Read the whole story at:
http://www.microwavenews.com
Best,
Louis Slesin
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10 Tips: Cell Phones & Limiting Radiation Exposure
PITTSBURGH (CBS) ? There is a new warning about the health dangers of cell
phone use. The director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and
UPMC Cancer Centers has issued the new advisory.
http://cbs3.com/health/cell.phones.tips.2.778623.html
Practical Advice to Limit Exposure to Electromagnetic Radiation Emitted from Cell Phones:
1. Do not allow children to use a cell phone, except for emergencies. The developing organs of a fetus or child are the most likely to be sensitive to any possible effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields.
2. While communicating using your cell phone, try to keep the cell phone away from the body as much as possible. The amplitude of the electromagnetic field is one fourth the strength at a distance of two inches and fifty times lower at three feet.
Whenever possible, use the speaker-phone mode or a wireless Bluetooth headset, which has less than 1/100th of the electromagnetic emission of a normal cell phone. Use of a hands-free ear piece attachment may also reduce exposures.
3. Avoid using your cell phone in places, like a bus, where you can passively expose others to your phone's electromagnetic fields.
4. Avoid carrying your cell phone on your body at all times. Do not keep it near your body at night such as under the pillow or on a bedside table, particularly if pregnant. You can also put it on "flight" or "off-line" mode, which stops electromagnetic emissions.
5. If you must carry your cell phone on you, make sure that the keypad is positioned toward your body and the back is positioned toward the outside so that the transmitted electromagnetic fields move away from your rather than through you.
6. Only use your cell phone to establish contact or for conversations lasting a few minutes, as the biological effects are directly related to the duration of exposure. For longer conversations, use a land line with a corded phone, not a cordless phone, which uses electromagnetic emitting technology similar to that of cell phones.
7. Switch sides regularly while communicating on your cell phone to spread out your exposure. Before putting your cell phone to the ear, wait until your correspondent has picked up. This limits the power of the electromagnetic field emitted near your ear and the duration of your
exposure.
8. Avoid using your cell phone when the signal is weak or when moving at high speed, such as in a car or train, as this automatically increases power to a maximum as the phone repeatedly attempts to connect to a new relay antenna.
9. When possible, communicate via text messaging rather than making a call, limiting the duration of exposure and the proximity to the body.
10. Choose a device with the lowest SAR possible (SAR = Specific Absorption Rate, which is a measure of the strength of the magnetic field absorbed by the body). SAR ratings of contemporary phones by different manufacturers are available by searching for "SAR ratings cell phones" on the internet.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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Cancer researcher warns about cell phone use
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/07/cancer-research.html
Do cell phones cause cancer? Perhaps, researchers say.
That's why a prominent cancer scientist warned 3,000 faculty and staff at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute to limit their mobile phone use - and especially that of their children - because of a possible risk of cancer from electromagnetic radiation.
"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the institute, told the AP.
He based his warning on early, unpublished data, saying people should take precautions now because it takes too long to get definitive answers from science.
Read his memo, which includes 10 safety recommendations for cell phone use.
Among them:
. Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset.
. Because their brains are still developing, children should use cell phones only for emergencies.
. Phones shouldn't be kept bedside or under pillows.
As the AP notes, there is no consensus on potential dangers, however:
A 2008 University of Utah analysis looked at nine studies - including some Herberman cites - with thousands of brain tumor patients and concludes "we found no overall increased risk of brain tumors among cellular phone users.
The potential elevated risk of brain tumors after long-term cellular phone use awaits confirmation by future studies."
Studies last year in France and Norway concluded the same thing.
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University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
A National Cancer Institute (NCI) -designated Comprehensive Cancer Center
Important Precautionary Advice Regarding Cell Phone Use
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FROM: Ronald B. Herberman, MD
Recently I have become aware of the growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use to possible adverse health effects including cancer. Although the evidence is still controversial, I am convinced that there are sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some
precautionary advice on cell phone use.
An international expert panel of pathologists, oncologists and public health specialists recently declared that electromagnetic fields emitted by cell phones should be considered a potential human health risk (see The Case for Precaution in Cell Phone Use, attached). To date, a number of countries including France, Germany and India have issued recommendations that exposure to electromagnetic fields should be limited. In addition, Toronto's Department of Public Health is advising teenagers and young children to limit their use of cell phones, to avoid potential health risks.
More definitive data that cover the health effects from prolonged cell phone use have been compiled by the World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer. However, publication has been delayed for two years. In anticipation of release of the WHO report, the attached prudent and simple precautions, intended to promote precautionary efforts to reduce exposures to cell phone electromagnetic radiation, have been reviewed by UPCI experts in neuro-oncology, epidemiology, neurosurgery and the Center for Environmental Oncology.
For more in-depth information on this subject, please see the complete article (pdf file, 100kb)
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Practical Advice to Limit Exposure to Electromagnetic Radiation Emitted from Cell Phones
1.. Do not allow children to use a cell phone, except for emergencies. The developing organs of a fetus or child are the most likely to be sensitive to any possible effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields.
