Health Risk: Cell Phone Danger Exposed At Last

UPDATE:18 October 

Several years ago I was working with a fellow who had been in the construction industry and was an early-on cell phone user. He developed a parotid tumour on the side of his face that was exposed to his cell phone.

He treated this tumour with radiation.

When I met him it was some years after this event and he had developed other cancer, this time in his lungs.  He came to me seeking help and support for a more natural therapy approach.

I had an depth discussion with him about the cell phone exposure and its link to the parotid tumour.  About two years after he died a research study specifically linked the two.

Now a new admission of parotid tumour and cell phone use comes from natural health author Ann Louise Gittleman.

Do YOU hear me now?
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Hidden health risk in mobiles: Phone giants accused of burying warnings in small print
By Sean Poulter
10 October 2010

Health risk: Mobile phone firms have been accused of concealing warnings about their handsets

Mobile phone firms have been accused of concealing warnings about the health risks of using their handsets.
A warning that Apple’s popular iPhone should be kept at least 15mm away from the body is buried deep inside the manual.
BlackBerry goes even further, saying customers should use their devices hands-free or keep them an inch from the body ‘including the abdomen of pregnant women and the lower abdomen of teenagers’. Again, this advice is hidden in the instruction booklet.
All other manufacturers, including Nokia and HTC, carry similar small-print warnings despite insisting that holding mobiles against the ear and head is harmless.
Health campaigners and politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are calling for clear warnings to be put on handset boxes.
They are also demanding a public education campaign, starting in schools, to advise on the safe use of the devices.
Alasdair Philips, of Powerwatch, an independent group which investigates the safety of mobile phones, said: ‘Most people have no idea about these warnings.
‘The safety advice should be included on the boxes and far more prominently in the “getting started” section of user guides and not just in the detail at the back that hardly anyone reads.
‘This should be only part of a much wider public education campaign that begins in the schools.’
The safety advice in manuals is designed to limit so-called Radio Frequency exposure. This is said to heat body tissue and some – inconclusive – research suggests it is linked to tumours in the brain.

THE SMALL PRINT

Blackberry torch: Use hands-free operation if it is available and keep at least 0.98in (25mm) from your body when turned on and connected to the wireless network. Reduce call time. 
Apple iPhone: When using near your body for voice calls or for wireless network data, keep iPhone at least 15mm (5/8in) away from the body and only use accessories that do not have metal parts. Again maintain at least 15mm separation from the body.
Nokia C6: Maintain a normal use position at the ear at least 15mm (5/8in) away from the body. Any accessory should not contain metal and should position the device the above-stated distance from the body.

Most RF exposure comes from the antenna and it can increase when a phone is kept in a pocket because phones increase their power output when a network signal weakens.
Men who carry handsets on their belt or in their pockets with the keypad facing outward will suffer higher exposure because the antenna, which is always at the back, is close to the body.
SAR – Specific Absorption Rate – is the standard industry measurement for the amount of RF energy the body absorbs.
Mr Philips said: ‘When a phone has to power up, it sends high SAR power into the trunk and towards the kidneys and liver. It can be the testicles if in a trouser pocket.
‘Some girls carry them in chest bags which hang just below their breasts. Breasts, eyes and testicles absorb external RF energy the most. Blood-rich organs, such as the liver, kidneys and heart are among the top energy absorbers.

Advice: Campaigners say pregnant women should keep their handset away from the foetus in the first six months

‘The ovaries and foetus are relatively well protected by the trunk, but it obviously makes sense to keep the handset away from those areas, especially the foetus in the first six months. Many later-life causes of ill health are increasingly being recognised as having their roots in foetal exposure to chemicals, hormones, radiation of various sorts.’
He said most handsets also put out pulsed ELF magnetic fields which travel further into the body than RF signals. These are associated with childhood leukaemia and some adult cancers.
Caroline Lucas, Green Party leader and MP, said: ‘Greens have never said don’t use mobile phones, but we have always said that as with any other technology, we need to make people aware of any potential risks and give clear guidance regarding the safest possible use, so we can get the maximum benefit from the technology with the least possible risk.’
Mobile phone firms are legally required to advise customers on how to minimise RF exposure and use their manuals to do so.
Michael Milligan of the Mobile Manufacturers Forum said: ‘A mobile phone can always be used up against the head without the need for this separation, because phones are designed to have the antenna far enough away from the head when making a call.
‘Every mobile phone model is tested to make sure they meet national and international exposure limits for exposure to Radio Frequency emissions, before they can be sold in the UK or elsewhere.’
However, many new phones are so slim, antennas will be closer to the head than distances recommended by many manufacturers. SOURCE

