Cell Phones and Cancer

This blogger was driving in the community today and was listening to a talk show (Allan Handleman) that routinely has pseudoscientific topics and guests . Today, a Dr. Dale Peterson was talking about the dangers of cell phones and how they are related to brain cancer. Recalling running across previous information debunking this premise, I searched on the Science-Based Medicine blog and found this post. Below is an excerpt:

"One reason we have a lot of doubts over whether cell phone radiation can actually cause cancer goes back to a longtime focus of this blog and one reason why we emphasize science-based medicine rather than evidence-based medicine, namely scientific plausibility. From a biological standpoint, a strong link between cell phone use and brain cancer (or any other cancer) is not very plausible at all; in fact, it’s highly implausible. Cell phones do not emit ionizing radiation; they emit electromagnetic radiation in the microwave spectrum whose energy is far too low to cause the DNA damage that leads to mutations that lead to cancer. True, it is possible that perhaps heating effects might contribute somehow to cancer, but most cell phones, at least ones manufactured in the last decade or so, are low power radio transmitters. It is also possible that there is an as yet undiscovered biological mechanism by which low power radio waves can cause cancer, perhaps epigenetic or other, but the evidence there is very weak to nonexistent as well. Worse, as has been pointed out many times, epidemiological evidence for people who have used cell phones heavily for more than 10 years is sparse.

"My interpretation of the evidence thus far is that we can say with some confidence that there is no short term risk of brain cancer from cell phone use. However, after more than ten years the evidence is less clear but trends towards either no detectable risk or a very small risk that barely rises above the noise. It’s possible that there may well be a risk; it’s possible that there is hitherto undiscovered biology that provides a mechanism by which non-ionizing radiation like the radio waves from cell phones could over time induce cancer beyond ten years. Because more and more people are using cell phones over longer and longer periods of time, it’s worth studying this issue. If there is an increased risk, it may be possible to mitigate that risk by using headsets or through the design of phones that use less energy. Mobile phone technology is a relatively new technology, though, and has only been widely available since the mid-1990s. In the U.S., it didn’t become truly ubiquitous until the early part of this decade. Consequently, there hasn’t been enough lag time for us to be truly confident of studies showing little or no risk. On the other hand, it is reassuring that early studies are pretty resoundingly negative and that there really is no good biological mechanism that we have been able to find by which cell phone radiation could cause cancer. In the next 5-10 years, more studies will be done, and, over that time, I expect evidence will answer the question one way or the other.

"In the meantime, it’s useful to keep things in perspective. Each and every year, there are approximately 40,000 to 45,000 fatalities due to auto collisions. Getting in a car and driving to work every day is among the most dangerous things the average person does. Yet we accept this risk because automobiles are such an incredibly useful tool in modern life; indeed, they are indispensable to most people. Cell phones are clearly in that category as well; so even if cell phones are ultimately found to increase the risk of brain cancer by, for example, 10-20% after 10-20 years, it would most likely be a risk that most people would end up living with in order to be able to use these incredibly useful devices. My personal reading of the data is that there probably isn’t a significant risk of brain tumors due to the use of cell phones, but I am not sufficiently certain to make any blanket statements. I, like everyone else, will have to wait for the evidence to settle things one way or the other."

While this blogger essentially agrees with this post and rejects the scare-mongering from Dr Peterson and others, perhaps the use of an ear piece or headset if one is using a cell phone a great deal would be a wise choice.