Cancer Phones

Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer, says Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. By the way, that's contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use.

The head of the institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff today, due in part to his own belief in a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Now that's being responsible!

Chicken Little Herberman is basing his alarm on early unpublished data. Try and read this next part without your drow hitting the floor: He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now — especially when it comes to children. "Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Herberman said. And by the way, that big lunch you had may not be what's pushing your belly out - you're pregnant!

No other major academic cancer research institutions have sounded such an alarm about cell phone use, but Herberman's advice certainly will raise concern among many cell phone users and parents. In the memo he sent to about 3,000 faculty and staff, he says children should use cell phones only for emergencies because their brains are still developing. Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset, he says. He even warns against using cell phones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields. The issue that concerns some scientists — though nowhere near a consensus — is electromagnetic radiation, especially its possible effects on children. It is not a major topic in conferences of brain specialists.

A 2008 University of Utah analysis looked at nine studies — including some Herberman cites — with thousands of brain tumor patients and concludes "we found no overall increased risk of brain tumors among cellular phone users. The potential elevated risk of brain tumors after long-term cellular phone use awaits confirmation by future studies." Not good enough? Studies last year in France and Norway concluded the same thing.

"If there is a risk from these products — and at this point we do not know that there is — it is probably very small," the Food and Drug Administration said.

"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," Herberman wrote. And that advice is spurred by Devra Lee Davis, the director of the university's center for environmental oncology. "The question is do you want to play Russian roulette with your brain," she said. "I don't know that cell phones are dangerous. But I don't know that they are safe." Well, what the fuck do you know, and why are you talking about things you have no knowledge of?

The insane tag team of Herberman and Davis point to a massive ongoing research project known as Interphone, involving scientists in 13 nations, mostly in Europe. Results already published in peer-reviewed journals from this project aren't so alarming, but Herberman is citing work not yet published. Yes, that magic bullet that only he knows because he's privileged.

The published research focuses on more than 5,000 cases of brain tumors. The National Research Council in the U.S., which isn't participating in the Interphone project, reported in January that the brain tumor research had "selection bias." That means it relied on people with cancer to remember how often they used cell phones. It is not considered the most accurate research approach. By a longshot.

The largest published study, which appeared in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2006, tracked 420,000 Danish cell phone users, including thousands that had used the phones for more than 10 years. It found no increased risk of cancer among those using cell phones. A French study based on Interphone research and published in 2007 concluded that regular cell phone users had "no significant increased risk" for three major types of nervous system tumors. It did note, however, that there was "the possibility of an increased risk among the heaviest users" for one type of brain tumor, but that needs to be verified in future research.

Earlier research also has found no connection. Shall we repeat that?

Joshua Muscat, a Penn State University researcher who has studied cancer and cell phones in other projects, said there are at least a dozen studies that have found no cancer-cell phone link. He said a Swedish study cited by Herberman as support for his warning was biased and flawed. "We certainly don't know of any mechanism by which radio frequency exposure would cause a cancerous effect in cells. We just don't know this might possibly occur."

Cell phones emit radio frequency energy, a type of radiation that is a form of electromagnetic radiation, according to the National Cancer Institute. Though studies are being done to see if there is a link between it and tumors of the brain and central nervous system, there is no definitive link between the two, the institute says.

"By all means, if a person feels compelled that they should take precautions in reducing the amount of electromagnetic radio waves through their bodies, by all means they should do so," said a spokesman for the American Cancer Society. "But at the same time, we have to remember there's no conclusive evidence that links cell phones to cancer, whether it's brain tumors or other forms of cancer."

Let's face the facts - everything can give you cancer, but not everything does. Ask the good doctor about all the electromagnetic waves and fields generated not only from cell phones next to your head, but those from others near you. And the beaming of that, television, radio, and wireless signals across, over and through your body. Do you have any idea of how many electromagnetic frequencies, fields, and waves you have come into contact with in you life. Or every day? There's nothing better than fact-less science to create panic. This is the kind if misuse of position and authority that makes you root for people getting the cancerous kiss of karma.

according to Joe Jackson, everything gives you cancer