These days, carrying a cell phone may seem like second nature, but just like toxins we’re exposed to every day, cell phone radiation may affect our children much differently than it does for adults. 

Tonya Harris, Environmental Toxin Expert and Founder, Slightly Greener, tells us more: 

•    Children and teens could be at greater risk by the radiation emitted by cell phones because their brain tissue is very absorbent and their skulls are thinner.
•    Cell phone use by children is also linked to hyperactivity issues and ADHD when they become teenagers.
•    A cell phone’s blue light has been shown to suppress melatonin, a hormone that helps us sleep.
2. Rather than completely take your child’s cell phone away or never give them one – which in this day in age isn’t always an option – try to set some ground rules so that their cell phone/tablet use is safer.
•    Don’t carry your phone physically “on you”: This means don’t carry – and don’t allow your children to carry – a cell phone in bras, front pockets, or pants pockets if possible. If you have to carry it on you, put it on airplane mode. This stops the phone from receiving a signal and from emitting radiation. 
•    Use your phone for calls only when it has a full signal: The fewer the bars, the more radiation emitted because the phone is working harder to get a signal.
•    Hold the phone away from your ear, on speaker as often as you can: Hold your phone about an inch or two away from your body.
•    Sleep with your phone on airplane mode: Many kids (as well as adults!) use their cell phones as alarm clocks and sleep with it close to their heads. Keep it on airplane mode to prevent the phone from emitting radiation while you sleep, and never charge it in your bed.
•    Use an app, such as “Night Shift” (iOS) to block the blue light in the evenings that cell phones, computers, and tablets emit: This turns the screen to a more orange-ish/red color to block out the bright “blue light” that can affect sleep. 

Learn more at www. slightlygreener.com.