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Children and Cell Phones: Are
They Safe?
Cell Tower
Life Bluetube Headsets
Cell Phone Towers Health Effects
EM Field Meter
Cell Phone Sensitivity
by Edward Geehr. M.D.
August 15, 2011
Many public health groups remain concerned about the effects
cell phones have on the growing brains of children. Just
recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that cell
phones are possibly carcinogenic. A Washington, D.C.,
consumer interest group reported cell phone radiation varies
widely between phones. And researchers from the National
Institutes of Health found that brain metabolism is
stimulated in proximity to a cell phone – a sign of direct
brain effect.
Now, a European study involving nearly 1,000 children from
Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland has found no link
between cell phone use and brain cancer. Published in the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the study
addressed concerns about children and cell phones, and the
effects on a child’s brain. Past studies have found that
cell phone radiation penetrates deeper into the brains of
children, with the youngest users possibly absorbing twice
the amount of cell phone energy compared to adult brains.
The study, led by Marin Roosli, M.D., an epidemiologist at
the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, compared
cell phone usage between 352 people from 7-19 years old who
had brain tumors against cell phone usage in 646 youths
without tumors who were age, gender and geographically
similar. Researchers reported that regular cell phone users
weren’t at greater risk of tumors and that the areas of the
brain that received the most exposure didn’t demonstrate
increased risk either.
Cell phones emit non-ionizing radiation, which hasn’t been
shown to alter DNA in animal studies, an important component
of tumor formation. Visible light and sound waves are other
examples of non-ionizing radiation and not associated with
cancer risk.
Also, despite the enormous and widespread growth in use of
cell phones, there’s no evidence that the incidence of brain
cancer has changed in the U.S. over the past 10 years. It’s
hard to imagine that billions of annual cell phone calls
represent any significant cancer risk if the overall
incidence of brain cancer remains unchanged.
The WHO was quick to criticize the study. While
acknowledging the importance of the study as the first
careful examination of cell phones and a cancer link in
children, the study design could’ve introduced some bias
against identifying a link.
For example, the study was based on recall of past phone use
as opposed to a prospective study where logs would be kept.
Patients with brain tumors might not recall accurately their
cell phone usage and others may vary widely in their ability
to accurately recall phone use. They also point to the
relatively short duration of the study – 4 years – which may
not allow enough time for tumor development to become
evident.
Still, the study should provide reassurance to concerned
parents that cell phone use hasn’t yet been linked to brain
cancer in children.
Do your children use cell phones? Are you worried about
their safety?
Italy, Rome
Cameroon, Yaounde,
Miami Gardens, Florida
Norfolk, Virginia
Austria, Vienna
Thornton, Colorado
Malta, Valletta
Iraq, Baghdad,
France, Paris
Central African Republic, Bangui
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