top 4 of 30+ cell phone articles from Natural Health News

Natural Health News: Your Eyes and Cell Phone Damage

Jun 26, 2010

VADODARA/ANAND: While scientists across the globe are still debating whether usage of cell phones results in heart diseases, a new study carried out by scientists at Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT) has revealed ...

Natural Health News: Could Your Cell Phone Be Hacked?

Aug 03, 2010

and Could Your Cell Phone Be Hacked? At a recent conference, a hacker revealed a cheap, homemade device that has the potential to intercept calls from a variety of cell phones. How to tell if you're at risk.

Natural Health News: Cell Phones, Other EMF Exposure and Your Health

May 01, 2010

The FCC's latest set of guidelines represents a huge shift, and for the first time acknowledges that there could be a health danger in using a cell phone. Apart from using an earpiece or headset, it recommends that users should keep ...

Dirtiest Find in the Hospital: Cell Phones

Aug 02, 2010

EMF generated by cell phones and other similar EMF producing appliances creates a static charge that draws bacteria to these units. As the doctors go from patient room to patient room they collect and transport ever more dirt! ...

Real EMF Danger: Your Brain on a Cell Phone

UPDATE: 16 June -

San Francisco to warn consumers about cell radiation levels By John D. Sutter (CNN) -- San Francisco, California, likely will become the first U.S. city to require cell phone companies to disclose how much radiation their gadgets emit. The city's board of supervisors voted 10-1 on Tuesday in favor of a law that would require handset makers to post in stores how much wireless radiation their phones give off, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the measure into law. The city says consumers can use the information to differentiate between cell phones that emit relatively low and high levels of radiation. Some researchers link those emissions to cancer and brain tumors, although there is no scientific consensus on the matter. The New York Times compared San Francisco's mobile phone law to those that require food makers to reveal trans fat levels. "It's information that's out there if you're willing to look hard enough," Tony Winnicker, a spokesman for the mayor, told the Times. "And we think that for the consumer for whom this is an area of concern, it ought to be easier to find." The mobile phone industry opposes the new law, saying that science has shown cell phone radiation is not harmful to people. "Rather than inform, the ordinance will potentially mislead consumers with point-of-sale requirements suggesting that some phones are 'safer' than others, based on radio frequency emissions," John Walls, a spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), told The Chronicle. A landmark study on the potential health effects of cell phone radiation found no conclusive evidence that the emissions are harmful or that they are safe. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission says cell phones must not have a "specific absorption rate" of more than 1.6 watts per kilogram. That's a measure of "the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body when using a mobile phone," according to the FCC. Information about radio frequency emissions from cell phones already is available online. The San Francisco law would put that information in front of customers in stores and would require mobile phone retailers to provide additional safety-related information to consumers.

Find this article at:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/06/16/san.francisco.cell.radiation/index.html

A review of the recent inconclusive report on call phones and brain cancer lead an investigator to re-review the studies.

Mobile phone users 'five times more likely to develop a brain tumour'

By Fiona Macrae

Lead researcher Lloyd Morgan said there could be a 'brain tumour pandemic' unless people changed their patterns of mobile phone use. 

This would include texting rather than holding the phone to the ear.

