CELLPHONE RADIATION DOES CAUSE CANCER

Sir,

The Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) carried out a study which suggested that cellphones have no link with cancer and pose no health risks as published over a week ago in this paper. This might be precise, but would it carry a lot more weight if the research was done by an independent research body?

This study was done and sponsored by the cellphone industry and consequently there was no other possible result. One wouldn’t expect the mobile phone industry to tell everyone about negativity of their services. Impartially, what would happen if they said cellphones caused cancer? I guess their profits would disappear completely immediately!

What happened with the tobacco in 1970s? Cigarette companies insisted that smoking was safe and had nothing to do with cancer. Similar case in 1960s thousands died as a result of health effects caused by asbestos. Today it is radiation “another silent killer”.
There have been numerous claims of cellphone radiation being harmful to human health, comparatively the question could be “how long?” or rather “how many more?”

Questions about cellphone safety arose in the early 1990s.To address the questions surrounding cellphone safety, the cellphone industry set up a non-profit organisation, Wireless Technology Research (WTR) and Dr George Carlo a health scientist, Research Development Director, Epidemiologist, lawyer and founder of Science and Public Policy Institutewas appointed to head WTR’s research efforts. Under Dr. Carlo’s direction,studies based on this research suggested that cellphone radiation contributes to brain dysfunction, tumors, and potentially to conditions such as autism, attention deficit disorder, neurodegenerative disease, and behavioural and psychological problems. And by the way brain cancer has escalated by up to  25 per cent since cellphones became popular-American Cancer Society  (ACS).

The International Agency for Research on Cancer  (IARC), a component of the World Health Organisation in 2011, classified mobile phone radiation as Group 2B - possibly carcinogenic to humans.On the other hand Stan Glantz, professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco — UCSF — and director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Education, compared the cell phone situation right now to the cigarette situation in the 1950s. “There was enough evidence to be concerned (about cigarettes in the 1950s), but the details were not really nailed,” Glantz said. “Cellphone companies have learned from cigarette companies how to contest science, and they’re doing it.”
 Israeli Weitzmann Institute of Science found out that cellphones increased the risk of tumors in the salivary glands by 50 per cent. The risk was even higher if the caller always used the same ear, didn’t use a hands-free gadget, or used the phone while in a rural area where reception was poor. The researchers found that a call lasting just 10 minutes can trigger changes in brain cells that are associated with cancer.

Warning Label: Israel become the first county to impose warning labels on cellphones. March 14, 2012 —The Environmental Health Trust (EHT) overwhelming proposed law requiring health-hazard warning labels on cell phones. The Israeli labels will read, “Warning – the Health Ministry cautions that heavy use and carrying the device next to the body may increase the risk of cancer, especially among children.” The law also requires that all phones be sold with headsets, that advertisements feature this warning and that industry fund public educational campaigns. Israel has also created the first national institute to study the potential health effects of cellphones and other wireless devices and make recommendations to minimise exposure to microwave radiation.

Here’s what happens: (based on Wireless Technology Research -WTR).
•    Radiation causes cell membranes to harden, keeping nutrients out and waste products in.
•    Waste accumulating inside the cells creates a higher concentration of free radicals, leading to both disruption of DNA repair (micronuclei) and cellular dysfunction.
•    Unwanted cell death occurs, releasing the micronuclei from the disrupted DNA repair into the fluid between cells (interstitial fluid), where they are free to replicate and proliferate. This, says Dr Carlo, is the most likely mechanism that contributes to cancer.
•    Damage occurs to proteins on the cell membrane, resulting in disruption of intercellular communication. When cells can’t communicate with each other, the result is impaired tissue, organ, and organism function. In the blood-brain barrier, for example, cells can’t keep dangerous chemicals from reaching the brain tissue, which results in damage.

Children have
a higher risk of
developing cancer

The  nervous systems of children is still developing , their heads are smaller and have softer skulls they have a potential of accumulating more years of cellphone exposure than adults .
Estimations of the above shown image of absorption of electromagnetic radiation (measured by the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)from a cell phone based on age (frequency GSM 900 Mhz) by International Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Trans ©1996 IEEE.


Key points

•    Cellphones emit radiofrequency energy, a form of non-ionising electromagnetic radiation, which can be absorbed by tissues closest to where the phone is held.
•    The amount of radiofrequency energy a cellphone user is exposed to depend on the technology of the phone, the distance between the phone’s antenna and the user, the extent and type of use, and the user’s distance from cellphone towers.
•    Studies thus far have shown a consistent link between cellphone use and cancers on long term. Other complications include damage of the brain nerves, or other tissues of the head or neck.

Safety Measures

In May 2011, the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer  advised the public to adopt safety measures to reduce exposure, like use of hands-free devices or texting.Some national radiation advisory authorities, including those of Austria, France, Germany, and Sweden, have recommended measures to minimise exposure to their citizens.
Examples of the recommendations are:
•    Use hands-free to decrease the radiation to the head.
•    Keep the mobile phone away from the body.
•    Do not use telephone in a car without an external antenna.
•    Always use a headset to minimise exposure to harmful cell phone radiation. The American Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suggested some steps that concerned cellphone users can take to reduce their exposure to radiofrequency energy.
•Reserve the use of cellphones for shorter conversations or for times when a landline phone is not available.
•Use a hands-free device, which places more distance between the phone and the head of the user.
•Hands-free kits reduce the amount of radiofrequency energy exposure to the head because the antenna, which is the source of energy, is not placed against the head.

Christopher Odinde

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