If you sleep with your phone under your pillow or just out of reach on a nightstand, you are among the 45% of cell phone owners who prefer to keep their mobile devices close at hand. The reasons for this vary, including nodding off while waiting for a call or message, using as a morning timer, fear of missing an instant message, or hoping that someone will write on their virtual entertainment profile page.

Although many people go to bed with the best of intentions, the plain truth is that keeping your cell phone turned on and close by as you try to sleep might be harmful to your health. Consider these four consequences of sleeping next to your cell phone.

1. Setting Your Room on Fire. Although you may not believe it at first, your small cell phone has enough power to spark and start a fire quite simply. If you sleep with your mobile device under your pillow, a spark could easily ignite the dry materials, starting a fire right under your nose.

2. Reduced Sound Sleep, One of the disadvantages of keeping a mobile device turned on while sleeping is that even the slightest sound might disrupt your sleep pattern. To feel renewed and invigorated every day, you should receive eight hours of unbroken sleep. When the mobile device is turned on next to you at night, you are awakened up if you receive an email, a text message, a chat request, a phone call, or when the phone updates or downloads security features. In addition, your cell phone emits what is known as blue light at night.

Studies have demonstrated that blue light inhibits the body’s ability to synthesize melatonin, hence altering circadian rhythms. Because the wavelengths radiated by your phone are comparable to sunlight, the body misinterprets the evening as daytime. Turning off mobile devices before bed is the best thing you can do to help your body to relax and obtain enough sleep.

3. Tiny traces of radiation. The jury is still out on whether prolonged contact with a cell phone might cause cancer, but it is already known that your cell phone emits extremely minute levels of electromagnetic radiation when turned on. Although research on the long-term health dangers of radiation are equivocal, they are similar to those generated by microwaves and X-ray machines in hospitals. Even though the health dangers are not entirely conclusive.

4. Disrupting Brain Functions Although you may believe you are getting enough sleep each night, the radiation released by your cell phone disrupted your sleep several times. The brain requires numerous sleep cycles per night in order to rejuvenate and feel refreshed the next day. When the blue light and noises associated with a cell phone interrupt your sleep, you are actually disrupting brain activity. Studies have been conducted on healthy test volunteers who were exposed to Wi-Fi radiation for only 45 minutes, and they saw a substantial fall in energy levels compared to those who slept the night without a cell phone nearby.