Cell Phone-Cancer Link to Be Revisited
JUL 18, 2013 07:20 AM
ET // BY PAUL GREENBERG
Renewed interest in whether
prolonged cell phone use and exposure to radiation can cause cancer has caused
the Federal Communications Commission to revisit the potential risks. In April,
the FCC announced it's soliciting information from health experts on the
current research.
Some scientists and consumer
groups have been critical of the FCC, since it has not revised its standards
for mobile devices since 1996.
Kerry Crofton, Ph.D., author
of “A Wellness Guide for the Digital Age: With Safer-Tech Solutions for All
Things Wired and Wireless,” believes that by not updating the industry
standards for the past 17 years, the government has been lax in protecting the
public.
“The BioInitiative Report
2012, an international group of scientists who reexamined these standards, did
an exhaustive study of the evidence of a potential link between mobile phone
use and brain cancer, as well as other concerns, and found flaws in the
standards,” said Crofton, co-founder and executive director of Advisory Board
Doctors for Safer Schools.
“There were very few cell
phones in service back in 1996, and now, by some estimates, there are 5 billion
globally," Crofton said. "The other concern is that the standards
were based only on testing a 200-pound male mannequin, but the standards do not
apply to more sensitive groups, such as children, pregnant women and teens.”
Current research has delved
far more deeply into the potential risks. David Gultekin, a researcher at the
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, is conducting research into
Specific Absorption Rates (SAR) of radiation into brain tissue via cell phone
radiation.
“This needs further study,
but what we know right now is that it is heavily absorbed by brain tissue,”
said Gultekin. “Radiation penetrates the brain and gets absorbed. It also
causes the temperature of the tissue to rise. We also know that absorption is
not uniform throughout the brain, that there are hot spots that cause
variations in energy inside the tissue.”
Gultekin says his research
represents the first time absorption is measured in real brain tissue. The
methods FCC approved in 1996 for wide certification of cell phones was
not derived from research that penetrated the tissue to measure absorption.
This leaves researchers and
epidemiologists to wonder: Is there a direct correlation between SAR of
radiation and disease, such as brain cancer?
“Brain cancer can take 20 to
30 years to develop,” said Crofton, so the concern with having the FCC not up
to date on its standards and not responsive to the science is that by the time
regulators wake up to the facts there could be a global health crisis.”
Crofton draws comparisons
with the delayed response to the asbestos problem in America. “It took a
hundred years for regulators to respond to that crisis, but the threat from not
just cell phones, but WiFi networks and cell towers is immediate and
widespread,” she said.
Both Gultekin and Crofton
see an urgent need for the FCC to update its standards for mobile devices.
Recently President Obama
chose former telecommunications industry lobbyist Tom Wheeler to head the FCC.
Reaction to his nomination has been mixed, with some saying his appointment
would make American telecommunications more competitive. Others are concerned
that he is too closely associated with the industry to be depended upon to
update standards for certification of mobile devices.
“The FCC chairman in June
called for further investigation,” said Crofton. “Scientists were solicited to
send in data, but nobody is very hopeful that much change is going to take
place. This could just be a public relations exercise.”
http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-and-gadgets/do-cell-phone-safety-standards-need-upgrade-1307171.htm
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