The experts are weighing in on the latest health topic scaring the nation – cell phones radiation. The World Health’s Organization Internation’s Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the expert panel that the American Cancer Society rely on for evaluation of cancer risks, has recently annouced that cell phones might cause brain cancer. The IARC has found cell phones to be “possibly caracinogenic”, which means they cannot say with certainty if it actually causes cancer, but it’s still pretty scary stuff. Here’s what they had to say:
“After reviewing all the evidence available, the IARC working group classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans,” panel chairman Jonathan Samet, MD, said at a news teleconference. “We reached this conclusion based on a review of human evidence showing increased risk of glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, in association with wireless phone use.”
This puts cell phones in the “carcinogenic hazard” category next to lead, DDT, engine exhaust and chloroform. Still, the key word here is association. More research has to be done to find out if cell phones actually cause cancer, but these findings will make it happen. This is not the first time the safety of cell phones has been questioned. In the February 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that cell phone radiation significantly affected brain function and metabolism of glucose – the brain’s main fuel – in the parts of the brain that received the most cell phone radiation. The areas of the brain that had increased glucose are involved in thinking, sensing and decision making, inclusing repression of antisocial behavior. In other words, cell phones may disrupt the way that cells and genes work in areas of the brain involved in thinking, decision making, etc. – pretty important things!
There was also a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showing a possible link between prenatal cell phone exposure and childhood behavior problems. A study published in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery linked cell phone radiation to decreased bone density in the pelvis, and a 2008 study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic found that it lowers fertility in men. (Keep your phone out of your pocket!)
There may not be enough evidence yet to conclude that cell phones cause cancer, but with over 5 billion people worldwide using mobile phones, the lifetime exposure to the magnetic fields created by the phones is increasing – rapidly. It’s too soon to tell the long-term effects; many scientists and experts say a cancer is generally not seen until 10 to 30 years after the exposure to an agent. But do we really want to wait to see what happens?
So what should you do? It’s a scary thought when you think about all the time you spend on your phone, whether its chatting on the phone, texting, surfing the web, or whatever you can do on your phone these days…some of us even sleep with our phone next to our head! Instead of vowing to never use your phone again, or ignoring the warnings all together, take a more cautionary approach with these tips:
- Limit the time you spend on it. In fact, as impersonal as it feels sometimes, texting is the way to go. According to Kurt Straif, MD, PhD, MPH, head of the IARC Monographs Program, the highest exposures come from the actual phone calls. So if you text, or even use hands-free devices, you lower your exposure by at least 10-fold!
- Don’t keep your cell phone in your pocket. Studies have linked cell phone radiation to decreased bone density in the pelvis, as well as a decrease in sperm count.
- Don’t chat with a poor signal. The harder your phone has to work to get reception, the more radiation it emits.
- Limit children’s use. Children have a thinner skull, and their brains are still developing which may make them more vulnerable. Their lifetime exposure to cell phones will likely be greater than the exposure of current adults, considering a majority of children have their own cell phone by age 12.
- Keep your phone away from you when you’re sleeping. According to the large Pew Internet & American Life Project called “Cellphones and American Adults,” two-thirds of American adults have slept with their cell phones on or right next to their beds. The number rises to over 90% among people ages 18 to 29. Avoid the extra exposure by keeping your cell phone at the opposite end of the room.
References: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/09/03/do-you-sleep-with-your-cell-phone-most-americans-do-study-find/ http://blogs.webmd.com/health-ehome/2011/04/cell-phone-radiation-is-it-dangerous.html?ecd=wnl_nal_060111 http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20110531/expert-panel-cell-phones-might-cause-brain-cancer?ecd=wnl_nal_060111
