Can You Hear Me Now?
“The largest biological experiment in history” is how one researcher describes cellular phone use. And those who make numerous cell phone calls every day are the guinea pigs.
I confess, I’m one of them. I like being connected from anywhere, and my cell phone is in reach just about all the time. So I sat up and took notice when news of these concerns started leaking out.
Yet, I think it’s safe to say that most of the estimated 1.5 billion worldwide cell phone users are not aware that the little device placed at the side of our heads might be a health hazard. And while so far there is no conclusive evidence about what the specific danger may be, it’s enough of a concern to prompt a large, multiyear government study.
In the meantime, there’s a simple way to stay connected while protecting yourself from any potential dangers.
Young brain cells
In the e-Alert “Skinny Dipping” (3/4/03), I told you about a study from Sweden that showed how exposure to the radio signals in cell phones killed brain cells in rats. Of course, brain cell death is a far cry from brain cancer, but anyone who’s comfortable with losing brain cells is a braver cell phone user than I am. Personally, I don’t feel I have a lot of brain cells to spare and would like to keep as many intact as possible.
But that Swedish research was just one of many cell phone studies that, taken as a whole, have returned no clear consensus on cell phone safety. What we do know is that cell phones emit low-level, non-ionizing radiation on the same frequency as microwaves. This radiation has been shown to enter the user’s head, but what happens when this is repeated over and over, every day, year after year, remains to be seen. Of even greater concern is what this may be doing to young people whose brains are still developing and who are using cell phones more and more every day.
One former engineer with a major wireless provider has stated that “there’s a fairly strong body of literature” that indicates there could be a problem with regular cell phone use over many years.
First the cart, then the horse
In 1993, a Florida man sued a cellular phone company after his wife died from complications with brain cancer, which her husband attributed to cell phone use. At the time, there was little scientific evidence that cell phones created a health risk, so the court found in favor of the phone company, but the media coverage of the trial prompted a demand for cell phone safety studies.
That same year, the FDA issued an advisory stating that the danger of cell phone use was “probably small,” but suggested the almost laughably feeble advice that people keep their calls short. But one year ago, Microwave News obtained an internal FDA memo written in April 1993 that reviewed existing research on microwaves emitted from cell phones and concluded that the database of studies “suggests that under at least some circumstances these exposures do indeed accelerate the development of cancer by some unknown mechanism.”
Apparently realizing that damage control was necessary, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association launched a $25 million cell phone safety research program in 1993. At the conclusion of the research in 1999, the program director announced that two studies showed evidence of possible cancer risk, and called for further research.
That call has been answered, none too quickly, by the National Toxicology Program (NTP; a division of the National Institute of Environmental Health Services, under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health). NTP researchers are developing an extensive study that may last as long as six years. But because the planning for such research is so involved (and because, after all, we’re talking about a huge bureaucracy here) the first phases of the study aren’t expected to begin until sometime next year.
Exit the study
Leif Salford is the Swedish researcher who referred to cell phones as the largest biological experiment in history. Salford feels that the results of existing studies are important enough to recommend using a hands-free device when taking calls on a cell phone. It’s a simple, inexpensive and effective way to avoid participating in “the experiment.”
Last year I started using a hands-free unit to make all my cell calls. I’ll admit that sometimes it’s not as convenient as just grabbing the phone, but whenever I use it I feel comfortable knowing that it’s a small precaution that just might turn out to be an important prevention. And, after all, I’m not going to be anyone’s guinea pig unless the study includes at least a little bit of chocolate.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
Sources:
“Feds to Launch $10 million Investigation of Cell Phones, Wireless Technologies” Nancy McVicar, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 11/16/03, sun-sentinel.com
“1993 FDA Memo: Data ‘Strongly Suggest’ Microwaves Can Promote Cancer” Microwave News, January/February 2003, microwavenews.com
“Nerve Cell Damage in Mammalian Brain after Exposure to Microwaves from GSM Mobile Phones” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 111, No. 7, June 2003, ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov
“Do Cell Phones Kill?” Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 2/11/03, cnn.com
“Study: Cell Phones Damaged Rat Brain Cells” United Press International, 2/4/03, upi.com
