Journal of the National Cancer Institute has posted final letters online by experts regarding cell phones and cancer.
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute published letters from experts disputing the Oxford “million women” study which misleadingly asserts though headlines there is no link between cell phone use and brain cancer. Authors include the former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D.; Hugh Taylor, M.D., chief of obstetrics and gynecology, Yale-New Haven Hospital; Hillel Baldwin M.D., neurosurgeon; Paul Ben-Ishai, Ph.D. Department of Physics, Ariel University and Devra Davis, Ph.D., MPH, epidemiologist and toxicologist who has published numerous studies on wireless radiation impacts. Online Link at Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Dr. Joel Moskowitz of University of California Berkeley also published a letter criticizing the safety assurances put forward by the Oxford study stating, “In sum, the Schüz et al. (2) study provides no assurance of safety from brain tumors for most cell phone users, especially those who start using cell phones at a younger age than the middle-aged and elderly women who participated in this study.” (online link)
- Dr. Moskowitz RE: Cellular Telephone Use and the Risk of Brain Tumors: Update of the UK Million Women Study | JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute | Oxford Academic
- Birnbaum et al. RE: Cellular Telephone Use and the Risk of Brain Tumors: Update of the UK Million Women Study | JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute | Oxford Academic
Birnbaum et al., letter references substantial credible research that links cell phone radiofrequency radiation to cancer.
“Most are unaware that cell phones and cordless phones continuously emit RFR, which is absorbed into the brain and body. As more than 80% of UK households had landlines during the study period, it is likely many of the older women in this cohort used cordless phones, a significant source of RF unevaluated by this study.
Further, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and Ramazzini Institute (RI) experimental animal studies are inaccurately criticized as based on small numbers, inconsistency across species, and excessively high exposures (3,4). The several thousand animals studied by the NTP and RI approximated in rodents a lifetime of human RFR exposures, and both found an increase in the same types of tumors, corroborating accumulated evidence of adverse effects at low levels.
Current outdated regulatory limits for phone RFR rest on the incorrect long-held assumption that nonthermal levels are safe. The NTP’s highest RFR exposures were below thermal thresholds and below US FCC occupational guidelines of 8 W/kg specific absorption rate. In addition to “clear evidence” of carcinogenicity in male rats, the NTP found DNA damage in organs of rats and mice as well as induction of right ventricle cardiomyopathy in both male and female rats. The findings of these studies indicate that the long-held assumption that heating is the only harm from wireless RFR is no longer valid.
Shuz et al. (1) mischaracterized the RI study as using excessively high exposures. However, the RI study was designed to mimic low-level cell tower RFR exposures. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified RFR as a “possible human carcinogen” (5) based largely on increased tumors among long-term cell phone users. Concordance of tumor cell types with these experimental animal studies strengthens the association.
The majority of animal and cell studies have found nonionizing RFR can induce oxidative stress—a key characteristic of human carcinogens and a way that RFR can initiate or promote tumor development as well as play a role in the development of other diseases (6).
EHT’s Expert Resources to Reduce Wireless Exposure
- Factsheet: How to Reduce Cell Phone and Wireless Radiation
- How to Minimize Wireless Exposure
- Environmental Health Trust: Educational Resources, Posters, Flyers
- New Jersey Education Association “Minimize health risks from electronic devices” Article, PDF of Recommendations
For more information, visit www.ehtrust.org.
About Environmental Health Trust
Founded in 2007, Environmental Health Trust, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is a think tank that promotes a healthier environment through research, education and policy. EHT conducts cutting edge research on environmental health hazards and works with communities, health, education professionals and policymakers to understand and mitigate these hazards. Currently, EHT works with scientists, policymakers, teachers, parents and students to promote awareness on how to practice safe technology.
The Environmental Health Trust has worked on the issue of wireless radiation for over a decade submitting thousands of pages of evidence to the FCC in the years leading up to the court’s decision. EHT scientists testified in 2009 Senate hearings and 2008 congressional hearing on cell phone radiation- the last ever held. EHT scientists have published numerous studies on the health effects of non -ionizing electromagnetic radiation and organized numerous national and international scientific conferences on the issue. Visit www.ehtrust.org for more information.
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