Cancer Cell Study Revives Cell Phone Safety Fears

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Cancer Cell Study Revives Cell Phone Safety Fears

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/11/06/cell-phone-safe

ty.aspx_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/11/06/cell-phone-safety\

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The safety of cell phones has been brought into question once again by

research that suggests radio waves from the devices could promote the growth of

tumors. Paradoxically, the study suggests that the radiation makes tumors grow

more aggressively by initially killing off cancer cells.

Cell Biologist Fiorenzo Marinelli and his team at the National Research

Council in Bologna, Italy, decided to investigate whether radio waves had any

effect on leukemia cells after previous studies indicated that the disease

might

be more common among mobile phone users. The life cycle of leukemia cells is

well understood, making it relatively easy to spot changes in behavior.

The team exposed leukemia cells in the lab to 900-megahertz radio waves at a

power level of 1 milliwatt and then looked at the activity of a gene that

triggers cell suicide. Many European mobile networks operate at 900 megahertz,

and maximum power outputs are typically 2 watts, although they regularly use

only one-tenth of this power.

After 24 hours of continuous exposure to the radio waves, the suicide genes

were turned on in far more leukemia cells than in a control population that

had not been exposed. What is more, 20 percent more exposed cells had died

than in the controls.

But after 48 hours exposure, the apparently lethal effect of the radiation

went into reverse. Rather than more cells dying, Marinelli found that a

survival mechanism kicked in. Three genes that trigger cells to multiply were

turned on in a high proportion of the surviving cells, making them replicate

ferociously. The cancer, although briefly beaten back, had become more

aggressive.

DNA damage?

Marinelli presented his results this month at the International Workshop on

Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on the Greek island of Rhodes.

While the results do not show a direct health threat from mobile phones, they

provide fresh evidence that radiation from such devices could play an

important role in activating genes that might help cancer cells thrive.

" We don't know what the effects would be on healthy human cells, " says

Marinelli, " but in leukemia cells the response is always the same. " Marinelli

suspects the radiation may initially damage DNA, and that this interferes with

the cells' biochemical signals in a way that ultimately triggers a defensive

mechanism.

Many scientists believe that because radiation from cell phones does not

have enough energy to break chemical bonds, it cannot damage cells. The only

way

damage could occur, they say, is if the radio waves heated tissues up.

But British research earlier in 2002, by Molecular Toxicologist David de

Pomerai at the University of Nottingham, showed that radio waves can cause

biological effects that are not due to heating. He found that nematode worms

exposed to radio waves showed an increase in fertility-the opposite effect from

what would be expected from heating.

" Confused field "

Marinelli's study is intriguing, says de Pomerai. " But I'm far from

convinced that these authors are looking at any reproducible and real

phenomena, " he

says. Other studies have shown mobile phone radiation to have no effect on

cell death, de Pomerai adds.

An inquiry in April 2000 by the British government found no evidence of any

health risks from mobile phones. But it still recommended that people take a

precautionary approach until further evidence emerged. In particular, it

suggested children, whose brains are still developing, should not use mobile

phones excessively.

" It's a very confused field, " admits Colin Blakemore, a physiologist at the

University of Oxford and a member of the British National Radiological

Protection Board's advisory group on non-ionizing radiation. People should

place

more reliance on animal studies than lab-based experiments on cells, he says.

But de Pomerai insists that a consensus is emerging that non-ionizing

radiation can indirectly damage DNA by affecting its repair system. If the DNA

repair mechanism does not work as well as it should, mutations in cells could

accumulate with disastrous consequences. " Cells with unrepaired DNA damage are

likely to be far more aggressively cancerous, " he says.

_New Scientist_ (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992959)

October 24, 2002

 

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

As Moore's Law (the doubling of computer technology every 18 months)

continues to reduce the cost of wireless communication, cell phones will become

increasingly popular. Many people are even abandoning their land-based phones

to

use their cell phones as their exclusive phone service.

The issue of electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation from cell phones is

controversial and most experts believe that it is insignificant. However, there

is

a significant body of evidence to suggest that cell phone radiation can

indeed cause you health problems.

The central issue is that most experts are basing their conclusions of a

non-damaging health effect on information derived from examining thermal or

heat

related effects. It is highly unlikely that the damage cell phones do is

through this mechanism.

The experts fail to consider the negative biological effects of exposure to

long-term low intensity pulsed microwave radiation that these phones emit.

Our bodies, especially our brains, are extraordinarily sensitive receptors of

EMF radiation.

If you use a cell phone at all, I would strongly encourage you to carefully

review the _Lancet article_

(http://articles.mercola.com/2000/dec/17/mobile_phones.htm) that I posted in

the newsletter two years ago.

After reviewing the concerns regarding cell phone exposure, I have chosen to

limit my exposure to cell phones to under five minutes per year. In other

words, I aggressively avoid all contact with them.

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