I didn't find any sound literature on this . Still on safer side we tell people not to use mobile phones. Please guide me on this aspect
I do not believe mobile phones attract lightning, and similarly not any other metal on the body.
There was a discussion in the BMJ a few years ago.
Chris Andrews
As stated by Dr. Andrews, a cell phone does not attract lightning. Such cases occur when people are outside the certain safety of 1) a well-constructed, properly grounded building or 2) a fully enclosed metal-topped vehicle. I call attention to the following article:
http://bottomlineinc.com/life/personal-safety/is-it-dangerous-to-use-a-cell-phone-in-a-thunderstorm
Cooper, M.A., 2008: Is it dangerous to use a cell phone in a thunderstorm? Lightning fact and fiction. Bottom Line Personal, 29, June 1, 13-14.
Ronald L. Holle
I am sorry that I did not reply sooner. My husband and I were on travel to his family and internet was not reliable or strong. My two friends / colleagues have answered this well.
Three other points -
1. NOTHING 'attracts' lightning - Lightning is statistically more likely to hit tall, isolated or 'pointy' objects. Metal does NOT attract lightning. After lightning has traveled through a mile of air to approximately where the person is, a metal object such as a cell phone, hair clip, etc, will have NO effect.
2. Cell phone use distracts the individual so that they are not paying attention to the sound of thunder (a primary warning sign), nor to the truck that is approaching to run them down, etc, so not using a cell phone is a good recommendation, but NOT because it 'attracts' lightning.
3. If a person is hit, a cell phone may mediate or change the path a portion of the lightning may have taken. However, only about 3-5% of lightning strikes are 'direct' strikes so even this is a very small number.
Best wishes - MACooper, MD
As said some years ago by US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) [www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2645.htm] saying lightning is not attracted to people carrying mobile phones: “People are struck because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The wrong place is anywhere outside. The wrong time is anytime a thunderstorm is nearby.”
NOTHING 'ATTRACTS' LIGHTNING - not metal, not how much iron there is in the ground, not water, not what you are holding, NOTHING. Statistically, lightning is more likely to hit tall objects, isolated objects or pointy objects, but lightning is capricious and acts differently than we expect for MANY reasons, not all of which we understand. ----Now that we have established that: we tell people that the main reason so many people are hurt when they are on cell phones is because so many people are on cellphones (walk down the street and see if you can find anyone without a mobile phone!). Secondly, the phone distracts a person from paying attention to thunder (an excellent warning in most cases - but not always in noisy places like cities), to the sky, or to the truck that is about to run you down as you cross the street. That said, Chandima Gomes has published a paper (attached) that tests the theory that metal attracts lightning for a direct strike and found it does NOT. A second study in the same paper indicates that holding a small object near the head (cell phone) of a person standing near a tree or other TALL object that gets hit MAY increase the chances of breakdown and sideflash. My criticism of his paper (and we are dear friends, so it's ok - this is science) is that he did not compare his findings to what would normally be the expected chance of sideflash for any person standing near a lightning-hit object - so, in my mind, we still don't know if, in certain particular situations, a cell phone might increase the risk of sideflash. Chandima did not examine upward streamer with phones, another well known cause of injury outdoors. --- Now another KNOWN effect is that the cell phone may change the path of the lightning, but that occurs after the attachment of the lightning, not as attracting it. If you
One of the lightning victims that I reported on was allegedly witnessed using his phone. I don't recall whether his phone was actually involved in the incident.
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