New study raises concerns about cell phone use

9/9/09 By Jason Fink

New study raises concerns about cell phone use

Could texting save your life?

The answer is far from clear, but a study released Wednesday urges people to cut down on the time they spend talking on hand-held cell phones in favor of ear pieces and text messaging to reduce the risk of brain cancer.

The study, which rated more than 1,000 cell phones for the amount of radiation they emit, also called on the FCC to tighten its regulations, which were adopted in 1992, when cell phone use was a fraction of what it is now.

“People should be aware of the risks,” said Nneska Leiba, a researcher for the Environmental Working Group, the non-profit consumer advocacy organization that conducted the 10-month study. “We found that the most recent science, while not conclusive, raises some concern about cancer risk and cell phone usage.”

An estimated 270 million Americans - 87 percent of the population – use cell phones. “It worries me,” said Melvin Torres, 29, of Queens, who uses an earpiece because of fears about cancer. “I think eventually we will see the effects.”

The EWG also wants the government to mandate that radiation levels be disclosed on labels.

Studies have produced mixed results, with some showing links to cancer and many others showing no serious risk. Even the American Cancer Society has said it does not believe there is a link.

“The peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices do not pose a public health risk,” said John Walls, a spokesman for CTIA-The Wireless Association, an industry group.

The FCC limits the amount of radiation phones can emit, but Leiba said the 17-year-old standards were based on three-year studies - which she argued were not long enough - and did not include children, who absorb twice as much radiation because their skulls are thinner.

A spokesman for the FCC did not return a message seeking comment.

David Carpenter, director of the Institutes for Health and the Environment at SUNY Albany, said one study out of Sweden suggested cell phone users under 20 have up to five times the risk of brain and salivary cancers.

“I don’t think it’s rock solid yet but we are sort of at the stage now that we were 30 years ago with smoking and lung cancer,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter added he would recommend keeping cell phones turned off when possible and in a bag or somewhere else away from the body when turned on.

"If you’re a man and you wear your phone on your belt it exposes you to pelvic cancer,” he said.

For Rachael Kobren, 26, a first-year nursing student in from Manhattan, the risks are overblown.

“I’d be more likely to stay out of the sun to avoid cancer,” she said.
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New study raises concerns about cell phone use

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