PHONE AND YOUR HEALTH
The cell phone industry: Big Tobacco 2.0?
So, there's this incredibly popular
product that has widespread consumer use and a massive marketing presence.
Nearly everyone uses it, and it has very high social acceptance, even though
some people find it annoying when it's used in public. It's highly habit-forming;
people who use the product on a regular basis find it almost impossible to live
without.
Unfortunately, studies start to
appear showing that the product might be harmful to its users--even
cancer-causing. The product's manufacturers deny the presence of any danger and
even spend millions of dollars trying to discredit the research that points to
problems. Then, an insider emerges, seemingly with proof that the product could
be dangerous. The industry agrees to publish warning data about the product, but
continues to maintain that the product itself is safe for use. Lawsuits against
the product's manufacturers are filed, but all are dismissed. Industry analysts
know that any case that does succeed could start a domino effect of future
lawsuits, which keeps the industry determined to maintain that the product is
harmless, despite increasing evidence to the contrary.
TalkBack
What do you think? Is the cell phone radiation scare a conspiracy theory or worth using a headset for?
Post your comment here Sound familiar?
What do you think? Is the cell phone radiation scare a conspiracy theory or worth using a headset for?
Post your comment here Sound familiar?
Well, put down your lighter, I'm
talking about cell phones. I've already maintained that I don't like the cell
phone industry's iron-clad control over phone releases and pricing, its
ever-lengthening contracts, and the annoying habit it has of crippling
Bluetooth phones so that I can't use them the way I want to. But it takes only
a few minutes of looking into the cell phone radiation quagmire before I start
to think, man, these guys have Big Tobacco 2.0 written all over them. Actually,
I'm not the first to think of it, but a recent article in the University of
Washington alumni magazine indicates that the behaviors aren't going away, even
as the potentially damning research continues to mount.
OK, I know the obvious differences:
I'm sure cell phone manufacturers are not deliberately making their products
more addictive, for example--although they are, of course, always offering new
and improved services and ever-increasing buckets of minutes, which can't help
but encourage us to use our phones more and more frequently. But, just as Big
Tobacco did, the cell phone industry seems bound and determined to thwart and
deny any suggestion that its product might be dangerous.
A history of bad news
For example, in 1994, University of Washington bioengineering professors Henry Lai and Narendra Singh found that the DNA in rats' brains was damaged after two hours of exposure to levels of microwave radiation considered safe by the government. When Lai and Singh published the research, a leaked memo from Motorola's head of global strategy, Norm Sandler, talked about ways to minimize damage by undermining their research, with Sandler writing, "I think that we have sufficiently war-gamed the Lai/Singh issue." Ouch. Worse, research biologist Jerry Phillips, who was paid by Motorola to conduct similar testing, says he was able to duplicate Lai and Singh's findings, but was then asked not to publish the research and wassubsequently shunned by the company. Motorola says it told Phillips that his findings needed clarification, and the industry still maintains that Lai and Singh's results have never been duplicated and can't be considered legitimate.
For example, in 1994, University of Washington bioengineering professors Henry Lai and Narendra Singh found that the DNA in rats' brains was damaged after two hours of exposure to levels of microwave radiation considered safe by the government. When Lai and Singh published the research, a leaked memo from Motorola's head of global strategy, Norm Sandler, talked about ways to minimize damage by undermining their research, with Sandler writing, "I think that we have sufficiently war-gamed the Lai/Singh issue." Ouch. Worse, research biologist Jerry Phillips, who was paid by Motorola to conduct similar testing, says he was able to duplicate Lai and Singh's findings, but was then asked not to publish the research and wassubsequently shunned by the company. Motorola says it told Phillips that his findings needed clarification, and the industry still maintains that Lai and Singh's results have never been duplicated and can't be considered legitimate.
The biggest Russell Crowe-style
insider in this case, though, is Dr. George Carlo, who was hired by the
Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association to head up a $28 million
research program into possible health effects from cellular phones.
Unfortunately, he now says his findings show an increased rate of brain cancer
deaths, development of tumors, and genetic damage among heavy cell phone users.