People who talk on mobile phones are up to five times more likely to develop brain tumours than those who stick to landlines, academics have warned.
They say a number of previous studies into mobile phone safety 'substantially underestimated' the cancer risks and that tumours are much more common on the side of the head to which the mobile is held than on the other side.
After reanalysing the earlier studies they concluded that the risk of these tumours is between 10 and 500 per cent higher with long-term mobile phone use.
Lead researcher Lloyd Morgan warned yesterday that the findings raised the possibility of 'a brain tumour pandemic' unless people change their pattern of mobile phone use.
Mr Morgan, of the Environmental Health Trust, a U.S. campaign group, spoke out after re-examining the figures from six previous studies.
These included a Swedish one which originally concluded that people who used mobile phones for at least ten years were 3.9 times more likely to develop an acoustic neuinroma  -  a non-cancerous tumour  -  on a nerve near the ear to which they held their phone compared to those who rarely or never used the devices.
The reanalysis, designed to take into account flaws in the design of the study which could have skewed the results, put the increased risk at 4.9 times.
Another study had concluded that ten years of mobile phone use raised the odds of 'same side' gliomas  -  aggressive brain tumours  -  by 60 per cent.
But if the new technique is applied, the risk is raised by 100 per cent, a scientific conference in Seoul, South Korea, will hear today.
Reanalysis of a third study concluded that every 100 hours of mobile phone use raises the odds of meningioma, another common brain cancer, by 24 per cent.
The results of some of these studies were included in the world's largest study on mobile phone safety.
Released to much fanfare in May, the Interphone project concluded that ten or more years of mobile phone use raised the risk of a glioma appearing on the side of the head to which the phone is held by 21 per cent.
The British scientists involved in the study said the figures were flawed and urged people not to worry.
They pointed out that some of those who took part claimed to have used their mobiles for more than 12 hours a day ten years ago  -  something which was 'incredibly implausible'.
In addition, brain growths can affect memory, meaning some of those with tumours may have over-estimated how much they had used their phone.
Mr Morgan's team crunched the same figures but tried to factor in the effect of various design flaws.
This showed the increased odds of 'same side' gliomas to be 51 per cent  -  more than twice as high as estimated in the May study.
However, British cancer experts said predictions of a 'brain tumour pandemic' were overblown. Ed Yong, of Cancer Research UK, said: 'Even after the minor adjustments reported in this new analysis, the results from the overall Interphone study are still either not statistically significant, or right on the borderline.'
John Cooke, of the Mobile Operators Association, which represents the industry, said a World Health Organisation fact sheet last month stated that 'to date, no adverse health effects have been established for mobile phone use'.

Natural Health News has over 100 posts related to cell phone  health risk issues.

As first posted: Real EMF Danger: Your Brain on a Cell PhoneAs this technology becomes more and more pervasive I believe it is important for you to get the facts the government, media, and cellular companies are withholding !

Electromagnetic radiation and its effect on the brain: an insider speaks out 

A very good interview to read that addresses serious concerns about EMF, your brain and health

Effects on Honey Bees

The Rising Incidence of Cell Phone Tumours

US should study WIFI health impact

Cell Phone Towers and Your Health

GQ is just out with a lengthy article about cell phones and your health.  The good news is that the writer,  Christopher Ketcham, is really looking at the history and the science as well as anecdotal data, and he should be applauded.

This follows on the Oprah show aired in my market yesterday where she talked about her campaign to stop people from texting and talking while driving.

I'm often disappointed in Oprah because she does some things in sort of a half-assed way.  In this instance nothing in her campaign addresses the increased risk of breast cancer associated with cell phone use as well as the damage it can do to your thyroid gland, your heart, adrenal glands, kidneys, and your bones.

So Oprah, expand your horizon!

As our long time followers know, we have been writing on the risks of cell phones for about 15 years now.  The research that shows the risks does back to the 1940s.  Ketcham picks up in the 60s and to show how responsible his article is, he includes the work of Dr, Henry Lai from the University of WA.  And he asks, "So why isn't anyone in America doing anything about it?"

My 30-something niece just died of a brain tumour last October.  My daughter who has a PR firm in Seattle is working with an organization that focuses on brain tumour research.  I don't know how my niece developed this tumour but I can only raise the concern about cell phones, microwave ovens and cooking, the use of wifi, digital tv, microwave towers where the cellular antennae are perched and any other factor that I am convinced have a serious impact on health.  I believe this to such a degree that I began teaching programs on this topic for health providers about a decade ago.

Its a touchy issue, politically, as the cell phone companies have paid out a bundle to MOC's (members of Congress) to control this issue their way.  Its reported to be in excess of $8 billion.

"That the cell-phone industry, which last year posted revenues in the hundreds of billions of dollars, has an incentive to shut down research showing the dangers of cell-phone use is not a radical notion."

