TOUGH CALL
‘Clear evidence’ mobile phones ARE linked to cancer, landmark study finds
The rodents were exposed to much higher levels of radiation that humans are when they use a phone
EXPOSURE to mobile phones could trigger cancer in the heart, brain and adrenal gland, scientists have warned.
There is now “clear evidence” that exposure to radiation from mobile phones causes the disease, a landmark new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found.
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Although the tests were done on rodents at radiation levels much higher than humans are currently exposed, to there was a clear link with male rats.
For female rats, and mice of both sexes, the evidence was less clear as to whether cancers observed were associated with signal exposure.
Senior scientist Dr John Bucher at the National Toxicology Programme in Durham, North Carolina said: “The exposures used in the studies cannot be compared directly to the exposure that humans experience when using a cell phone.
“In our studies, rats and mice received radio frequency radiation across their whole bodies.
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“By contrast, people are mostly exposed in specific local tissues close to where they hold the phone.
“In addition, the exposure levels and durations in our studies were greater than what people experience.”
The finding was the result of a $30m (£23m)10 year study to assess the health effects in animals exposed to radio frequency radiation from 2G and 3G phones.
Dr Bucher added: “Cell phones utilise a specific type of radio waves, or radio frequency radiation (RFR), to transmit between the devices and the network.
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“Exposure of people to RFR occurs primarily through use of cell phones and other wireless devices.
“We studied the effects of nearly lifetime exposures to two different types, or modulations, of RFR used in cellular telephone networks in the United States in male and female rats and mice to identify potential toxicity or cancer-related hazards.
“When the current studies were being designed, 2G technology was the industry standard, and 3G technologies were under development.
“While newer technologies have continued to evolve, it is important to note that these technologies have not completely replaced the older technologies.
WHAT CANCER CHARITIES HAVE PREVIOUSLY SAID
The potential link between mobile phone use and cancer has been around for a number of years.
Many studies have suggested a possible link between the devices and the disease, but so far few studies have discovered any conclusive evidence.
The use of mobile phones has skyrocketed over recent decades yet there has been no spike in brain tumour rates in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK statistics.
Fiona Osgun, Cancer Research UK’s senior health information officer, said: "There is no convincing evidence to show that mobile phones can increase the risk of brain tumours, or any other type of cancer.
"But because mobiles are a fairly new technology, research is continuing to check for any effects over longer periods of time."
Dr David Jenkinson, chief scientific officer for The Brain Tumour Charity, said: "It is absolutely understandable that when someone is diagnosed with a brain tumour of any kind, they look for an explanation – an answer to the question: ‘Why me?’
"We know that many people are concerned about a possible connection between mobile phone use and the development of brain tumours.
"However, the global research projects that have been conducted so far, involving hundreds of thousands of people, have found insufficient evidence that using a mobile phone increases the risk of developing a brain tumour."
“In fact, today's phones are very complex in that they contain several antennas, for Wi-Fi, GPS, 2G/3G bands.
“The results of these studies remain relevant to current exposures, although the power levels of the exposures were much higher than typical patterns of human use.”
The lowest exposure level to radiation used in the studies was equal to the maximum amount phone users can be exposed to – levels that rarely occur with regular phone use.
The highest amount of radiation was four times higher than what’s permitted.
“We believe that the link between radio frequency radiation and tumours in male rats is real, and the external experts agreed,” Dr Bucher said.
MORE ON CANCER
“A major strength of our studies is that we were able to control exactly how much radio frequency radiation the animals received - something that's not possible when studying human cell phone use, which has often relied on questionnaires.”
Exposure to RFR began in the womb for rats and at five to six weeks old for mice, and continued for up to two years, or most of their natural lifetime.
The RFR exposure was intermittent, 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off, for about nine hours each day.
Future studies will focus on developing measurable physical indicators, or biomarkers, of potential effects from RFR.
These may include changes in metrics like DNA damage in exposed tissues, which can be detected much sooner than cancer.
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