If you are sleeping with your phone under your pillow or just out of reach on a nightstand, you are like the 45% of cell phone owners who need to have their mobile devices close at hand.

The reasons for this are numerous, falling asleep while waiting for a call or text, using an alarm clock, fear of missing a text message, or waiting for someone to post on their social media profile page.

Although many head off to bed with the best of intentions, the simple truth is that keeping your cell phone turned on and near you, while you try to sleep can be hazardous to your health.

Consider these four harms of sleeping near your cell phone;

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1. Setting Your Room on Fire

Although you might not believe it at first, your little cell phone has enough power to spark and cause a fire very easily. If you are sleeping with the mobile device under your pillow, a spark could easily ignite those dry materials and start a fire right under your nose.

2. Reduction in a Sound Sleep

One of the challenges of having a turned-on mobile device near you while sleeping is the slightest sounds can interrupt your sleeping pattern. In order for you to feel refreshed and rejuvenated each day, you need to get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. When the mobile device is on next to you at night, you get awoken each time you receive an email, a text message, a chat request, a phone call, or when the phone is updating or downloading security features. Additionally, your cell phone is emitting what is called blue light at night.

Blue light has been shown in studies to inhibit the body’s ability to produce melatonin, disrupting the circadian rhythms. These wavelengths emitted by your phone are similar to sunlight, so the body simply thinks during the evening that it is daytime instead. The best thing you can do is turn off mobile devices before bed to allow your body to wind down and get the appropriate amount of rest.

3. Small Traces of Radiation

The jury is still out on whether excessive contact with a cell phone can lead to cancer, but it is already a proven fact that your cell phone is emitting very small amounts of electromagnetic radiation while turned on. Although studies are inconclusive about the long-term health risks associated with the radiation, these are the same emitted from microwaves and X-ray machines at the hospitals. Even though the health risks are not 100% conclusive.

4. Derailing Brain Functions

Although you might think that you are getting the right amount of sleep each night, your brain was interrupted many times during the night by the radiation emitted from the cell phone. The brain needs to go through several sleep cycles at night to help you to recharge and feel fresh the next day.

When the blue light and all the noises associated with a cell phone interrupt your sleep, you are in fact derailing the activity of the brain.

Studies have been conducted with healthy test subjects who were exposed to Wi-Fi radiation for only 45 minutes, and they experience a significant decrease in energy levels compared to those who slept the night away without a cell phone nearby.