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Study of Cellphone Risks Finds 'Some Evidence' of Link to Cancer, at Least in Male Rats
For decades, health experts have struggled to determine whether or not cellphones can cause cancer. On Thursday, a federal agency released the final results of what experts call the world's largest and most costly experiment to look into the question. The study originated in the Clinton administration, cost $30 million and involved some 3,000 rodents.
The experiment, by the National Toxicology Program, found positive but relatively modest evidence that radio waves from some types of cellphones could raise the risk that male rats develop brain cancer. "We believe that the link between radio-frequency radiation and tumors in male rats is real," John Bucher, a senior scientist at the National Toxicology Program, said in a statement.
But he cautioned that the exposure levels and durations were far greater than what people typically encounter, and thus cannot "be compared directly to the exposure that humans experience." Moreover, the rat study examined the effects of a radio frequency associated with an early generation of cellphone technology, one that fell out of routine use years ago. Any concerns arising from the study thus would seem to apply mainly to early adopters who used those bygone devices, not to users of current models.
[...] The rats were exposed to radiation at a frequency of 900 megahertz — typical of the second generation of cellphones that prevailed in the 1990s, when the study was first conceived. Current cellphones represent a fourth generation, known as 4G, and 5G phones are expected to debut around 2020. They employ much higher frequencies, and these radio waves are far less successful at penetrating the bodies of humans and rats, scientists say.
Previously: Major Cell Phone Radiation Study Reignites Cancer Questions
First Clear Evidence Cell Phone Radiation Can Cause Cancer In Rats
Related: Dim-Bulb Politician Wants Warning on Cell Phones
California Issues Warning Over Cellphones; Study Links Non-Ionizing Radiation to Miscarriage
Mill Valley, California Blocks 5G Over Health Concerns
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 06 2018, @01:32PM (1 child)
and you raise a valid point. Like I said, I myself am paranoid about cell phones and I believe I am overly paranoid.
But the counterargument is that if such slight variations in temperature can have such a profound effect then why aren't we worried about getting cancer every time we stand next to the heater. Or every time we go outside in the sun during summer when it's hot. We might as well invest more to ensure that we are constantly in an isothermal environment because surely standing next to the heater will cause me more temperature fluctuations than using my cell phone. I can probably measure the temperature fluctuations on my body of standing next to the heater with an actual thermometer used to detect fevers. I would need a highly sensitive, expensive thermometer to detect temperature differences to my body by using my cell phone. There are a million environmental factors that affect my body temperature far more than cell phones that I'm exposed to on a daily basis. Every time the wind blows it probably causes me temperature fluctuations more measurable than those caused by using my cell phones.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 06 2018, @01:36PM
Maybe your body's epidermis can handle infrared heat and prepare for incoming temperature changes due to infrared, but it can't handle the deep penetration of powerful radio waves that slowly heat up cells from the inside.
That sounded science-y.