Cindy Sage
Remaining Mute, Cell Phone Execs Refuse to Appear Before Congress
Industry Group a No-Show at Hearing On Whether or Not There is a Link Between Cell Phones and Cancer
By EMMA SCHWARTZ
September 25, 2008
The wireless industry association refused to appear before Congress today on a hearing about whether there is a link between cell phones and cancer.
(ABC News)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich of (D-Ohio), chair of the subcommittee of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held a hearing Thursday, said that CTIA (The Wireless Association), the industry major trade association in Washington DC, declined his request to testify with scientists and government officials about the status of the scientific research on the topic.
"By their refusal they deny this Congress the benefit of their testimony and the opportunity to pose questions," Kucinich said at the hearing.
But a CTIA spokesperson said the organization's lack of testimony shouldn't be seen as a dodge. "We've always maintained that this debate must be guided by science," said Joseph Farren, a spokesperson for CTIA. "We are not scientists and we just think it's best left to the scientists."
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Most studies have found no connection between cancer and cell phone use. The scientific studies pointing to an association between cell phones and brain cancer is controversial and limited. None of the major health organizations -- including the National Cancer Institute nor the American Cancer Society -- think that there is a link. In fact the chief medical director at the American Cancer Society, Otis Brawley, said as recently as this summer that some of the warnings about a link are "scaring people unnecessarily."
But during a hearing Thursday members of Congress wanted to know if they shouldn't push more people to take measures to prevent exposure.
Robert Hoover, director of epidemiology at the National Cancer Institute, did not think there was solid science."There are some isolated findings but larger studies are needed to sort out the role of chance and bias," he said. And, he noted, studies show there has been no increase in the instances of brain cancer between 1987 and 2005.
But some scientists believe there's enough of an association to be concerned, enough, at least, to take precautions in using cell phones, such as using an ear piece or limiting use.
That is what Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, did this summer, issuing a precautionary memo on cell phone use to his colleagues.
During testimony he explained his reasoning. "I cannot tell this committee that cell phones are definitely dangerous but I certainly cannot tell you that they are safe," Herberman said.
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Part of the problem, he said, is that many of the studies have a key limitation: that they only measure short term influence instead of looking at whether the radiation has an impact over the long haul.
He and another scientist, David Carpenter, an epidemiologist at the University of Albany, pointed to a recent study that found an association between prolonged cell phone use and two brain cancers -- one that was five time greater among those who used cell phones before the age of 20.
"I certainly find the evidence at present to be less than 100 percent," Carpenter said. But, he added "the implications are enormous."
Enormous enough that "there should be national standards of warning or precaution relating ot the use of cell phones for children?" Kucinich wanted to know.
Carpenter's response: "I think evidence is certainly strong enough for warnings that children should not use cell phones. I think failure to do that is going to lead us to an epidemic of brain cancer in the future."
Hoover's response was less sanguine. "I think it does depend on whether there is a risk or not." And that, he said, would have to wait for a major study schedule to come out sometime next year.
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Doctors Urge Research On Cell Phone-Cancer Issue
by Allison Aubrey
All Things Considered, September 25, 2008 · The suspicion that cell phones may be linked to brain cancer has percolated for years. But the vast majority of scientific studies have shown no association between the two.
The National Cancer Institute has reviewed more than a dozen studies looking for a possible link to brain cancer. Scientists there have found little or no increased risk within the first 10 years of cell phone use.
In addition, from 1987 to 2005 — a period when cell phone usage increased dramatically and phones became more powerful — there was no upturn in the incidence of brain cancers in the United States.
Dimitrios Trichopoulos, a professor of cancer prevention at the Harvard School of Public Health, says that when you combine all the information known so far, there's no cause for alarm.
"It's nothing that would make us very much worried," Trichopoulos says.
British scientists participating in the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research program also have weighed in. As part of the initiative, Lawrence Challis, emeritus professor of physics at the University of Nottingham, led a panel in England that reviewed 23 studies on cell phone use and health effects.
The panel concluded that radio-frequency radiation from cell phones poses no short-term health risk.
But Challis says that among the few studies that included people who had been using cell phones for more than a decade, there is uncertainty. Some studies identified a very slight increase in the number of brain cancers among cell phone users.
"There are slight hints of something" for people who have used cell phones for more than 10 years," says Challis. "But they are not totally convincing hints. All they are, are suggestions."
It's possible the cancers were due to chance.
People concerned about long-term exposure have several options. They can text message, use headsets or earpieces, or use landlines instead of mobile phones. Some experts also recommend not keeping your cell phone attached to your body.
The British scientists have advised parents to err on the side of caution.
"Children may be more sensitive to exposures," says Challis. That's why the committee discourages the use of cell phones by children.
