There I am, watching the Today Show (which I rarely watch) and all of the sudden there is an episode about why you shouldn’t let little Johnny play with your cell phone because cell phones have been linked to…GASP…brain tumors. Conner and Violet really don’t play with my cell phone, but we have occasionally (out of desperation, usually at a restaurant) played an Elmo video from YouTube. But I understand games are quite popular on cell phones (like Angry Bird). So of course this got the scientist in me questioning. Can cell phones really cause brain tumors?
After reading research articles and even some blogs on the topic, I have to admit I am on the fence. There are many animal studies and some show a link, some don’t. In humans, the same is true. There are many, many articles, but to keep it simple I will focus on a famous study conducted by the Interphone Study Group (2010). The researchers conducted interviews of adults with brain tumors and compared them (and their cell phone usage) to matched controls. There conclusions are that there is “no increased risk of brain tumors with cell phone use”. However, they do caution that “we don’t know the possible effects of long-term exposure and this warrants further investigation”.
In addition, the American Cancer Society, FCC, FDA, CDC, etc. all state that there is no scientific data supporting a link between cell phone use and brain tumors/cancer. Interestingly, the National Toxicology Program (currently conducting research on this topic) and the National Cancer Institute both state that while there is no conclusive link, further research is needed to really elucidate any possible health effects from cell phone use.
Here is a basic summary of how cell phones work, and why there is concern. Cell phones use radiofrequency (RF) magnetic fields, a form of non-ionizing radiation. The radiation isn’t as strong as, say, a microwave, but isn’t as weak as FM radio. This website sums it up really well http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/cellular-phones. So the fear is that by placing the cell phone directly to your head, the RF radiation comes in direct contact with the tissue…but then again you have this nice, thick skull, meniges, and cerebral spinal fluid protecting said tissue so how much is actually able to penetrate?
Anywho, non-ionizing means that it should not have the capability of doing any direct damage to the DNA of the cells, thus, won’t cause cancer. While this may in theory be true, and many of the human and animal studies don’t show a link between cell phone use and brain cancer/tumors, there are some limitations of these studies that warrant further investigation.
1) We have only been able to look at short-term exposure. What about after 40 years of cell phone use?
2) No studies of cell phone use in children has really been conducted.
3) We use our cell phones way more now than 5 or 10 years ago.
For me, I mainly use my cell for its music player and CardioTrack when I run. But it is in my hand, not next to my head. But, the overly analytical, concerned, and scientific side of me starts questioning things. Is it far enough from my Conner and Violet’s head, since they are in the stroller and I am pushing the stroller, while jogging, with phone in hand? Do cell phone apps, like the music player, CardioTrack, games, etc. also use RF energy, or just when you make phone calls?
I guess my overall conclusion is that limited cell phone use probably doesn’t emit enough radiation to damage cells. And playing games, apps, music isn’t cause for concern either because you aren’t holding it directly to your noggin. But, then again…
Here are the articles I mainly used if you would like to read more about it. I would love to know what you think on this as well. Do you let your kids use/play with your cell phone? Are you worried?
Works Cited:
http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/ije/press_releases/freepdf/dyq079.pdf (Interphone Study Group)
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/cellular-phones
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-cell-phones-can-cause-brain-cancer
neuronmommy 