Thursday, July 24, 2008

Do mobile phones cause cancer?

There are as many studies for as there are against the issue of whether mobile phones cause cancer (dare I say, like global warming?)
Mobile phones emit radio signals and electromagnetic fields that can penetrate the human brain, and some campaigners fear that this could seriously damage human health.

Eeek!
- Ronald Herberman, of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said children should use mobiles in emergencies only and adults should try to keep the phone away from the head.
- UK Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme said there was a "hint" of a higher cancer risk in the long term and that its research would look into the effects over a 10-year period. Chairman Prof Lawrie Challis said "We can't rule out the possibility at this stage that cancer could appear in a few years' time."
- A study of 500 Israelis found this year that heavy mobile phone use might be linked to an increased risk of cancer of the salivary gland.

But....
- A US analysis by the University of Utah this year of thousands of brain tumour patients found no increased risk as a result of mobile use, but added that the effects from long-term use "awaits confirmation by future studies."
- Research reported in 2006 by the British arm of an international project called Interphone concluded that mobile phone use did not lead to a greater risk of brain tumour.
- Recent Danish and French studies found no increased risk of cancer.

Excerpts from here

Regardless which way you ring, here's two solutions I can think of - which don't involve discarding your mobile device. After all, we can't live without it, right?
1) Demand occupational hazard compensation for us industry peeps
2) Use that bluetooth headset!

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