For the Last Time, Cell Phones Do NOT Cause Brain Cancer
By Michael Fumento
If you’re getting a headache from spending to much time on your cell phone, it’s probably from yakking too much. But it’s not from brain cancer. Not from the phone, anyway, as yet another shows. No, this wasn’t one of those “let’s put some mouse brain cells in a Petri dish and stimulate it with magnetic waves and see if it makes them do anything unusual” tests. This was an epidemiological study of lots and lots of Scandinavian cell phone users.
Specifically, as reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, “national registry data from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden from 1974 to 2003 showed rates of the brain cancers glioma and meningioma had either remained stable, decreased, or followed the same gradual increase observed before mobile phones became popular in the 1990s.
On average, it’s believed it takes about 20 years for a brain tumor to appear after the initial insult. But that’s spread over a wide bell curve of a few years to 40 years. Five to 10 years, if using a large enough population, is enough for trends to start showing up. Yet the four Scandinavian countries had a mobile phone network since 1981, two years before the service launched in the U.S. So there’s been plenty of time for tumors to show up. All that’s appeared is crummy science perpetrated by the usual anti-technology cell-out doomsayers.
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In the United States in the year 2005, it was estimated there were 43,800 new cases of brain tumors (Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, Primary Brain Tumors in the United States, Statistical Report, 2005–2006),[1] which accounted for 1.4 percent of all cancers, 2.4 percent of all cancer deaths ,[2] and 20–25 percent of pediatric cancers.[2][3] Ultimately, it is estimated there are 13,000 deaths per year in the United States alone as a result of brain tumors mobile phone
From the article: "On average, it’s believed it takes about 20 years for a brain tumor to appear after the initial insult. But that’s spread over a wide bell curve of a few years to 40 years. Five to 10 years, if using a large enough population, is enough for trends to start showing up. Yet the four Scandinavian countries had a mobile phone network since 1981, two years before the service launched in the U.S. So there’s been plenty of time for tumors to show up."
I worked for a company that sold cell phones in 1986. It was a straight commission, hard sell deal at the time. As I recall, the cost of air time was .46 per minute and the phones were several hundred dollars each. The service areas were extremely limited and where service was available, there were dead spots all over the place. It would be an under statement to say they were NOT in common usage at the time. Only a few people had them, and the cost was so high they didn't use them much. It wasn't until the mid 90s that prices came down enough to where a larger cross section of the population could afford them, and they were still a luxury item at the time.
For all practical purposes, cell phones have only been in use for 10-15 years, and it's only been the past 5 years or so that nearly everyone can afford one.
The "initial insult" claim is disingenuous. "Insults" may be acute or chronic. No study I've seen even remotely claims exposure results in acute injuries. The concerns are exclusively related to chronic exposure and cumulative damage.
Personally, I hate cell phones because the service sucks. The typical conversation when someone calls me on one is, "Huh? What'd you say? You're breaking up. I can't hear you. Are you still there? Call me back on a land line!!".
As others have noted, many cell phone users are quite obviously suffering from brain damage. Hard saying if it's caused by the phones or if they were that way to start with. I do think there's enough credible research to indicate there are genuine concerns. If anything, it's the negative research and who pays for it that is cause for alarm. The phone companies sound so much like asbestos producers in the 60s, big tobacco in the 70s, coal companies in the 80s, and pharmacoms in the 90s, that it's impossible not to assume the worst. If it is a problem, no doubt your next of kin will have a chance to be a lead plaintiff in a class action 20 years from now. In the mean time, there's plenty of money to be made and death is just a part of doing business these days.
guys are article was talking about brain cancer , it said nothing about accidents ...
I'm shocked to see CEI actually got something right for once though.
A 28 year old mother of two killed herself and a 6 year old (I believe) in Efland, NC because she was on the cell phone when crossing a track. A train killed her and her child instantly. Her four month old survived. This happened about two weeks ago. Cell phones used in motor vehicles kill.
I wonder, are telephone conversations really more important than someone's life? Brain tumors are least of the concerns. Not only are cell phones dangerous while driving ,they also have helped people to become less engaged in everything and everyone around them. this has contributed to even more self-centered and self-important attitudes.Whether in a check-out line,a restaurant,a doctors office or anywhere that requires common courtesy.
The hazards posed by cell phone use while driving are so self-evident and yet people will continue to do it without regard for the lives other people. While my husband and I were out riding motorcycles we crossed an intersection.I heard brakes squealing a quick glance and saw a woman on a cell phone sliding through the red light. We both sped up and made it through. Not once did this woman stop her phone conversation despite the fact that she came so close to hitting the rear of my bike and the front of my husbands.Was her phone conversation so important that it would have been worth two lives? If she had hit us and not seriously injured us would it be justifiable homicide to cram her cell phone down her throat and run her over?I think that anyone who talks on a cell phone while driving and causes the death or injury to another person should be charged with !st degree murder or intent to kill.There is no conversation that is worth the life of another human being,no excuse!
Research demonstrates over and over again that ANY talking on a cell phone (even an ear piece) distracts from driving and causes accidents. Thus, cell phones contribute directly to death.
Restrict cell phone conversations to times when you are seated at a table outside of a vehicle, in a park, at home or other places where you do not need to pay attention to anything other than conversation. That goes many fold for texting .