He wrote this letter of concern to the president of AT&T Corporation and
later went public with his findings after what he considered to be neglect by
the industry. He's since broken with the industry, become a vocal critic, and coauthored
a book called Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age--so you can
tell he's on the "cell phones could cause cancer" side of things.
Meanwhile, more studies keep coming,
and they seem to be getting worse. A study funded by the European Union
reported last December that radio waves from mobile phones do, definitively,
damage DNA and other cells in the body--and that the damage extended to the
next generation of cells. Even though mutated cells are considered a possible
cause of cancer, the UK National Radiological Protection Board said that since
the study didn't show that the damage definitely led to disease, consumers
shouldn't worry too much about the findings.
Uh, right.
In the meantime, the report recommended that children use mobile phones only in
emergency situations. You know, just in case. How reassuring.
The cell phone industry hasn't
commissioned another large-scale study--at least not publicly--since its
fateful encounter with Dr. Carlo--and why would they? They're in a catch-22.
It's a multibillion dollar industry, and they simply can't afford to find out,
definitively, that cell phones are dangerous. Worse, just like the tobacco
companies, if they start issuing warnings and precautionary tales now, it'll
look like they knew all along that the radio waves were dangerous, opening them
up to major liability claims. They've already dodged one big, big bullet--an
$800 million lawsuit against Motorola and cell phone carriers was thrown out in
2002, with the judge ruling that there wasn't sufficient evidence for trial.
Since then, neurologist Dr. Christopher Newman, who filed the lawsuit, has died
of brain cancer.
Listen, I use a cell phone, and I'm
not trying to scare the bejesus out of everyone. But I do use a headset when
I'm talking for any long period of time, and I carry that sucker in my purse,
not my pocket. (I know you guys don't have that luxury, but reconsider the
briefcase, OK?) And if you're shopping for a new phone, you might want to check
our cell phone radiation chart to see which ones carry a low dose.
In a few more years, we'll either
know for sure that cell phones can cause cancer, or we'll know they can't. I
just hope we don't find out the hard way--through subpoenaed documents from
cell phone makers and carriers who've been trying to minimize their damages and
maximize their profits for more than a decade
Long-Term
Cell Phone Use Spurs Tumor Growth
If you have used your mobile phone for more than 10 years, you might have increased your risk of developing acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the auditory nerve.
If you have used your mobile phone for more than 10 years, you might have increased your risk of developing acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the auditory nerve.
Interestingly enough, studies found
that the risk was confined to the side of the head that was used most often
while talking on the phone. As a matter of fact, the risk of acoustic neuroma
was nearly four times greater on the side of the head that the phone was most
frequently held compared to the other side, which appeared normal.
A study revealed that the number of
years of phone usage seemed to play a factor in the development of the tumor,
as those using their phone 10 years or more were shown to nearly double their
risk of acoustic neuroma. On the other hand, those who used their phone for
less than 10 years didn't show any signs of increases risk.
Participants of the study included
150 people with acoustic neuroma and 600 healthy people.
Since the only types of phones used
during the study were analog mobile phones, researchers questioned whether or
not the same results would apply to long-term use of the digital phones, which
have since replaced the bulkier and less advanced analog phones.
In response to the study results,
the mobile phone industry claimed there wasn't any scientific evidence to
supporting findings showing that using mobile phones causes negative health
effects.
Cellular
Phones Linked to Cellular DNA Damage
Over 1.5 billion people around the world use a cellular phone; however, chances are most of these users are unaware of the damage they may be doing to their bodies.
Over 1.5 billion people around the world use a cellular phone; however, chances are most of these users are unaware of the damage they may be doing to their bodies.
According to a four-year research
project focused on studying the effect of radiation on human and animal cells,
researchers found that the radio waves emitted from a cellular phone may harm
body cells and damage DNA in laboratory conditions. Although the study did not
prove that mobile phones are a risk to one's health, it did indicate that cells
exposed to electromagnetic fields, similar to those of mobile phones, showed a
significant increase in single and double-strand DNA breaks.
