Here are two entirely different stories. The first, from two leading scientific research labs, indicates that children absorb twice as much radiation from cell phones as adults. The second story states that Health Canada claims that there is no danger from radiation when children use cell phones.
Something does not add up. We already know from other research, that adult cell phone users with ten years of heavy cell phone use, can increase the chance of brain cancer by double. Now we are being made aware that children absorb twice the amount of radiation as adults. Surely that points to the fact that children may get brain cancer at least four times more than normal
in a ten year period. In fifteen years is it going to be ten times more?
Will anyone live past the age of forty, if they use a cell phone from childhood?
The real issue is, that nobody knows! There has been no research! There are no results so the only sensible thing to do is to invoke the precautionary principle and don't do anything stupid until you know the results.
You must be concerned about the reasons why Health Canada has ignored the precautionary principle and much scientific research. Are they trying to please the cell phone industry? Can their actions be classed as criminal negligence?
As a Canadian, I am ashamed at Health Canada's careless attitude and their lack of leadership with such an important subject. We cannot afford to permanently harm children, the future of our country. There are many scientific studies which clearly show that electromagnetic radiation similar to that used by cell phones (cordless phones and WiFi) is highly dangerous and can cause cancer and other serious harm to health. This information must be made more widely known to parents so that they are made aware of the dangers and can make informed decisions. See the attached document - Cell phone radiation poses a serious biological and health risk - Dr. Neil
Cherry.
Martin Weatherall
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The brains of young children absorb twice as much as RF energy from a cell phone as those of adults, according to two leading European research labs.
Children's bone marrow and eyes also get more radiation exposure.
Read the whole story at:
http://www.microwavenews.com
Best,
Louis Slesin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cellphones safe for children
No evidence to support Toronto recommendation
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/health/story.html?id=b7c23e19-92b3-4aff-b2ab-dccd91fc377e
Jenny Wagler
National Post
Canada's largest city has recommended that parents limit the cellphone use of their children, but Health Canada said in response that science does not show that cellphones are unsafe.
Toronto Public Health has released a report that recommends that children cut down on their cellphone use to avoid exposure to radio frequencies, which the city says may prove to be a health risk. It recommends that children, where possible, use land lines, limit the length of cellphone calls, use headsets or hands-free options, and keep cellphones only for
"essential purposes."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, responding to the city's report, agreed last week parents should limit their children's use of cellphones until more scientific research can establish if they are safe.
"I'm hardly a scientific expert on the consequences of prolonged cellphone use by children," Mr. McGuinty said. "But if I read a story, just as a dad, in the paper, I might want to speak to my kids, tell them to minimize their use, and kind of stay tuned to what the scientific community has to say on this score."
But while the Toronto agency officers and the Premier were only the latest officials to worry about the risks of cellphone use, federal public health officials in Canada and the United States have said the evidence of harm is unproven.
"Health Canada currently sees no scientific reason to consider the use of cellphones as unsafe," the organization's media officer Paul Spendlove wrote in an e-mail. "There is no convincing evidence of increased risk of disease from exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields from cellphones."
In the United States, the National Cancer Institute issued a lengthy fact sheet that summarizes worldwide research into cellphones and the possible link to tumours in the brain.
"Overall, research has not consistently demonstrated a link between cellular telephone use and cancer or any other adverse health effect," the institute says.
Regarding use by children specifically, the U. S. health agency said there is "no evidence that cellular telephone use poses more of a threat to children than to adults," although it does allow that children have not been the subjects of large studies and they "are likely to accumulate many years of exposure during their lives."
Loren Vanderlinden, the Toronto report's lead author, said there is hardly any research on the health impact of children's cellphone use, but that two 2007 meta-analyses of studies of adult cellphone users' health show "an association" between people who have used cellphones for 10 years or longer and both glioma and acoustic neuroma brain tumorous.
"It's an odds ratio, which shows there are higher odds for certain kinds of brain tumour," said Ms. Vanderlinden, a supervisor of environmental health assessment and policy at Toronto Public Health.
Furthermore, she said, despite the "acknowledged research gap" regarding child cellphone users' health, children would tend to be more vulnerable to brain and nervous-system cancers because their nervous systems are still developing.
But Mr. Spendlove said Health Canada has no advisories with respect to cellphone usage by school children. He said the organization identifies "concentration" as the chief personal safety issue for children using cellphones.
"For example," he said, "similar to adults not using a cellphone while driving, children should not use them while riding bicycles."
Health Canada, he said, bases its position on "the bulk of scientific evidence from animal, in vitro and epidemiological studies that have been carried out worldwide, including at our laboratory."
Marc Choma, director of communications for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, said he has "no reservations" about children using cellphones, adding that neither Health Canada nor the World Health Organization have identified any risks with cellphone use.
But the City of Toronto's report says that, while the evidence is far from conclusive, other jurisdictions are also starting to promote caution for child cellphone users.
The British Department of Health, it says, recommends that child cellphone users limit their exposure by keeping all calls short. The Belgian Federal Public Service and the Health General Directorate in France, it says, recommend that children and pregnant women limit their cellphone use and use land lines wherever possible. And the Russian Ministry of Health, it says,
recommends that individuals under 18 not use cellphones at all.
"Everybody's clear on the uncertainty and the inconclusive nature of the science," Ms. Vanderlinden said, "but that it shouldn't stop precautionary policy and advice to parents on simple ways that [parents] might pay attention to their children's use of cellphones."
© National Post 2008
