Will the report of a possible cancer risk from cell phones change your habits?
Posted at 5:00 AM on June 1, 2011
by Eric Ringham
(25 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Science/Technology
An agency of the World Health Organization has found that the use of cell phones may pose a cancer risk. Today's Question: Will the report of a possible cancer risk from cell phones change your habits?
Comments (25)
Is this a case of greedy lawyers trying to delve into the deep pockets of cell phone companies, or a case of greedy cell phone companies trying to hide the truth from the public? Sadly, both scenarios are plausible. Maybe it's both.
Correlation is not Causation.
We connect to what we want to believe.
Scant evidence here = cell phones cause cancer, but I need it, so I'll use it anyway and accept the risk.
scant evidence on Chemical X = it's evil and we should move mountains to prevent its use/release because we don't see any direct relationship to the quality of our daily life.
It's not the risk, it's the risk-benefit process the individual person makes.
yup - more texting - or a safe blue-tooth unit - or a wired earphone-speaker, since the study indicates the cancer problems are associated with brain tissue. Apparently the kids are wa-hayyy ahead of their parents with technology. Once I figured out how to text - the kids won't answer the voice call - unless I text > "Pick Up Please" as PUP!
Anyone who ignores this independent study would be absolutely foolish. The FDA is so completely in the pockets of lobbyists any information they have concerning cancver and cell phones is tainted with corruption. But this
cell phone study involves intelligent international research,with NO ties to big companies, and what they are presenting is solid scientific data that clearly shows cell phones are linked directly to brain cancer.
Its not that hard to use your cell phone with a speaker phone or head phones. If you want to ignore these findings, enjoy you brief life ..
The study is limited in that it does not have any long-term data to support how the continued use of mobile phones will affect the health of the end user. Additionally, our society is impacted by several cancer causing agents, therefore, it is hard to conclude that interaction with cell phones would be the leading cause for certain cancers to develop. While the researchers have found a correlation between mobile phones and a cancer it will be interesting to see how this hypothesis plays out over time. As mobile phones have essentially become necessity (all though driven mostly by pyschological attachment) this findings will not change the way or time that I interact with my phone.
yes. better safe than sorry. no harm in using the cell phone for calls only when necessary, right? certainly saves money.
The plantiff bar are licking their chops as a entire new nest of victims, exposed to the inviible rays that toast their brain demand punitive damages. Perhaps obama and the idiot democrats can set up a special "fund" to compensate a new victim class.
I can see it now. In big white letters on a black background of a regulated percentage of cellular telephone packaging or ad space: "Warning the Surgeon General has determined that talking on a cell phone causes cancer". Soon then there will be a "Health Impact Fee", (aka TAX!), on cell phones and subscription plans. Cell phones will be blamed for the outrageous cost of healthcare. There will be cell-free workplaces, including bars & restaurants, and public places indoors or out. Teenagers will be prohibited from talking on a cell phone and adults will be require to show ID to buy one. The minimum talking age will be 21. Talking on a cellular telephone will become a moral sin and those that do will become pariahs.
I think the solution here is for everyone to keep their cell phone on speaker phone constantly and talk to people by holding the phone out two feet in front of your face, letting everyone around hear the conversation.
Problem solved.
So now I have to get a cell phone AND be afraid of it.
∑
DTOM
Health risks of cell phone use?
Yes, using it in car is the biggest health risk.
I've got more important things to worry about, such as the fact that the Republicans in Congress are apparently trying to sabotage the economy with antics like playing games with the debt limit. They have no incentive to help the economy improve before the 2012 election.
I'm already changing habits. Using bluetooth more, lug cell in backpack, and rejoice in more reason to resist using cell in the car.
No. The WHO didn't actually add new information through any new studies. Comparisons with smoking research omit any evidence that the same kind of systematic coverup is occurring. The studies aren't conclusive in any way; one study even mentioned tha a protective effect might be argued from the data, but didn't try to claim that.
If the WHO beloved that cellphone use is about as risky as coffee or pickles I doubt behavior will change.
