Cell phones are almost as common as pocket change these days. It seems nearly everyone, including an increasing number of children, carries a cell phone wherever they go. Cell phones are now so popular and convenient that they are surpassing landlines as the primary form of telecommunication for many people.
Do Cell Phones Cause Cancer?
Wireless cell phones transmit signals via radio frequency (RF), the same kind of low-frequency radiation used in microwave ovens and AM/FM radios. Scientists have known for years that large doses of high-frequency radiation—the kind used in X-rays—causes cancer, but less is understood about the risks of low-frequency radiation.
Studies on the health risks of cell-phone use have produced mixed results, but scientists and medical experts warn that people should not assume no risk exists. Cell phones have been widely available for only the past 10 years or so, but tumors may take twice that long to develop.
Because cell phones haven’t been around very long, scientists haven’t been able to assess the effects of long-term cell-phone use, or to study the effects of low-frequency radiation on growing children. Most studies have focused on people who have been using cell phones for three to five years, but some studies have indicated that using a cell phone an hour a day for 10 years or more can significantly increase the risk of developing a rare brain tumor.
What Makes Cell Phones Potentially Dangerous?
Most RF from cell phones comes from the antenna, which sends signals to the nearest base station. The farther the cell phone is from the nearest base station, the more radiation it requires to send the signal and make the connection. As a result, scientists theorize that the health risks from cell-phone radiation would be greater for people who live and work where base stations are farther away or fewer in number—and research is beginning to support that theory.
In December 2007, Israeli researchers reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology that long-term cell-phone users who live in rural areas face a "consistently elevated risk" of developing tumors in the parotid gland compared with users who live in urban or suburban locations. The parotid gland is a salivary gland located just below a person’s ear.
And in January 2008, the French Health Ministry issued a warning against excessive cell phone use, especially by children, despite the lack of conclusive scientific evidence linking cell-phone use with cancer or other serious health effects. In a public statement, the ministry said: "As the hypothesis of a risk cannot be entirely excluded, precaution is justified."
How to Protect Yourself from Cell-Phone Radiation
“Precaution” seems to be the approach recommended by an increasing number of scientists, medical experts and public health agencies, from the French Health Ministry to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). General recommendations to minimize the potential health risks include talking on cell phones only when necessary, and using a hands-free device to keep the cell phone away from your head.
If you’re concerned about your exposure to cell-phone radiation, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires manufacturers to report the relative amount of RF absorbed into a user’s head (known as the specific absorption rate, or SAR) from every type of cell phone on the market today. To learn more about SAR and to check the specific absorption rate for your phone, check the FCC website.
Heavy Mobile Phone Use Increases Cancer Risk
Heavy users of wireless mobile phones face increased risks of developing severe brain tumors, according to the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the possible link between cancer and the long-term use of cellular telephones.
Researchers at the Swedish National Institute for Working Life and the University of Oerebro compared the mobile phone use of 4,400 people—half of them cancer patients, and the other half healthy people who made up the control group—and made some disturbing discoveries. [The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has since questioned the results of this study.
According to Kjell Hansson Mild, who led the study, heavy users of mobile phones have a 240 percent increased risk of developing a malignant tumor on the side of the head where they press the phone to their ear.
Published in the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, the study defines “heavy use” as 2,000 hours of mobile phone use in the course of a decade, which "corresponds to 10 years' use in the work place for one hour per day."
Of the 2,200 cancer patients in the study, who ranged in age from 20 to 80 years old, 905 had a malignant brain tumor and just under one-tenth of that number were heavy mobile phone users.
"Of these 905 cases, 85 were so-called high users of mobile phones, that is they began early to use mobile and/or wireless telephones and used them a lot," said the authors of the study in a statement issued by the Institute.
In addition, the study concluded that early users, defined as people who started using a mobile phone before age 20, are also at greater risk of developing a malignant brain tumor.
The study also took into account factors such as smoking habits, working history and exposure to other known cancer-causing agents.
Limit Mobile Calls
Hansson Mild advised that the best ways for consumers to lower their risk of cancer related to mobile phones are to use their wireless phones less frequently and to use handsfree options when they do make or receive mobile calls. He said the research report about the study is not intended to cause public alarm or to raise concerns about widespread risk for the majority of people who use mobile phones.
"It does however give reason to use caution when calling on wireless phones,” he said in an interview with Dow Jones. “Use handsfree and avoid wireless when possible.”
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