Such a pain in the brain debate about cell phones' link
to tumours rages on
By Ian Harvey
Copyright 1999 Toronto Sun
March 3, 1999
Just hold the phone a second.
Officially, there is no link between
cell phones and brain tumours. Unofficially, it ranks as the next
biggest conspiracy next
to who really shot JFK and, more recently, whether Princess Di was
assassinated
by the British Secret Service.
Anecdotal evidence abounds. There are
lawsuits now filed on both sides of the Atlantic from people who
claim they
have developed brain tumours from using wireless telephones.
An oft-cited Australian study says mice exposed to
cell phone waves were twice as likely to develop cancer. But while
the conspiracists hold
it as the smoking gun in the debate, the scientific community,
including the
most definitive study thus far, says the issue needs more
investigation.
The Australian mice study did show higher rates of cancer
but involved mice
that were predisposed to cancer, said the article in Radiation
Research, the
journal of the Radiation Research Society (www.radres.org).
"There is a need to replicate and extend this
study," it says, arguing the data aren't
reliable enough to predict tumours in humans.
And that's the problem in this high-stakes game: There is
no definitive
evidence of a link between tumours and
cell phones.
At least not yet.
RADIATION
Can the radiation of PCS phones raise the temperature of
human tissue and alter
DNA
enough to trigger a cancerous growth? Which type of radiation is
more harmful?
Are some people -- like the mice in the Australian study --
genetically
predisposed to cancer from
cell phones?
We don't know, so, in the meantime, we wait, although a few
companies are using
the fear generated by the
issue to make a few bucks, selling metal condom-like devices for
cellphones
that claim to deflect the bulk of harmful radiation.
And at least one British scientist wants to sue his local
telephone company for
failing to put a warning label on their
cell
phones.
"In my opinion, and in the opinion of many scientists,
anyone who uses a mobile
telephone for more than 20 minutes at a time needs to have their
brain tested," bio-electromagnetics scientist Roger Coghill
told Reuters news service last
month.
Despite our addiction to
cell phone technology, the Canadian contribution is pretty minimal.
The Royal Society of
Canada, sort of a clearing house for the pursuit of science, was
commissioned
by Health Canada last September to determine whether the limits set
by current
regulation are suffiently safe.
Dr. Daniel
Krewski, an epidemiologist and biostatistician at the University of
Ottawa is
chairing a panel of scientists assembled from leading universities
and
hospitals across North America and says the study is on track and
will report
as expected by the end of March.
The group isn't doing any research of its own, relying
on information already available but which groups like the Canadian
Cancer
Society and the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada say has yet to
yield a
definitive conclusion.
"The incidence of brain tumours -- especially the most
serious type -- is
increasing," said Sue Barnes of the Brain Tumour Foundation.
"But we
don't know why yet. We don't know if
cell phones are connected because there's nothing conclusive."
That's a familiar lament in the field of tumours. We know
also that testicular
tumours are on the rise, but we don't know why -- although many
environmental
issues are being blamed, there's nothing conclusive.
In the interim, Krewski's
not talking, except to say that
"it's going well."
And given the claims of interference levelled at the
wireless industry in the
wake of other studies, perhaps his discretion is well placed.
HYSTERIA
Conspiracists claim other studies have been buried or
otherwise tampered with
in an attempt to squelch the facts. The
hysteria is reaching cacophonic proportions.
And no wonder. There is no more ubiquitous a tech-toy than
the
cell phone, which has gone from being a symbol of corporate rank to
being a common,
everyday appliance.
With the continued breakneck growth of the industry and new
toys on the horizon
that will rely
on similar technology to provide everything from low-level
satellite telephone
to wireless local service, sorting out what exposures are safe is
critical.
And it could be devastatingly expensive to those with a
stake in the digital
wireless world.