During a congressional hearing on cell phones and cancer, another expert issued a similar warning. Dr. Ronald Herberman, head of the University of Pittsburgh's Cancer Institute, made headlines in July when he urged his faculty and staff to limit cell phone use. In testimony before a House subcommittee, Herberman said he believes cell phones may pose a larger risk for everyone than the current science sheds light on.
"I cannot tell this committee that cell phones are definitely dangerous," Herberman said. "But I certainly cannot tell you that they're safe."
Herberman urged the panel to work with the cell phone industry and independent researchers. He said everyone needs to work together to produce the best, most accurate, long-term study.
_____________________________________________
Scientists debate possible cell phone link to brain cancer
* Story Highlights
* Studies conflict; do not consistently show cell phones cause cancer, expert says
* Expert says he cannot say they are definitely dangerous or definitely safe
* Children are at higher risk for cancer-causing radiation from phone, scientist says
* Woman at House panel hearing says her husband's brain cancer from cell phone
September 26, 2008
By Elizabeth Landau
CNN
(CNN) -- Bringing a growing health concern to Congress, scientists squared off Thursday over whether cell phones contribute to brain cancer.
Rep. Denis Kucinich of Ohio holds a model of a 5-year-old child's brain absorbing cell phone radiation.
Studies have indicated that long-term cell phone use may be associated with brain cancer, according to Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Dr. David Carpenter, director of Institute for Health and the Environment at University of Albany. They both testified in front
of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.
"I cannot tell this committee that cell phones are definitely dangerous. But, I certainly cannot tell you that they are safe," Herberman said.
Herberman and Carpenter cited the results from a study recently presented by Dr. Lennart Hardell of Örebro University in Sweden.
The results indicated that people who use cell phones have double the chance of developing malignant brain tumors and acoustic neuromas, which are tumors on the hearing nerve. The study also said people under age 20 were more than five times as likely to develop brain cancer.
But Dr. Robert Hoover, director or Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program at the National Cancer Institute, said the study has not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, so has not come under sufficient scrutiny. The evidence for the connection between cell phones and cancer is inconclusive and more research is needed, he said.
"Larger studies are needed to sort out chance and bias," Hoover testified.
Interphone, a series of multinational studies on the risk of cancer from cell phones, has not found an increase in tumors associated with the first 10 years of mobile phone use, he said.
Some findings show an increased risk of tumors diagnosed on the side of the head that the cell phone is pressed against, but this pattern has not been seen consistently, Hoover said.
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CTIA, the International Association for Wireless Telecommunications, declined the invitation to testify, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio, who led the hearing, said.
Steve Largent, CEO of CTIA, issued a statement Wednesday saying the industry has supported scientific research on these issues and supports the Federal Communications Commision's safety guidelines.
"The available scientific evidence and expert reviews from leading global health organizations such as the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, United States Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization reflect a consensus based on published scientific research showing that there is no reason for concern," Largent's statement said.
The overall evidence for the cancer-phone link has not been statistically significant at a 95 percent confidence level, a standard in science, Carpenter said. But he also noted that U.S.-funded research is very scarce.
"Are we at the same place we were with smoking and lung cancer 30 years ago?" he asked.
Carpenter and Herberman testified that the risk of brain cancer for children is far greater than for adults. Herberman demonstrated a model showing that the radiation from cell phones would penetrate far deeper into a 5-year-old's brain than an adult's. See models from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh »
But the incidence of brain cancer in children has not increased significantly from the late 1980s to 2005, Hoover said.
The Federal Communications Commission limits cell phone radio frequency energy emissions, called the specific absorption rate (SAR), at 1.6 watts per kilogram, as measured over one gram of tissue.
The standard was developed in 1997 in consultation with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a professional association open to everyone, including
manufacturers and health specialists.
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But the SAR standard reflects a biological response to cell phone radio frequency energy heating tissue, Kucinich said.
Many experiments show that radio frequency energy does cause "biological effects" without heating tissue, although not all of those effects are harmful, Carpenter said. Hoover agreed that there could be such effects related to cancer risk, but they have not been properly vetted in a laboratory.
The FCC itself does not have the expertise to evaluate whether this standard is appropriate protection for possible heath risks, Julius Knapp, director of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, testified.
The hearing took place just a week after the Cleveland Clinic reported a study showing that keeping a cell phone on talk mode in a pocket can decrease sperm quality.
Herberman had issued a warning to physicians, scientists, and staff at the University of Pittsburgh in July advising them to limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The Israeli Health Ministry endorsed this recommendation within a week, he said.
Ellen Marks of Lafayette, California, whose husband found out he had a brain tumor on his right frontal lobe in May, attended the hearing.
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The tumor is on the same side of his head where he held his cell phone, which he used about 30 hours per month. She believes the tumor is the result of cell phone use.
"I often threatened to throw it in the garbage, and how I wish I had," she said. "This horror could have been avoided with a simple warning."
