Several days ago the World Health Organization (WHO) cancer research agency (IRAC) announced that the radiation produced by cell phones can possibly cause brain cancer. This was concluded after a group of more than 30 experts met together and went through all the research done in this subject on the last decades.
(Photo by Jose Oller)
What exactly is this radiation?
Cellular phones produce a type of radiation called radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation. Radiation is practically a group of waves which travels through the air, but which you can’t see. Radiation comes in two flavors: ionizing (like UV, X-rays) and non-ionizing (like infra-red, microwave, radio, and yes – cell phone radiation).
Ionizing radiation is proved to be dangerous and cause cancer (which is why, for example, you shouldn’t do too many CT scans, which are just a whole lot of x-rays done together). On the other side, non-ionizing radiation shouldn’t cause any damage to your body. Or at least that was the belief until now.
(Photo by FDA.gov)
How dangerous is it?
The WHO divides all the things that were thought to cause cancer to 5 groups by the “level of evidence” – how much they are sure that something is carcinogenic (causes cancer). The most dangerous stuff belongs to group 1, which includes, for example, asbestos (small particles that cause lung cancer) and some viruses (like Hepatitis B and C, which can cause liver cancer) and ionizing radiation (which we spoke about above). Group 4 is supposed to include agents which are probably not carcinogenic. Naturally there are also groups 2 and 3 in between.
The group of experts classified cellular phones radiation in group 2b. This means that there could be some risk, and more research should be done to understand the risks better. One of the most important studies that the experts based their assumption on was The Interphone Study, which found an increased risk for brain cancer only in the group of heavy users (around 30 minutes per day, every day, for 10 years). People in this group were 40% more likely to get a brain cancer called glioma. There were several problems with this study – and some claimed that the way is was conducted caused results that aren’t reliable.
What types of cancer can I get from cell phones?
The experts found that two diseases were possibly related to cellular phone use:
Glioma: This is the most common type of brain cancer. The tumor is composed of glial cells, which are cells placed between the main cells in the brain (neurons) and support them. Gliomas cause symptoms by growing into healthy areas of the brain and hurting the neurons – either by destroying them or compressing them. This can cause headaches, seizures, problems with language or vision, and even personality changes – depending on the function of the neurons damaged. The treatment can include brain surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
An MRI of a brain with a glioma – which is the darker round spot on the right of both pictures (photo by Mikhail Kalinin)
Acoustic neuroma: This is a slowly-growing tumor on the acoustic nerve – which is the nerve responsible for hearing. The special location of the tumor causes symptoms like hearing loss or ringing in the ears, and sometimes it can also hurt your balance (which is also a function of the ear and its nerves). Rarely, it grows fast into structures of the brainstem -which is responsible for vital functions like breathing. The treatment depends on the symptoms – in some cases no treatment is needed, but sometimes surgery or radiation treatments will be used.
What the world has to say
On the last couple of days, the internet and the news are full of responses to the WHO announcement. For example, the LA Times health blog “booster shots” claims there is not enough data and refers to former studies dealing with the relation between non-ionizing radiation and cancer; the health blog of Time wonders ‘what took them so long’; the Wall Street Journal reviews the studies conducted on the subject and criticizes the WHO for an immature announcement ; and CNN published an opinion article by physicist Bernard Leikind who claims that cell phones cannot cause cancer from the physics point-of-view. The main conclusion is that there is no reason to panic just yet.
(Photo by Kevin Micalizzi)
What can I do to prevent it?
- Use an earphone: According to earlier data released by the WHO on this subject, cellular phones emit radiation only when turned on, and the radiation exposure of the used depends on the distance from the phone – when the phone is placed 30-40 cm away from the body (like when text-messaging or using an “hands free” device – like an earphone), the exposure is much lower then when its close to the head.
- Limit use as much as possible: Like explained before, one of the largest studies that proved damage from cellular phone use showed an increased risk for glioma only in heavy users.
- Avoid using cell phones when reception is low: In cases of low reception, the phone has to transmit at increased power – which increases the exposure to radiation.
- The International Business Times published yesterday a list of the lowest radiation emitting cell phones.
- According to the WHO, the use of commercial devices for reducing exposure wasn’t proved to be effective.
Facebook comments: