{"id":489,"date":"2016-05-31T19:44:56","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T19:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshmitteldorf.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=489"},"modified":"2016-05-31T19:47:44","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T19:47:44","slug":"update-cell-phones-can-cause-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/2016\/05\/31\/update-cell-phones-can-cause-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: Cell Phones can cause Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a suppressed science correlating cell phone use with cancer risk. \u00a0It is suppressed because the health risks pose a basic threat to the business model of the booming cell phone industry, with looming regulation and a devastating spate of future law suits. \u00a0In defense of the scientific community, I hasten to add that there was no reason to suspect in advance that radio waves would have any biological effects whatever, based on well-established and conventional notions of how biochemistry works. \u00a0But the epidemiological evidence has been compelling for several years now, and it\u2019s past time for the community to turn around.<\/em><\/p>\n

(Unlike x-rays and nuclear power, cell phone radiation is not \u201cionizing radiation\u201d, and cannot break chromosomes or cause mutations. \u00a0The mechanism by which it interacts with biological processes remains wholly unknown.)<\/p>\n

Last week, data from a major study were released<\/a> confirming our worst fears. \u00a0This was based on rats, not humans, so all the provisos about indirect evidence and correlation vs causation don\u2019t apply. \u00a0Rats live just two years, so the exposure time was short compared to humans.<\/p>\n

They chronically exposed rodents to carefully calibrated radio-frequency (RF) radiation levels designed to roughly emulate what humans with heavy cell phone use or exposure could theoretically experience in their daily lives. The animals were placed in specially built chambers that dosed their whole bodies with varying amounts and types of this radiation for approximately nine hours per day throughout their two-year life spans.<\/p>\n

Despite the short duration of the experiment and despite the fact that there were only 90 rats in each group, cases of rare cancers were reported in the test rats, but none in the controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An interesting twist in the results is that there is a hint that rats exposed to cell phone radiation lived longer. \u00a0There is precedent for this in many kinds of hormetic experiments. \u00a0For example, intermittent, low levels of ionizing radiation cause an elevated cancer incidence, but for those that don\u2019t get cancer, there is a small tendency for increased life span.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Is this a big cause for concern, or a tempest in a teapot?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Quantifying the risks for humans remains very uncertain. \u00a0For humans, there are no precise measures of exposure, and for rats, we don\u2019 know how to translate the results to human terms. \u00a0This kind of uncertainty combined with huge economic stakes leads inevitably to strong language and exaggerated claims on both sides.<\/p>\n

For me as a consumer, this has been a subject about which I\u2019m happy to hide my head in the sand. \u00a0When I\u2019ve been forced to think about it<\/a>, I\u2019ve concluded that cautionary measures are warranted, but I\u2019ve been slow to follow through. \u00a0Another big topic which I don\u2019t want to think about is the speculative effect of cell radiation on neural activity–thought in the present moment. \u00a0Does cell phone radiation affect concentration<\/a>? \u00a0Productivity? \u00a0Headaches? \u00a0My best guess is that there are some people for whom these effects are a palpable reality.<\/p>\n

…so let me take this opportunity to make a public commitment to do at least the easiest things in precaution. \u00a0We can take advantage of the fact that all radiation falls off steeply with distance from the source. \u00a0A huge transmitter on a tower half a mile from your home yields much lower radiation levels than a single cell phone transmitter that is half an inch from your brain.<\/p>\n