more than 1 .26 billion cell phone users worldwide (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association). Many chemicals in our environment have long been known to cause cancer. These chemicals include radiation, asbestos, BPDE and tamoxifen. (Cancer.gov). But none of these chemicals were known to cause cancer until several people contracted cancer from exposure to them. Cell phones have been proven to admit a certain type of radiation whose effects are unknown..