Cell Phone Health Risks Can Be Reduced

A just-released study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) concludes that cell phones radiation does change brain activity. The study, conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that 50-minutes of cell phone use was associated with increased brain glucose metabolism (a marker of brain activity) in the region closest to the phone antenna. It is one of the first, and the most prominent, to offer scientific evidence that cell phones affect brain metabolism.

Researchers not funded by the mobile phone industry have long made links between the radiation cell phones emit and human health risks, specifically to children who have smaller heads and thinner skulls, noted CitizenTimes, which cited a number of prior studies and works:

• A 2009 study of 11 prior studies, published in Surgical Neurology, revealed that cell phone use for a decade or longer doubles risks for “a brain tumor on the same (ipsilateral) side of the head as that preferred for cell phone use.”

• Another 2009 study of 23 prior studies, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, revealed that cell phone use, also for at least a decade, resulted in a 10 to 30-percent increased risk of developing cancer versus people who never or rarely used the devices.

• In Dr. Devra Davis’s book Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family, stated that all studies of heavy cell phone over a 10-year time frame pointed to increased brain tumor risks and that science has been warning, since 2000 against children’s use of the devices.

The city of San Francisco and the Israeli government have mandates that cell phone makers indicate the specific absorption rate (SAR)—how much radiation the body absorbs—on cell phones, said CitizenTimes. Finland, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Canada, and Russia have issued warnings, specifically concerning children, urging cell phone users to use headsets to reduce radiation. The U.S. does not mandate point of purchase SAR warnings on cell phone devices, noted CitizenTimes.

Davis warned consumers not to rely on industry; industry-funded studies can throw doubt on independently funded studies, reported CitizenTimes. “… I noticed a pattern,” Davis said. “First you’d have reports of harm to people. And then industry steps in to raise doubt of that harm.”

We recently wrote that ElectromagneticHealth.org published a letter to parents detailing the health consequences of wireless radiation exposure to children, providing comprehensive information on several studies pointing to increased health risks from cell phones and other wireless technologies. Among the research cited was a study conducted by Cleveland Clinic researchers, published in 2008 in the journal Fertility and Sterility, which observed that laboratory values of sperm counts at an infertility clinic decreased as the duration of daily exposure to cell phones increased.

Another study conducted at the University of Newcastle in Australia by John Aitken, found that mobile phone radiation was linked to reduced vitality and motility of sperm. That study also showed clear evidence of DNA damage at what were “non‐heating” levels of exposure, the letter said. “We are jeopardizing our genetic material and the lives of future generations, closing our eyes to the fact that nonthermal radiation causes very serious harm from the frequencies, pulses and the modulation of signals, irrespective of ‘heating effect’, the means by which ‘safety’ is determined today,” the letter states.

Other studies cited include The Reflex Report prepared by 12 scientific institutes in seven countries, which confirmed long‐term genetic damage in the blood and brains of mobile phone users and other sources of electromagnetic fields. The letter cited many other studies that found compelling evidence that radiation from cell phones and other wireless devices may be linked to autism and other health problems in children.