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CONTACT: Environmental Working Group (EWG) EWG Public Affairs: 202.667.6982. alex@ewg.org |
International Study: High Cell Phone Use May Raise Tumor Risk
EWG Urges Disclosure of Cell Phone Radiation At Point of Sale
WASHINGTON - May 17 - The Interphone Study Group, a 10-year, 13-nation scientific collaboration coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a United Nations agency, has wrapped up its work without determining conclusively whether link exists between cell phone use and head and neck tumors. But some findings suggest that some heavy users might face increased risk of certain forms of brain cancer.
Ageny officials and lead investigator Dr. Elisabeth Cardis expressed concern about the undefined but troubling implications of heavy mobile use, particularly by young people.
Cardis announced that "because of concerns about the rapid increase in mobile phone use in young people - who were not covered by Interphone," she will direct a new project, MobiKids, to be funded by the European Union, "to investigate the risk of brain tumors from mobile phone use in childhood and adolescence."
Agency officials said in a press release that the majority of people investigated in the Interphone study used cell phones an average of just 2 to 2.5 hours per month and 100 hours over their lifetimes. "It is not unusual for young people to use mobile phones for an hour or more a day," they said. They suggested that whatever dangers arise from increasing use may be "tempered...by the lower emissions, on average, from newer technology phones, and the increasing use of texting and hands-free operations that keep the phone away from the head." These questions, they acknowledged, require more intense study.
In the meantime Environmental Working Group believes the Interphone study's troubling findings should move governments around the world to adopt right-to-know requirements so customers can see how much radiation various wireless devices emit at the point of sale. If it is true, as international researchers suspect, that phones with low emissions are safer than high-emission phones, then cell phone makers should be required to inform prospective buyers of their devices' radiation levels, in clear, straightforward language on the product packaging.
"Our government has stuck to decades-old standards that pre-date the dramatic increase in cell phone use over the last ten years," said EWG president and co-founder Ken Cook. "We believe consumers must be informed about radiation levels at point of purchase. We also hope consumer publications that review cell phones will note radiation levels."
Last year EWG assembled the largest online database of wireless devices available, ranking each phone by its emissions level. EWG updated the guide in February to the 2010 crop of smart phones.
EWG has been working with the Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and members of the California State legislature on two separate right-to-know initiatives. Newsom has introduced a measure before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to require that makers disclose each phone's Specific Absorption Rate, or SAR level, on the box. California State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has introduced an EWG-sponsored bill, (Senate Bill 1212) that would take the Newsom proposal statewide.
The Interphone study found that people who used their wireless devices at least 30 minutes every day for 10 years were at increased risk of certain types of brain tumors.
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, in 2008, 71 percent of American children between 12 and 17 years old, owned cell phones. More than half use the device daily.
"The tween or teen who doesn't have a cell phone is rare," Cook said. "As scientists continue to raise disturbing questions about heavy cell hone use and tumors, at minimum parents should know which phones may be safer for their children."
3 Comments so far
Show AllCell phones are such a big part of the eCONomy now,
I doubt we will get very much truth about the effects
of near microwave RF energy right next to your brain.
Then of course, we have the cell sites themselves with banks
of transmitters operating at a much higher wattage than the
cell phones and saturating the atmosphere.
Also, does anyone realize that your phone , even though you
have it powered down, is able to be activated by the cell site without you ever knowing it, this is old technology.
When you power down your phone you are really just taking
power from the lights, the reciever and transmitter remain
active, in other words, even though you are not talking on
your phone, you can be monitered any time and anywhere just
as long as you have your phone in your pocket or on your hip.
It is done quite a bit. The only safe way is to completly
remove the battery.
Most CDers are antiwar...since not one major media source
is going to help put pressue on the thugs, our only hope is
to put economic pressure on them, one good way of doing this
is to chunk the cell phones go back to land lines.
I can't figure out why, Hedges and other journalists that
have access to millions of Americans aren't calling for
economic sacntions on a grand scale, it is the only language
that they understand inside the beltway
How ironic that the technology that is supposed to help us "be connected", "network", and "mobilize" may well wind up killing us .....
'Twas ever thus .....
CTIA–The Wireless Association®, on behalf of the wireless industry, would like to highlight some third party health and scientific organizations statements about the Interphone Study.
World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer Interphone Project, Interphone Study Group: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/ije/press_releases/freepdf/dyq079.pdf
“Overall, no increase in risk of glioma or meningioma was observed with use of mobile phones. There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma at the highest exposure levels, but biases and error prevent a causal interpretation. The possible effects of long-term heavy use of mobile phones require further investigation…Much biological research has been done in recent years on possible biological effects of RF fields. This work covers in vitro and in vivo exposure, alone and in combination with other physical or chemical agents, and has found no evidence that RF fields are carcinogenic in laboratory rodents or cause DNA damage in cells in culture.”
WHO Fact Sheet on Mobile Phones: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheetsfs193/en/index.html
“A large number of studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. To date, no adverse health effects have been established for mobile phone use.”
U.S. FDA: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/UCM212306.pdf
“Although research is ongoing, the Food and Drug Administra¬tion (FDA) says that available sci¬entific evidence—including World Health Organization (WHO) find¬ings released May 17, 2010—shows no increased health risk due to radio¬frequency (RF) energy, a form of elec¬tromagnetic radiation that is emitted by cell phones.”
National Institute of Health National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/Interphone2010Results
“Interphone, an international collaboration, and the largest study of its kind to date, reported that overall, cell phone users have no increased risk of two of the most common forms of brain cancer -- glioma and meningioma. Furthermore, there was no evidence of risk with progressively increasing number of calls, longer call time, or time since the start of the use of cell phones. However, for the small proportion of study participants who used cell phones the most – measured as cumulative call time over their lifetime – there was a suggestion of increased risk of glioma, though the authors call this finding inconclusive.”
Finally, CTIA has developed a website which provides additional information from around the world on this matter. Please visit: http://www.cellphonehealthfacts.com
By: John Walls, Vice President of Public Affairs for CTIA