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Cancer Center Workers Warned about Cell Phone Risks

Cell phone use should be limited, University of Pittsburgh cautions

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 24, 2008

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It's being treated as though it's news -- a warning that cell phones may cause cancer. In fact, U.S. media have studiously ignored a growing wave of international concern about the long-term effects of cell phone usage for years.

The latest alarm comes from the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Dr. Ronald Herberman. He has issued an advisory to about 3,000 faculty and staff members warning about the possible health risks of using cell phones.

In his warning, Dr. Herberman makes some common-sense recommendations: limit the length of conversations, keep the phone away from your head, use speaker phones or headsets whenever possible.

Herberman also recommends that children not use cell phones except in emergencies. That's because a child's developing organs "are the most likely to be sensitive to any possible effects of exposure," he says.

It's also because children will be exposed to the radiation from cell phones for many more years than those who started using the gadgets when they were already middle-aged.

Though they're getting quite a bit of media play, Herberman's recommendations are hardly earth-shattering and are based on warnings issued after numerous studies by scientists in the U.S. and abroad. In fact, he notes that health researchers in other countries have long recommended limits on exposure, and that in Canada, officials in Toronto have advised young people to limit cell phone use.

Nevertheless, Herberman said he thinks he's the first cancer center director to approve the release of such an advisory, and the National Cancer Institute said it knew of no similar advisory issued by a U.S. cancer center director.

Perhaps, but no one can say there haven't been a few clues along the way. Here are just a few:

• Study Cautions Pregnant Women On Cell Phone Use In May, a study by UCLA and and Danish researchers concluded that women who used a cell phone while pregnant are much more likely to have unruly children.

• Researcher: Cell Phones 'More Dangerous Than Smoking' In March, British health researcher Dr. Vini Khurana said it pretty clearly: "Mobile phones could have health consequences far greater than asbestos and smoking."

• Study Suggests Cell Phone-Salivary Gland Cancer Link In February, a study concluded that those who had held a mobile handset against one side of their head for several hours a day were 50 percent more likely to have a tumor in the salivary gland.

• Cell Phones May Harm Sperm Cells, British Study Finds In 2005, a U.K. study found that, "Storage of mobile phones close to the testes had a significant negative impact on sperm concentration and the percentage of motile sperm." The study concluded, "These trends suggest that recent concerns over long-term exposure to the electromagnetic irradiation emitted by mobile phones should be taken more seriously."

• Swedish Study Finds Cell Phone-Brain Tumor Link In 2004, Swedish scientists reported that people who have used cell phones for at least 10 years may have an increased risk of developing a rare brain tumor. They found that using a cell phone for a decade or more quadrupled the risk of developing acoustic neuromas. The rare tumors generally occurred on the side of the head where the phone was most often held.

AP asleep?

The Associated Press said Herberman's warning was "contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration." In fact, numerous studies besides those noted above have raised early alarms. The FDA has said it will review the health effects of wireless phones because of early studies indicating possible risks.

"No other major academic cancer research institutions have sounded such an alarm about cell phone use," the AP reported, ignoring the British and Swedish studies cited above.

Herberman himself noted that no conclusive evidence yet exists but said it's better to be safe than sorry, especially where children are concerned.

"Although the evidence is still controversial, I am convinced that there are sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some precautionary advice on cell phone use," he wrote in his memo.

No proof either way

Herberman credited a colleague with raising his awareness of the issue. Devra Lee Davis, the director of the university's center for environmental oncology, said that while there's no proof cell phones are dangerous, there's also no proof they are safe.

Since cell phones have only been in widespread use for a decade or so, there's simply not enough data to be sure, said Davis, who was a health adviser in the Clinton Administration.

She noted that 20 different groups have endorsed the advice the Pittsburgh cancer institute gave, and authorities in England, France and India have issued warnings about children's use of cell phones.

What to do

Here's more advice from Herberman:

• Use cellphones for short conversations or when a conventional phone isn't available.

• Use a hands-free device that will place more distance between the cellphone's antenna and your head. The antenna emits radio-frequency waves. And your brain lies just beyond your ears.

• Limit children's cellphone use -- both to reduce their exposure at a time when their brains are still developing and to reduce their lifetime exposure. (Unlike us, they still have a lot of years left.)

• In the car, use an external antenna mounted outside the vehicle.

• Keep the phone away from your body when it's turned on. Men, don't clip it to your belt.

• Check your phone's SAR value at the Federal Communications Commission website. This value, for Specific Absorption Rate, is the amount of radio-frequency absorbed from the phone into the user's tissues.

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