NEW YORK, Aug 01 (Reuters Health) - The US Food and Drug Administration is
meeting Tuesday to discuss the links between wireless telephones and cancer.
Meanwhile, a panel of experts concludes that currently, there is not enough
evidence to link wireless phones to brain cancer, but there is sufficient
research to raise serious questions about the safety of the devices.
The report was based on research conducted by the Wireless Technology
Research (WTR) program, which is funded by the wireless phone industry.
"The legitimate questions about safety that have arisen from recent studies
make claims of absolute safety no longer supportable," co-authors Dr. George L.
Carlo and Rebecca Steffens Jenrow, both of WTR in Washington, DC, write in the
report, which was released July 31 in the online journal Medscape General
Medicine.
According to the report, the results of one WTR study fail to prove that
radiation from cell phones is strong enough to break DNA. However, the results
of another WTR study indicate that such radiation can cause genetic changes in
blood.
"WTR-sponsored...studies do raise some questions about health risks
associated with cellular phone usage," Carlo and Jenrow write. In one such
study, brain cancer death rates were more than three times higher in users of
car cell phones, which have car-mounted antennas, than in users of hand-held
devices.
"Taken together, the WTR research findings are not conclusive with respect
to an increased risk of brain cancer or benign tumors associated with wireless
phone usage," the report indicates. However, consumers should be made aware of
potential risks of wireless phones so that they can make their own decision
about using the devices, the researchers conclude.
The experts make several recommendations, including the implementation of a
reporting system to track health problems of wireless phone users, as well as
continued follow-up of short-term studies. And they call for studies of digital
phones, which were not widely in use at the time the reviewed studies were
conducted.
The authors also recommend studies of the impact of wireless phones on
children, whose brains may be more susceptible to radiation, as well as on
pregnant women and fetuses.
According to the report, ways to reduce exposure to radiation include using
headsets or a hands-free phone or by communicating through two-way pagers.
The authors note that wireless phone manufacturers are developing shields
designed to block radiation. But they point out that the health benefits of
using these and other such devices have not been proven scientifically. "Moving
the antenna beyond the distance threshold of 2 to 3 inches away from the body is
the only science-based recommendation that can be supported by existing data,"
Carlo and Jenrow conclude.
