No Cell Phone-Cancer Link, New Study Finds
The Institute of Cancer Epidemiology has found that cell phone use does not increase the risk of tumors or other formers of cancer.
Published in the Oct. 20 issue of the British Medical Journal, the study tracked 360,000 cell phone subscribers over an 18-year period, following up an earlier trial with five more years of data through 2007. Its findings included that people who were cell phone subscribers were no more at risk over 17 years than non-cell phone subscribers.
Other results of the study included the finding that there was no evidence that tumors might be more common in the area of the brain closest to the ear where cell phones are held. In addition, though there was a slight increased risk of glioma, a malignant brain tumor in men, the difference was almost indistinguishable after five years.
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"That might potentially mean that people who are genetically predisposed are at a greater risk by using cell phones but, over the years the effect washes out because people who were going to get tumors already got them," said Dr. Michael Schulder, vice chairman of neurosurgery at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute of the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine in Manhasset, N.Y., according to HealthDay News.
Schulder said the biggest cell phone risk is using it while driving.
“If you studied 10 million people for 100 years, the risk from texting while driving, looking at emails, holding the phone with your hand to your head and probably, to some extent, even talking on the phone are all far greater than anything that might ever show up in a study like this,” Schulder was quote by HealthDay News as saying.
Devra Davis, president and a cancer epidemiologist of Environmental Health Trust, called the study “deeply flawed” and said it provided “misleading conclusions.”
“In order for any study of a relatively rare disease like brain tumors to find a change in risk, millions must be followed for decades,” said Davis in a statement, pointing out that the study excluded 300,000 business people in the 1990’s who have used phones four times more than subjects in the study.
In May, the World Health Organization listed cell phone radiation in the same "carcinogenic hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform. The labeling was based studies on cell phone safety that were peer-reviewed by a 31-member team from 14 countries.
As of 2009, the number of cell phone users exceeded four million, at 4,310,295,611, according to the GSM Association.