No, but that's only because I have already adjusted my cell phone habits.
That cell phones could potentially cause some adverse health effects has been known for some time, and widespread use of cell phones is a pretty recent trend.
There still isn't any data that indicates a definite health risk from cell phone use, but that neither proves that they are dangerous nor safe. I use mine sparingly, use a wired headset when I can, and I certainly don't keep it in my pants pocket, at genital height, all day long.
If I acted on every "possible cancer risk" I have heard over the years, I would not be able to live a normal life.
This "possible cancer risk" is not well enough understood or corroborated by other studies to change anything.
Not yet. People have made mistakes both ways. With tobacco a half century ago and climate change today, deniers refuse to be convinced by solid evidence. On the other hand, people have believed that silicone breast implants cause cancer and childhood vaccines cause autism, despite solid evidence to the contrary (and in the latter case, a proved hoax). The fact that a few inveterate smokers have lived into their nineties, or that you know a cell phone user who got a brain tumor, proves nothing. Data is not the plural of anectdote.
Some things are clearly more dangerous or cancer-causing than others, but almost anything used to excess has the potential to cause harm. I'd be just as skeptical about cell phone manufacturers' and service providers' claims of safety as those of cigarette makers. But unlike tobacco, there are probably many ways to safely use cell phones (including in moderation). We're just not a society that practices moderation in much of anything.
Although flashy headlines are exciting, lets not get too wrapped up in what this governing body has done. They didn't conduct any new studies, simply looked at the outcome of other studies and formed some opinions. The jury is still out on whether or not there's a link, and this "classification" doesn't add anything to the body of research.
In terms of my usage, I rarely talk on the phone, and when I do I use a wired earpiece for the sake of comfort. Otherwise I'm just a smartphone app junkie and not holding it to my ear.
I find that If I adjust my tinfoil hat just so, I am able to get broadband as well as cell phone bandwidths.....
I'm an old fellow who purchased a cell phone and a phone card for the first time, 48 hours before this story broke. Only to get rid of my rip-off land-line telephone company. My two calls each week won't place me in harms way. However, those folks who are on the phone constantly, or have those things in their ears day and NIGHT are flirting with disaster.
@ GaryF I'm with you brother! It's like those darn tobacco lawyers, scamming all that money from the tobacco industry who intentionally lied to it's customers about the links to cancer and tobacco usage. Patriotic Americans have fought and died for the right to commit suicide by using tobacco, excessive amounts of alcohol and eating ourselves to death. Let's be clear, I sure there will be more studies on cell phones and causation issues regarding cancer. But as GaryF says; watch out for those "lawyers". ; )
Even prior to this most recent report, I do not believe that it is wise to put the cell phone directly up to your ear for any considerable length of time, and I do not use a "Blue Tooth" stuck right in my ear. I either use the phone on "speaker" or use a wire type earphone. Cases in point to consider: Mr. Johnny Cochran was often noted in photos using an ear phone and I believe he had a brain tumor; Mr. Ted Kennedy was diagnosed late in life with a brain tumor and also was often shown putting a cell phone up to his ear late in his life; I personally know of a woman who had a habit of using a Bluetooth in her ear allot and had 176 stitches sewn into her head after a tumor was removed; Big Business has a way of saying "No conclusive evidence" after "they" expedite the clause in the research contract that allows them to kill an undesired honest path taken just prior to the final study report and hence - "No Conclusive Evidence" is then subsequently reported! Much like the big toacco companies used to do.
Isn't this just a scam so that lawyers can sue the big evil cell phone companies?
Isn't this just another way to shake down big companies for more money?
No.
Don't own one.
More because I do not like the idea I 'can' be called and bugged any time.
Plus this news on cell phones has been known for a long time. Skeptics of it 'reasoning' out there is no connection via the radio waves are NOT the type that can knock DNA chains around or not..... Just because one can not 'see' it is not a reason to not believe it. Science is the art of looking for what we do not understand or see, then connecting the dots.
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