2.. While communicating using your cell phone, try to keep the cell phone away from the body as much as possible. The amplitude of the electromagnetic field is one fourth the strength at a distance of two inches and fifty times lower at three feet. Whenever possible, use the speaker-phone mode or a wireless Bluetooth headset, which has less than 1/100th of the
electromagnetic emission of a normal cell phone. Use of a hands-free ear piece attachment may also reduce exposures.
3.. Avoid using your cell phone in places, like a bus, where you can passively expose others to your phone's electromagnetic fields.
4.. Avoid carrying your cell phone on your body at all times. Do not keep it near your body at night such as under the pillow or on a bedside table, particularly if pregnant. You can also put it on "flight" or "off-line" mode, which stops electromagnetic emissions.
5.. If you must carry your cell phone on you, make sure that the keypad is positioned toward your body and the back is positioned toward the outside so that the transmitted electromagnetic fields move away from your rather than through you.
6.. Only use your cell phone to establish contact or for conversations lasting a few minutes, as the biological effects are directly related to the duration of exposure.
For longer conversations, use a land line with a corded phone, not a cordless phone, which uses electromagnetic emitting technology similar to that of cell phones.
7.. Switch sides regularly while communicating on your cell phone to spread out your exposure. Before putting your cell phone to the ear, wait until your correspondent has picked up. This limits the power of the electromagnetic field emitted near your ear and the duration of your
exposure.
8.. Avoid using your cell phone when the signal is weak or when moving at high speed, such as in a car or train, as this automatically increases power to a maximum as the phone repeatedly attempts to connect to a new relay antenna.
9.. When possible, communicate via text messaging rather than making a call, limiting the duration of exposure and the proximity to the body.
10.. Choose a device with the lowest SAR possible (SAR = Specific Absorption Rate, which is a measure of the strength of the magnetic field absorbed by the body). SAR ratings of contemporary phones by different manufacturers are available by searching for "sar ratings cell phones" on the internet.
# # #
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Cancer chief sees cell phone risks
He will alert Pitt institute's faculty, staff to possible health effects
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08205/898803-114.stm
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers plans to issue an advisory to about 3,000 faculty and staff today about the possible health risks associated with cellular phone use.
"Recently I have become aware of the growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use to possible adverse health effects including cancer," Dr. Ronald Herberman said in the memorandum. "Although the evidence is still controversial, I am convinced that there are sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some precautionary advice on cell phone
use."
The advisory suggests certain measures to limit exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by the devices, such as shortening the length of conversations or keeping the phones away from the head by text messaging or using headsets or speaker phone options. It also recommends that children not use cell phones except in emergencies.
A child's developing organs "are the most likely to be sensitive to any possible effects of exposure," according to the document.
In an interview, Dr. Herberman said he hoped the suggestions would spread to others within Pitt and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, as well as to the general public.
He noted that other countries have recommended limits on exposure, and that in Canada, public health officials in Toronto have advised young people to limit cell phone use.
But while there is growing support for limited use, it is not universal.
There is nothing wrong with taking precautions, but "the bottom line, at this time, is that there is no conclusive evidence tying cell phone use to brain cancer," said Dan Catena, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society.
Dr. Herberman believes he is the first U.S. cancer center director to approve the release of such an advisory. And a spokesperson for the National Cancer Institute said officials there were unaware of similar advisories issued by other center directors.
No other major U.S. health care or consumer group has gone as far in advocating for precautions, said Dr. Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, which tracks research related to cell phone safety.
Dr. Herberman also has signed on, along with more than 20 other international experts, to a document calling for precautions in using the devices.
Many are from Europe, but they also include several with U.S. ties. Among them are Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, a Pitt medical school professor who spends much of his time in France, and Dr. Devra Davis, director of the Pitt Cancer Institute's Center for Environmental Oncology.
Dr. Servan-Schreiber, a brain cancer survivor, said he solicited experts to support the document, and Dr. Herberman credited Dr. Davis with drawing his attention to the recent research findings.
Release of the document in France last month drew considerable attention from the news media, Dr. Slesin said.
Some of the concerns about cell phone use have come from preliminary data from the 13-country study of cell phone use and tumors known as the Interphone study, he said.
Release of the overall findings has been delayed for more than two years. But a group of European countries has reported an elevated risk for certain brain tumors among long-term cell phone users, particularly on the side of the head where the phone was used, he said.
A separate group of Swedish researchers reported similar findings, Dr. Slesin said.
"From a public health perspective, it makes sense to limit risks," said Dr. Dan Wartenberg, director of environmental epidemiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and one of the international experts calling for precautions.
The group also wants manufacturers to provide phones "with the lowest possible risk" and to "encourage consumers to use their devices in a way that is most compatible with preserving their health."
"We do not need to ban this technology, but to adapt it -- to harness it -- so that it never becomes a major cause of illness," the group noted.
But others question the need for action.
While suggestions that cell phones may be linked to cancer have been around for years, "the science remains so sketchy," said Dr. Matt Quigley, surgical director of neuro-oncology at Allegheny General Hospital.
"The overwhelming majority of studies that have been published in scientific journals around the globe show that wireless phones do not pose a health risk," CTIA-The Wireless Association, a group representing the wireless industry, said in a statement.
Joe Fahy can be reached at jfahy@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1722.
First published on July 23, 2008 at 12:00 am
