A collaborative of international electromagnetic radiation (EMR)
watchdogs, including Powerwatch and the EMR Policy Institute, sent a
paper to government leaders and media Tuesday detailing several
design flaws in a major but oft-delayed telecom-funded Interphone
study.
Now consumers get to wonder yet again whether the message behind the
paper, "Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern,
Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone," is legitimate or the
result of overzealous conspiracy theorists.
The paper's main conclusions are: There is a "significant" risk of
brain tumors from cell phone use; EMR exposure limits that have been
used by governments and supported by industry are based on the false
premise that EMR has no biological effects except for heating; and
design flaws of the Interphone study include selection bias,
insufficient latency time to expect a tumor diagnosis, unrealistic
definition of what makes a "regular" cell phone user, exclusion of
children and young adults from the study, exclusion of many types of
brain tumors, and exclusion of people who had died or were too ill
to be interviewed as the result of brain tumors.
Read the full report here (PDF), as
well as CNET's cell phone radiation level chart (a few Motorola
models top the list, with several Samsungs coming in lowest).
The paper's primary author, L. Lloyd Morgan (a retired electronics
engineer and member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society), is backed
by endorsers (mostly scientists) from 14 countries when he cautions
that cell phone use might lead to an increased risk of more than
just brain tumors:
Exposure to cell phone radiation is the largest human health
experiment ever undertaken, without informed consent, and has some
four billion participants enrolled. Science has shown increased risk
of brain tumors from use of cell phones, as well as increased risk
of eye cancer, salivary gland tumors, testicular cancer,
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia. The public must be informed.
The World Health Organization does not seem terribly worried about
the effects of cell phone use on health: "None of the recent reviews
have concluded that exposure to the RF fields from mobile phones or
their base stations causes any adverse health consequence." But this
statement--last updated nine years ago--relies on precisely the kind
of data these watchdogs suggest is flawed.
Several other studies, many of which are referenced in the book
"Cancer Biology," including one of 195,775 workers manufacturing and
testing cell phones, indicate no association between EMR exposure
and brain or other nervous system cancers. But again, this book was
published in 1995; time for an update?
Yesterday's announcement also calls into question the wide use of
wireless technologies beyond cell phones. If GSM cell phones are
dangerous in the 1.8GHz band, does that render Wi-Fi, at 2.4GHz and
5GHz frequency bands, even worse? These are questions that need to
be addressed, preferably by researchers who do not receive their
funding from the telecommunications industry.
A note about cell phone health
risks
and cell phone radiation
Cell phones are a potential danger to your health
because of the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) that they emit. Use
caution when using products which emit EMR including cordless phones and
wireless routers. Protect yourself by using cell phone
radiation shields.
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