New York Times: Experts Revive Debate Over Cellphones and Cancer

[Guest guest]

Experts Revive Debate Over Cellphones and Cancer

_http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/health/03well.html_

(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/health/03well.html)

 

By _TARA PARKER-POPE_

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/tara_parkerpope/in\

dex.html?inline=nyt-per)

 

What do brain surgeons know about cellphone safety that the rest of us don’

t?

Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer _Larry

King_

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/larry_king/index.h\

tml?inline=nyt-per) that they did not hold cellphones next to their

ears. “I think the safe practice,†said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “is to use an earpiece so you

keep the

microwave antenna away from your brain.â€

Dr. Vini Khurana, an associate professor of _neurosurgery_

(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/surgery/brain-surgery/overview.html?inl\

ine=nyt-classifie

r) at the Australian National University who is an outspoken critic of

cellphones, said: “I use it on the speaker-phone mode. I do not hold it to my

ear.

†And CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon

at _Emory University_

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/emory_unive\

rsity/index.html?inline=nyt-org) Hospital, said that

like Dr. Black he used an earpiece.

Along with Senator _Edward M. Kennedy_

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/edward_m_kennedy/i\

ndex.html?inline=nyt-per) ’s recent

diagnosis of a glioma, a type of _tumor_

(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/tumor/overview.html?inline=nyt-\

classifier) that critics have

long associated with cellphone use, the doctors’ remarks have helped reignite

a

long-simmering debate about cellphones and _cancer_

(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/cancer/overview.html?inline=nyt\

-classifier) .

That supposed link has been largely dismissed by many experts, including the

_American Cancer Society_

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_ca\

ncer_society/index.html?inline=nyt-org) . The

theory that cellphones cause _brain tumors_

(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/brain-tumor-adults/overview.htm\

l?inline=nyt-classifier) “defies

credulity,†said Dr. Eugene Flamm, chairman of neurosurgery at _Montefiore

Medical Center_

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/m/montefiore_\

medical_center/index.html?inline=nyt-org) .

According to the _Food and Drug Administration_

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/food_and_dr\

ug_administration/index.html

?inline=nyt-org) , three large epidemiology studies since 2000 have shown no

harmful effects. CTIA — the Wireless Association, the leading industry trade

group, said in a statement, “The overwhelming majority of studies that have

been published in scientific journals around the globe show that wireless

phones do not pose a health risk.â€

The F.D.A. notes, however, that the average period of phone use in the

studies it cites was about three years, so the research doesn’t answer

questions

about long-term exposures. Critics say many studies are flawed for that

reason, and also because they do not distinguish between casual and heavy use.

Cellphones emit non-ionizing radiation, waves of energy that are too weak to

break chemical bonds or to set off the DNA damage known to cause cancer.

There is no known biological mechanism to explain how non-ionizing radiation

might lead to cancer.

But researchers who have raised concerns say that just because science can’t

explain the mechanism doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist. Concerns have focused

on the heat generated by cellphones and the fact that the radio frequencies

are absorbed mostly by the head and neck. In recent studies that suggest a

risk, the _tumors_

(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/tumor/overview.html?inline=nyt-\

classifier) tend to occur on the same side of the head

where the patient typically holds the phone.

Like most research on the subject, the studies are observational, showing

only an association between cellphone use and cancer, not a causal

relationship. The most important of these studies is called Interphone, a vast

research

effort in 13 countries, including Canada, Israel and several in Europe.

Some of the research suggests a link between cellphone use and three types

of tumors: glioma; cancer of the parotid, a salivary gland near the ear; and

_acoustic neuroma_

(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/acoustic-neuroma/overview.html?\

inline=nyt-classifier) , a tumor that essentially occurs

where the ear meets the brain. All these cancers are rare, so even if

cellphone use does increase risk, the risk is still very low.

Last year, The American Journal of Epidemiology published data from Israel

finding a 58 percent higher risk of parotid gland tumors among heavy cellphone

users. Also last year, a Swedish analysis of 16 studies in the journal

Occupational and Environmental Medicine showed a doubling of risk for acoustic

neuroma and glioma after 10 years of heavy cellphone use.

“What we’re seeing is suggestions in epidemiological studies that have

looked at people using phones for 10 or more years,†says Louis Slesin,

editor of

Microwave News, an industry publication that tracks the research. “There are

some very disconcerting findings that suggest a problem, although it’s much

too early to reach a conclusive view.â€

Some doctors say the real concern is not older cellphone users, who began

using phones as adults, but children who are beginning to use phones today and

face a lifetime of exposure.

“More and more kids are using cellphones,†said Dr. Paul J. Rosch, clinical

professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College. “They may

be much more affected. Their brains are growing rapidly, and their skulls are

thinner.â€

For people who are concerned about any possible risk, a simple solution is

to use a headset. Of course, that option isn’t always convenient, and some

critics have raised worries about wireless devices like the Bluetooth that

essentially place a transmitter in the ear.

The fear is that even if the individual risk of using a cellphone is low,

with three billion users worldwide, even a minuscule risk would translate into

a major public health concern.

“We cannot say with any certainty that cellphones are either safe or not

safe,†Dr. Black said on CNN. “My concern is that with the widespread use

of

cellphones, the worst scenario would be that we get the definitive study 10

years from now, and we find out there is a correlation.â€

 

_well_ (well)