It has been a year since Dr. Ronald Herberman, then director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, issued a warning to about 3,000 faculty and staff, listing steps to avoid harmful electromagnetic radiation from cell phones.
Since that time, more evidence is emerging that long-term cell phone use is associated with cancer, but still, no definitive explanation or proof of cause and effect.
"Since I put out that precautionary advisory in July of last year, I believe there is more indication for concern, particularly among children," he recently said.
A study from the World Health Organization (WHO) based on a 10 year investigation called Interphone will be published before the end of the year. In it, the WHO will show that there will be a significantly higher risk of brain tumors “related to use of mobile phones for a period of 10 years or more.”
Studies that looked at people who had used cell phones 10 years or longer tended to find the strongest risk of tumors. Evidence shows that cell phone users had a 10 to 30 percent higher risk, relative to people with limited contact with cell phones.
Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley noted that the side of the ahead against which people used their cell phones correlated with the location of tumors. Skeptics are not convinced and dismiss this claim as "recall bias."
Project Interphone receives some funding from the GSM Association as well as the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, both heavy players in the mobile phone industry.
Critics maintain that the existing research on the link between cell phones and cancer is that the studies are retrospective. They suggest that in lieu of the current research, a better approach would be to follow young people who are just starting out with cell phones for a generation, then see which ones gets cancer.
Nearly all of the eight "strongest" studies in Moskowitz’s group’s analysis came from the same researcher: oncologist Dr. Lennart Hardell in Sweden. The lack of diversity is troubling to some critics.
Neuro-oncologist Dr. Marc Chamberlain isn’t concerned. He maintains that the evidence doesn’t support changing cell phone habits and feels that there’s no credible link.
Skeptics continue to assert that the electromagnetic radiation given off by cell phones is too weak to cause direct DNA damage. In the meantime, experts recommend getting a corded headset and keeping the phone away from your ear. Bluetooth do not count, as they too expose you to electromagnetic radiation, albeit in smaller doses.
Moskowitz is pushing for cancer organizations and government agencies to come up with ways to minimize dangers from cell phones. An interim approach might be to get a cell phone with a low specific absorption rate, or SAR. A lower SAR means lower radio frequency energy gets absorbed by your body.