This damage could be permanent, not
to mention that remaining damage could set the stage for future degeneration of
cells.
Additional research could take
another four or five years. In the meantime, researchers recommend against
using a mobile phone when a fixed line phone is available, as well as using a
headset connected to a cell phone whenever possible.
Cell
Phones May Harm Blood Cells
A study has shown that radiation from mobile phones may cause a substantial increase in the forces that living cells exert on each other. Experts said this research could be critical to providing answers to the question of whether radiation from mobile phones is linked to cancer and other health problems. Although several researchers believe this to be the case, they have been unable to come up with ways that radiation could produce this affect and harm biological tissue.
A study has shown that radiation from mobile phones may cause a substantial increase in the forces that living cells exert on each other. Experts said this research could be critical to providing answers to the question of whether radiation from mobile phones is linked to cancer and other health problems. Although several researchers believe this to be the case, they have been unable to come up with ways that radiation could produce this affect and harm biological tissue.
The conventional theory states the
only way radio waves could harm a cell would be if they were powerful enough to
break chemical bonds or heat the tissue, like microwaves. However, it was
discovered the radiation given off by the handsets on mobile phones was too
weak to result in either of these effects.
Research has shown that water
molecules have poles of positive and negative electric charges referred to as
van der Waals forces, which are known to produce attractive forces between
cells. In a study using a very simplified mathematical model of two red blood
cells, the effect of electromagnetic fields with different frequencies of
radiation was calculated.
This study determined that the water
molecules within the cells tried to reposition their negative and positive poles
by altering the field created by the radiation.
The results of this study didn’t
prove negative effects from mobile phone radiation, however if the effect could
be proven based on experimentation, it could provide the basis of an
explanation for tissue damage.
Future studies will be conducted to
check the dielectric properties of various types of biological tissue during
exposure to radiation across the range of frequencies normally used by mobile
phones.
Cell Phones and Brain Tumors
Scientists have found the first
evidence linking brain cancer with mobile phone use.
It was found that users who spend
more than an hour a day talking on a mobile phone have a close to one-third
higher risk of developing a rare form of brain tumor. Most frequently, the cancers
were found on the side of the head that the user held the phone up to.
The association was found with
digital mobile phones, old-style analogue mobile phones and digital enhanced
cordless phones.
Although radiation from mobile
phones has been shown to alter the brain and affect memory, past studies have
found no evidence of a link between brain cancer and mobile phone use.
In the current study, researchers
looked at the medical records of 1,600 patients with tumors who had used mobile
phones for up to 10 years before diagnosis. They found that the more mobile
phones were used, and the more years they were used, the higher the risk of
brain tumors.
Further, spending more than an hour
on a mobile phone per day increased the risk of acoustic neuroma, a type of
tumor, by some 30 percent. This type of tumor, usually curable by surgery, can
occur in a nerve in the brain and lead to deafness in one ear.
Incidences of this type of cancer,
though rare, have increased from one tumor per 100,000 people in 1980 to one
per 80,000 today.
Researchers say that the findings
appear to show a link, but further studies are needed to confirm the results.
International Journal of Oncology
February 2003;22(2):399-407
More Mobile Phone Users Report Symptoms
Norwegian and Swedish users of mobile phones commonly report headaches, warmth on the ear and burning sensations of the facial skin, according to a just-published report.
Norwegian and Swedish users of mobile phones commonly report headaches, warmth on the ear and burning sensations of the facial skin, according to a just-published report.
Researchers sent questionnaires to
17,000 people in Sweden and Norway who use mobile phones as part of their job.
Nearly one of every four experienced
at least one symptom associated with mobile phone use
Warmth sensations were mostly
experienced during mobile phone calls. Other symptoms, such as headaches, most
often began within half an hour after the call and usually lasted for up to 2
hours
Most of the respondents had not seen
a physician, but about 45% had taken steps to relieve their symptoms, such as
reducing the duration of calls and using "hands free equipment."
Most people experienced a reduction
of their symptoms as a result of the reported steps.
Symptoms
were more likely to happen with calls lasting longer than 5 minutes.
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