The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health
Organisation, has classified the radiation emitted by handsets as “possibly
carcinogenic” although it did not find evidence of a clear link.
Its decision - putting mobiles in the same risk category as lead, the
pesticide DDT and petrol exhausts - will put governments under pressure to
update their advice to the public on the potential dangers of talking on mobiles
for long periods of time.
Christopher Wild, the director of IARC, said that while more research is
carried out “it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure such
as hands-free devices or texting”.
It has long been known that the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields emitted
by mobile phones are absorbed by the body, much of it by the head when the
handset is held to the ear.
But research into the possible health consequences of frequent mobile use has
proved inconclusive because the technology has only been widely used for a few
years while it can take decades for tumours to develop.
Last year a landmark IARC study, known as Interphone, disclosed that making
calls for more than half an hour a day over 10 years could increase users’ risk
of developing gliomas - a type of tumor that starts in the brain or spine - by
40 per cent.
Over the past eight days, a working group of 31 scientists from 14 countries
reviewed the Interphone data and other studies, including a Swedish report that
also found evidence of increased brain tumour risk among mobile users.
They concluded that there was “limited” evidence that wireless phones are
linked to brain cancer – meaning that it could be down to chance rather than
causation – and “inadequate” proof that mobiles cause other types of cancer.
Dr Jonathan Samet, chairman of the group, admitted the evidence is “still
accumulating” but insisted: “The conclusion means that there could be some risk,
and therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and
cancer risk”.
By classifying mobiles as “possibly carcinogenic”, the IARC has placed them
alongside DDT, chloroform, coffee, lead and working as a firefighter in a list
of more than 900 agents it has analysed. However this is only the third-highest
rating, below “carcinogenic to humans”, which includes cigarettes, and “probably
carcinogenic”, which includes diesel exhausts and creosote.
But with an estimated 5 billion mobile phones in the world, health agencies
are likely to act on the IARC’s warning, which will now be discussed by the
World Health Organisation.
As The Daily Telegraph disclosed in March, the Department of Health in
England recently updated its advice to the public by saying that sending text
messages or using hands-free kits can reduce exposure to radiation, by keeping
the handset away from the head.
It is also recommended that children only use mobiles when strictly
necessary, as they are at greater risk of absorbing radiation.
Following the IARC’s announcement, experts pointed out that it did not prove
mobiles cause cancer, and that there was still little long-term research on the
subject.
Ed Yong, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: “The risk of
brain cancer is similar in people who use mobile phones compared to those who
don't, and rates of this cancer have not gone up in recent years despite a
dramatic rise in phone use during the 1980s.
“However, not enough is known to totally rule out a risk, and there has been
very little research on the long-term effects of using phones.”
Prof Malcolm Sperrin, Director of Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering
at Royal Berkshire Hospital, said the categorization was justified but added:
“It should also be stated that electromagnetic field exposure is not new -
witness the regular usage of radio and other waves for many decades with no
convincing health detriment at low powers. The social and technological benefits
also need to be emphasised.”
John Cooke, Executive Director of the Mobile Operators Association, said: “It
is important to note that IARC has not established a direct link between mobile
phone use and cancer. It has, however, concluded that there is the possibility
of a hazard. Whether or not this represents a risk requires further scientific
investigation.”
Solution:
never hold the phone against your
head for longer than 5 minutes at a time,
never wear the phone(switched on or
off)closer than 3cms to your body,
never EVER let children under 15
use a mobile phone,
never sleep with a mobile phone
within 3 metres of your head etc etc.
Use This USA brand Radiation
Protector:
