foodconsumer.org: Brain cancer and cell phone use unproven

Brain cancer and cell phone use unproven
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admin on 12/23/2009 01:38:00
 
By Sheilah Downey
Legislators in Maine and California are proposing legislation to require cell
phones to carry warnings about brain cancer, although most scientific studies
indicate there is no link between the two.
Maine Rep. Andrea Boland, D-Sanford, said numerous studies point to a
correlation between brain cancer and cell phone use and has persuaded
legislators in her state to discuss the issue in January about possible cell
phone warnings. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants his to be the first city
to require cell phone warnings.
At issue, said Rep. Boland, is the fact that cell phones emit radiation which
can be harmful when placed for long periods of time against the head.
But the American Cancer Society says the type of radiation emitted from cell
phones, called radio frequency (RF) waves, is a non-ionizing radiation like the
type from FM radios and microwave ovens and is not harmful.
"They don't have enough energy to directly damage DNA," says the ACS report
entitled Cellular Phones. "They are different from types of ionizing radiation
such as x-rays and gamma rays, which are known to damage DNA and can cause
cancer."
There are an estimated 270 million cell phone subscribers in the United States,
about 87 percent of the population, according to the Cellular Telecommunications
and Internet Association.
Boland's bill would recommend that manufacturers put warning labels on phones
about the potential for brain cancer associated with electromagnetic radiation.
The amount of RF energy absorbed from the phone into the user's tissues is
called the specific absorption rate (SAR). Right now, the cell phone industry is
required by the Federal Communications Commission to report the SAR levels of
their phones. The FCC allows an upper limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram of body
weight.
The ACS says about 30 studies have been done on the possible link between cell
phone use and brain tumors over the years.
"Patients with brain tumors do not report more cell phone use overall than the
controls," states the ACS report.
Many of the studies have been case-control and most of them did not show a
"dose-response relationship," meaning the risk for brain tumors would increase
as cell phone use also increased.
"Most (but not all) of the studies have not found a clear link between the side
of the head on which the brain tumor occurred and the side on which the cell
phone was used," states the ACS website.
Also cited in the ACS report was a large, long-term study whcih followed more
than 420,000 cell phone users in Denmark between 1982 and 2002.
That study found that cell phone use, even for the more than ten years of that
particular study, was not linked to increased risk of brain cancer or cancer
overall.
"Taken as a whole, most studies to date have not found a link between cell phone
use and the development of tumors," said the ACS report.
However, the report did say that many of the studies had some important
limitations, including the fact that the data was largely assessed by asking
people to recall their cell phone use.
Related articles:
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Lifestyle/who_will_admit_cell_phones_raise_brain_cancer_risk_261020090541.html
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Environment/cell_phones_and_brain_tumors_091220090857.html
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Lifestyle/review_cell_phones_raise_risk_of_brain_tumors_140910090840.html
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Lifestyle/cell_phones_raise_brain_cancer_risk_141020090956.html