Are Mobile Phones A Health Risk?

Mobile phones are low power radio devices that transmit and receive microwave
electromagnetic energy at frequencies between 800 Megahertz (MHz) and 1800 MHz.
Mobile phone emission is referred to as 'radiofrequency electromagnetic energy' or
RFE.

The International commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP)

provide guidelines for exposure to mobile phones and recommends a limit of
0.06W/kg whole body SAR (SAR is a measure of the amount of RFE absorbed per
unit mass) and 2W/kg averaged over any 10g of tissue, for localised SAR.
Recommended limits of exposure to RFE aim to restrict whole and partial body
heating.

Health concerns have been raised regarding mobile phone emissions. These possible
effects fall into two main categories as outlined by the Cancer Council NSW i.e. those
due to heating of tissue (thermal) and those not due to heating (athermal).

Thermal Effects

The recommended limits for exposure to mobile phone emissions are intended to
avoid significant increases in body temperature. Generally an increase of greater than
one degree centigrade is considered detrimental to health.

In practice according to the Cancer Council NSW, the energy output from mobile
phones results in only a fraction of this amount being deposited in the tissues of the
head, and therefore the rise in temperature would only be a fraction of a degree. This
is similar to the normal daily fluctuations in body temperature and such small changes
in heat load are considered too low to cause harmful effects.

Athermal Effects

Athermal effects of mobile phone emissions include suggestions of subtle effects on

cells that might increase cancer development or influences on electrically excitable
tissue that could alter the function of the brain and other nerve tissue.

According to the Cancer Council NSW, RFE is not able to damage genetic material
(DNA) in cells directly and cannot therefore produce cancerous mutations. There have
been suggestions that it may be able to increase the rate of cancer development,
however, by influencing cancer promotion or progression.

In May 1999, the UK National Radiation Protection Board Advisory Group on Non-
ionising Radiation found that '…there was no human evidence of a risk of cancer
resulting from exposure to radiations that arise from mobile phones'. All new research
data published since that time support this position.

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This article authored by H U.
Furthermore, the evidence from biological studies on possible effects on tumour
promotion or progression, including work on animals, is not conclusive. The lack of
evidence does not, however, prove the absence of a risk and more specific research is
needed.

There has also been concern about possible effects of RFE on brain function, for
example headaches, memory loss, and varied reaction times and sleep patterns. While
some studies found that these effects occur, according to the Cancer Council NSW
there is no evidence at present that they are harmful to health.

The following are excerpts of articles that find a causal link between mobile phone
usage and cancer.

The following was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald:

A top Australian neurosurgeon says the world's heavy reliance on mobile phones
could be a greater threat to human health than smoking and even asbestos.

Vini Khurana, who conducted a 15-month "critical review" of the link between mobile
phones and malignant brain tumours, said using mobiles for more than 10 years
could more than double the risk of brain cancer.

"It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than
asbestos and smoking, and directly concerns all of us, particularly the younger
generation, including very young children," Dr Khurana said in a research paper
published on the website brain-surgery.us.

He said there were currently 3 billion mobile phone users worldwide, a number that
is growing daily, and people started using them as young as three.

He said mobile phone radiation could heat the side of the head or potentially
thermoelectrically interact with the brain, while Bluetooth devices and "unshielded"
headsets could "convert the user's head into an effective, potentially self-harming
antenna".

Dr Khurana, who is a staff specialist neurosurgeon at the Canberra Hospital and an

associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University, said there
had been increased reports of brain tumours associated with heavy and prolonged
mobile phone use, particularly on the same side as the person's "preferred ear" for
making calls.

Further, Khurana said "most of the worrisome data has been surfacing in the last 12-
24 months".
Dr Khurana, who since 1994 has received 14 awards, said the time between the
commencement of regular mobile phone usage to the diagnosis of a malignant solid
brain tumour might be in the order of 10-20 years.

He said the link between mobile phones and brain tumours had not yet been
"definitively proven" because widespread mobile phone usage commenced in the mid-
1980s and solid tumours might take several years to form.

"In the years 2008-2012, we will have reached the appropriate length of follow-up
time to begin to definitively observe the impact of this global technology on brain
tumour incidence rates," Dr Khurana said.

But he said there was already enough evidence to warrant industry and governments
taking immediate action to reduce mobile phone users' exposure to electromagnetic
radiation and inform them of potential dangers.

"Worldwide availability and use of appropriately shielded cell phones and hands-
free devices including headsets, increased use of landlines and pagers instead of
current mobile and cell phones, and restricted use of cellular and cordless phones
among children and adults alike are likely to limit the effects of this physically
'invisible' danger," Dr Khurana said.

The following is from an article by Larry West:

Researchers at the Swedish National Institute for Working Life and the University of
Oerebro compared the mobile phone use of 4,400 people—half of them cancer
patients, and the other half healthy people who made up the control group—and made
some disturbing discoveries.

Heavy Mobile Phone Use Increases Cancer Risk

According to Kjell Hansson Mild, who led the study, heavy users of mobile phones
have a 240 percent increased risk of developing a malignant tumor on the side of the
head where they press the phone to their ear.

Published in the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health,

the study defines “heavy use” as 2,000 hours of mobile phone use in the course of a
decade, which "corresponds to 10 years' use in the work place for one hour per day."

Of the 2,200 cancer patients in the study, who ranged in age from 20 to 80 years old,
905 had a malignant brain tumor and just under one-tenth of that number were heavy
mobile phone users.

"Of these 905 cases, 85 were so-called high users of mobile phones, that is they
began early to use mobile and/or wireless telephones and used them a lot," said the
authors of the study in a statement issued by the Institute.
In addition, the study concluded that early users, defined as people who started using
a mobile phone before age 20, are also at greater risk of developing a malignant
brain tumor.

The study also took into account factors such as smoking habits, working history and
exposure to other known cancer-causing agents.

Limit Mobile Calls and Use Handsfree Options

Hansson Mild advised that the best ways for consumers to lower their risk of cancer
related to mobile phones are to use their wireless phones less frequently and to use
handsfree options when they do make or receive mobile calls.

Swedish Study Breaks New Ground

The Swedish study is the first to show a significant link between long-term mobile
phone use and cancer. Previous studies found no evidence that radiation from mobile
phones is harmful, but those earlier studies looked at mobile phone use among fewer
people over a shorter time.

The Swedish study is the largest and most comprehensive to date. Also, people in
Sweden have been using mobile phones since 1984, longer than people in many other
countries, so getting a large sample of people who have been using cellular
telephones for a long time was relatively easy.

Reference

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/mobiles-greater-risk-than-
asbestos/2008/03/31/1206850768836.html

Cancer Council of Australia

http://environment.about.com/od/healthenvironment/a/cancerphones.htm