Cellphone-cancer link controversy again rears its head
As you’ve likely heard, the World Health Organization this week said that radio waves such as those emitted by mobile phones are “possibly” carcinogenic to humans.
This is the first official public warning about a cellphone-brain cancer link, despite years of controversy over the issue and inconclusive studies. The WHO based its hesitant conclusion on research that its investigative arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), conducted during the past decade when cellphone use ramped up considerably.
DETAILS: Cellphone use ‘possibly’ a cause of brain cancer, says WHO panel
The research showed that those using mobile handsets for 10 years had double the rate of brain glioma, a type of tumor.
Logic alone tells us that continual exposure to radiation probably isn’t a positive thing. Just like a thinking person might have suspected that inhaling a lungful of chemicals from cigarettes might not be a healthy habit long before the surgeon general declared it a definitive hazard, we should entertain the notion that continual radiation exposure might have at least some consequences for some people, with or without a definitive study. After all, such studies often require years or even decades to determine the cumulative effects of a behavior or substance.
But we tend to live in denial because living without our cellphones has become inconceivable.
The good news is that changing how you use the devices can help. Texting instead of talking or hands-free phone use, such as with speakerphone or earbuds, might help diffuse the signal away from your skull.
In fact, some cellphone makers already warn users to keep their handset away from their bodies. The Apple iPhone 4 manual recommends keeping the device at least 15 millimeters (a bit more than half an inch) away from the body when transmitting; BlackBerry’s manual recommends a distance of nearly 1 inch (0.98 inches). In other words, smashing the phone to your ear, as is typical, might be the most hazardous behavior.
The FCC limit for public exposure from cellular telephones is a specific absorption rate (SAR) level of 1.6 watts per kilogram. So long as devices pass this specification under worst-case scenario testing (meaning, 1.6 watts is the most the phone can emit), the FCC endorses its use and doesn’t recommend that consumers take any measures to reduce exposures.
