Do Cellphones Damage Your Health?

The United Kingdom's Health Protection Agency (HPA) issued a report last month that said studies haven't shown convincing evidence that cellphones increase the risk of brain tumors or any other type of cancer. But they added a word of caution stating: "However, as this is a relatively new technology, the HPA will continue to advise a precautionary approach and keep the science under close review." The British report followed a Danish study released last year that found no increased risk for acoustic neuromas — noncancerous brain tumors — in people who had used cellphones for 11 to 15 years. The study was especially important because of its size: It included the entire Danish population. But doubts remain. Figures just published by the U.K.'s Office of National Statistics found a 50 percent increase in frontal and temporal lobe tumors in children between 1999 and 2009. Did cellphones cause the increase? The jury's still out, but some researchers point to the radiation cellphones emit. The results of studies on whether or not cellphones cause cancer are about 50/50 until you consider the funding sources, says Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkley, in a story in London's Independent newspaper. About 75 percent of the studies that found no health risks were funded by industry. "This is the largest technological experiment in the history of our species and we’re trying to bury our head in sand about the potential risks to cells, organs, reproduction, the immune system, behavior, and risks we still know next to nothing about," Moskowitz said. The results of many studies are disturbing. A report published last October in the journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine said that due to the process for evaluating microwave radiation from phones — which was designed by the cellphone industry and is based on a large man whose brain tissue is supposedly homogeneous — the amount of radiation being absorbed by many adults is being underestimated. The problem is much worse for children who absorb twice as much microwave radiation from phones as adults. The report says that the hippocampus and hypothalamus of children absorb up to triple the amounts of radiation, and their bone marrow absorbs as much as 10 times more than adults. Although a study from the National Institutes of Health didn't find that cellphones increased cancer risk, it did discover that having a 50-minute conversation with the cellphone next to an ear changes brain activity in the area of the brain closest to the phone. After reviewing dozens of cellphone studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer issued a statement in 2011 that said cellphones may cause cancer in humans. They based their findings on studies that found that using a cellphone for 10 years doubles the risk of developing a glioma (cancerous brain tumor — the type that killed Ted Kennedy). In addition, an Israeli study found people who used cellphones frequently had a 58 percent increase in parotid tumors, cancer of a salivary gland near the ear. Researchers at the University of Washington discovered that two hours of exposure to the levels of radiation emitted by cellphones splintered the DNA of brain cells in rats, making them appear similar to cells found in cancerous tumors. Other research has suggested that cellphone use causes changes in the body, and that their use should, at least, be limited. A Russian study found that children who used cellphones had poorer memories than those children who didn’t. In addition, an animal study released in March by researchers at Yale University linked the radiation from cellphones to changes in brain development that could cause hyperactivity. “We have shown that behavioral problems in mice that resemble ADHD are caused by cellphone exposure in the womb,” said senior researcher Dr. Hugh S. Taylor, a reproductive specialist. “The rise in behavioral disorders in human children may be in part due to fetal cellular telephone irradiation exposure." The effect of cellphone radiation on male fertility is especially troubling. Research in seven countries found that young men who are heavy users of cellphones drastically lower their sperm count. "All the research shows the same thing," award-winning scientist Devra Davis told the Daily Mail. "If you take young men who are trying to become fathers, those who use mobile phones at least four hours a day have about half the sperm count of others. Sperm exposed to mobile phone radiation in the lab is sicker, thinner, and less capable of swimming." Neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, editor of The Blaylock Wellness Report, is likewise unconvinced that cellphones are harmless. "There is considerable evidence that cellphones damage the brain as well as other tissues and organs," he says. "Many studies have shown that the microwave radiation from cellphones damages tissues and especially DNA. In fact, two of the scientists cellphone companies backed to do these studies were fired when their studies demonstrated DNA damage in all cells exposed to the wavelengths and energy from cellphones."