Research suggests that Blackberry smartphones might contain allergens

When it comes to choosing smartphones, pros and cons have to be weighed, such as display size, processor speed, choice of operating system, availability of popular apps, and etc., but it looks like we might have to start considering possible allergic reactions in the future as well. According to a rather interesting report presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, it has been suggested that in an analysis of 75 phones (which include the iPhone, Droids, Blackberries and flip phones) for common allergens – nickel and cobalt, both the flip phone and Blackberry devices were found to contain either one of the substances.

Flip phones were found to contain the most amount of nickel, while Blackberry devices were found to contain at least one of the allergens amongst its smartphone siblings, according to Tania Mucci, MD. So what kind of signs can we look out for to indicate that we might have an allergic reaction? It has been suggested that dry and itchy patches on skin along our cheekbones, jaw line and ears could be a sign of an allergic reaction, and according to Dr. Mucci, overexposure post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and scarring! Pretty scary stuff, no? Of course we’re not saying you should toss your Blackberry device, but these are possible signs worth looking out for.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones, Medical
Tags: BlackBerry, iPhone, research