Scientists Researching Links Between Cell Phones, Brain Cancer In Children

JUNE 7, 2012 BY STEVE BROWN

If you’re the parent of a child with a cell phone, you may want to think twice about criticizing their seemingly constant texting.

A study by scientists in New Zealand is seeking to determine whether children are at greater risk for brain cancer due to the electromagnetic fields that are emitted whenthe phone is used to make a call and placed against the head.

Wellington will investigate whether children who use cell phones with regularity are more susceptible to brain cancer because of their physiological make up. They theorize that because children’s skills are less developed than adults, they are more likely to contractbrain cancer from using cell phones.

The scientists are looking at 65 young people, ages 10 to 24, who are suffering from braincancer. The youths will be interviewed about their cell phone usage habits and the resulting information will become part of a worldwide study on young peoples’ cell phone usage and its possible connection to brain cancer. The international study is being conducted in 15 countries and involves approximately 6,600 young people, 2,200 of whom have brain cancer and 4,400 who do not. It is the largest study ever of the correlation between cell phone usage and brain cancer in children.

The research is necessary because previous studies concentrated on adults, whose skulls are much thicker and more developed than children, said one of the lead researchers, Dr. David McLean of the Center for Public Health Research

The  previous studies also were less specific about whether the level of risk connected to extensive and “regular” cell phone usage.

Children appear to be at greater risk, said McLean, not only because their heads were smaller and less developed, but because their skulls had more bone marrow, which he said increased the likelihood of radio frequency transmission through the head.

“There’s enough concern about the situation to feel it could become a problem,” McClean said.

In 2008, a study by Swedish researchers found that children and teens were five times more likely to contract brain cancer from using a cell phone. They found that children who began using cell phones before 20 years of age have higher instances of acoustic neuromas (benign but potentially harmful tumors along the auditory nerve) and glioma (a cancer of the cells that are crucial to the central nervous system).

Meanwhile, a 2008 New Zealand study found that 22 percent of children 6-8 used cell phones, 42 percent of children 9-11 used the phones and 71 percent of children aged 12-13.

The research is being funded in part by the New Zealand Health Research Council and the Cure Kids foundation.

It is hoped that the findings provide not only insight into the one of the causes of brain cancer in children, but possible preventative measures.

“While the cause of  brain tumors is still relatively unknown, they are the second most-common form of cancer in young people,” Cure Kids Chief Executive Vicki Lee told the Fairfax New Zealand News.

http://worldnewsresource.com/scientists-researching-links-between-cell-phones-brain-cancer-in-children/2057/steve-brown