# 4576
During my `back to the land’ phase - where I tried to tame 24 acres of Missouri wilderness (starting in 1995) - I lived in a remote area of the country where cell phone coverage was spotty at best.
The only internet access was dial-up, and slow dialup at that. On a good dry day, I might get 28.8K. If it had rained recently . . . well, forget about it.
So I missed out on a good deal of the technological revolution of the late 1990s, including cell phones.
When I finally returned to Florida (the statue of limitations having expired), I bought my first cell phone. I don’t use it much, less than 90 minutes a month . . . but I’d hate to be without it.
At age 56, I consider my cell phone a tool, even a bit of a luxury.
But for my teenage grandnieces, they are practically implants. As necessary to them as oxygen or internet access. They burn more cell phone minutes in an average day than I do most months, along with sending hundreds of text messages every week.
To them, cell phones are an integral part of their lives. But as with almost everything, there’s a catch.
Some scientists have concerns that prolonged exposure to cell phone RF (radiofrequency) electromagnetic fields could cause certain types of head and neck cancers. And researchers worry that children, teenagers, and young adults, who rank among the most fervent users of cell phones, could be at particular risk.
Yesterday, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released their long-delayed INTERPHONE report, which was unable to establish a link between cell phone use and brain tumors.
Which isn’t quite the same as saying that `no risk’ exists. The study, the authors admit, had limitations.
And some scientists are less than mollified by their findings.
This study leaves us with a good many unanswered questions. From the Press Release:
Dr Christopher Wild, Director of IARC said: "An increased risk of brain cancer is not established from the data from Interphone. However, observations at the highest level of cumulative call time and the changing patterns of mobile phone use since the period studied by Interphone, particularly in young people, mean that further investigation of mobile phone use and brain cancer risk is merited."
First the IARC reports: a link to the (subscription) Journal article, the audio to yesterday’s press conference, and the press release.
WHO Press Conference - Interphone Study
18/05/2010 -
17 May 2010 16:00 - 16:45, WHO Headquarters, Geneva
Interphone study reports on mobile phone use and brain cancer risk
- Dr Christopher Wild, Director, IARC
- Dr Vincent Cogliano, Head, IARC Monographs Program
- Dr Elisabeth Cardis, Centre for Research in Environnement Epidemiology (CREAL)
Listen to the WHO Press Conference [mp3 28Mb]
Interphone Study Results published
17/05/2010 -
Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case–control study
International Journal of Epidemiology 2010;1–20. doi:10.1093/ije/dyq079
The INTERPHONE Study Group
IARC Press Release No. 200
We also have this release from the FDA.
The 4-year delay in presenting this data, the participation in the study by the cell phone industry, the methods used, and some aspects of this data’s presentation have caused some observers to view this study as frustratingly flawed.
From Reuters, we get this report calling into question the methods used in the study.
Cell phone cancer study shows problems with method
Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent – Analysis
LONDON (Reuters) - The frustratingly inconclusive results from the world's biggest study so far into possible links between mobile phone use and cancer are symptomatic of problems that can dog scientific research like this.
Campaigners, cancer doctors and mobile phone manufacturers have been waiting for a decade to see if the findings of the study led by the respected International Agency for Research into Cancer (IARC) would finally provide an answer.
It didn't and experts say the biases and potential errors that rendered the study unreliable are difficult to avoid, yet very hard to adjust for.
Time Magazine’s coverage of this report is even less reassuring.
Cell Phones and Cancer: a Study's Muddled Findings
By Bryan Walsh Monday, May. 17, 2010
It has become one of the most controversial questions in cancer medicine: can using a cell phone cause brain tumors? The federal government and the mobile industry have maintained there is no conclusive data to support a link between cell-phone radiation and cancer, but a growing band of scientists are skeptical, suggesting that the evidence that does exist is enough to raise a warning for consumers — before mass harm is done.
As then there’s this from New York Times.
May 18, 2010, 7:03 am
Questions About Cellphones and Brain Tumors
By TARA PARKER-POPEA long-awaited study of cellphone use and brain health has finally been released, but the data are raising more questions than answers.
The report is called Interphone, a 13-country study that amounts to the largest and longest study of whether extensive cellphone use increases risk for brain tumors. The study results, published in The International Journal of Epidemiology, were delayed by four years, reportedly after researchers disagreed over how to present the results.
For now, the good news is there is no firm evidence linking cell phone use to an increased risk of cancer. The bad news is, if such a link does exist, it could be another 10 years or more before a spike in head and neck tumors becomes measurable.
In the meantime, the FDA suggests that people who are worried about about cell-phone cancer risks should consider:
Although evidence shows little or no risk of brain tumors for most long-term users of cell phones, FDA says people who want to reduce their RF exposure can:
• reduce the amount of time spent on the cell phone
• use speaker mode or a headset to place more distance between the head and the cell phone