I have over 100 posts involving EMF here at Natural Health News,  and much more on my web site.  All I ask is that you start waking up to the risk you do to your self - and your health - daily with your cell phone and other EMF generating devices.

In this quote from Ketcham's article, and EPA physicist said, "The Department of Defense didn't like our research because the exposure limits that we might recommend would curtail their activities.", I can't help think of the role HAARP is playing in today's world, and how its very high powered EMF is making havoc.

Washington state had rules affecting employees and EMF exposure in 1978.  The history of suppression of information you had the right to know has systematically been suppressed.  It is past time to get the truth.  Ignore the half truth and faulty studies from the cellular industry, ignore convenience and move in favor of fact.

Cell Phone Updates -Know Your Risks

Most times science is slow to catch up with those of use with a bent as a "futurist". It always seems as if I am way ahead of the pack and in this case I've been educating on cell phone and cell tower risk (also wifi, digital, etc.) for a solid decade and longer.

It's nice now, and a complement to common sense and science that we see these reports.

For The Record, from The Troy Record
Reasons for concern

Hang on to your land line phones. Herb Denenberg in an article for The Bulletin says: “The great cell phone cover-up may be coming to an end. A new report may finally wake the public up to the brain cancer risks of cell phones and force necessary preventive measures.

“A new report, endorsed by a prestigious group of international scientists, finds that there’s a risk of brain tumors from cell phone use, that industry studies underestimate this risk, and that children have much greater risk than adults. The report, therefore sends a message to four billion users worldwide and to the $4 billion cell phone industry that they may be facing the same kind of bad news that first burst on the scene for the tobacco industry.”

Mr. Denenberg was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and co-authored major legislation.

He goes on to point out that the cancer threat has been recognized by some scientists for decades. Cell phones emit electromagnetic radiation — more specifically, radio frequency radiation which can damage the DNA and lead to cancers or other medical problems.

The study focused on cell phones but cordless phones, talkies, ham radio transmitters, and baby monitors also are sources of radiation.

The report entitled “Cell phones and Brain Tumors: 15 reasons for Concert; Science, Spin and the Truth behind enterphone,” can be read at www.radiationresearch.org and will be updated. The report lists eight simple steps to substantially reduce your or your children’s exposure to cell phone radiation.

If you are concerned about electromagnetic radiation coming from cell phones or cell towers there is also more information from info@emrpolicy.org.

Andy Weil has some similar concerns, at last...
Cell Phones and Cancer: How To Stay Safe at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/cell-phones-and-cancer_b_315714.html

New Cell Phone Health Update

Updated today from simply4health

13 August, 2008

There is great controversy surrounding EMF and the use of related devices.

Please consider this new article and this special report.

Purchase items for your cell and cordless phones.

ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSITIVITY AWARENESS MONTH

Make a Note of This - MAY 2009

The Mayor of Broward County (Fort Lauderdale and area), Florida, The Honorable Stacy Ritter has proclaimed May 2009 as ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSITIVITY AWARENESS MONTH.

EHS is a serious and growing illness that most politicians and doctors in North America are not willing to even talk about. Thanks to the brave and sensible stance of Mayor Ritter and her council, EHS will now get the recognition that it deserves.

What is Electrohypersensitivity

from Martin Weatherall

Yes, Cell Phones Are a Clear and Present Danger

I've said since the late 1990s when I first started looking in to the cell phone issue and its relation to health, that talking and driving did not mix. I even had - and still do - have Click and Clack's "Hang Up and Drive" sticker in the back window of my vehicle.

I shudder every time I see a driver with their phone held up to their ear when I am on the road. And mind you, my state does ban cell phone use except as hands free.

The problem with this is that even hands-free is a danger because of the EMF circulating around in your vehicle while you drive. EMF negatively impacts reaction time and sound decision making, at a time when the roads are much more dangerous than they used to be.

Now take the attitude of Bad Brain and Bad Paul. A couple of fellows that decided they could pull off a fraud and skip out on paying my non-profit a large sum of money they owed us, but liked to poke fun at my stand on cell phones, cell towers, DTV towers and WIFI.

I guess in the end the precautionary principle will win out.

Maybe as the great computer tech IBM sent out the other day to repair my computer said, "Perhaps it is time we all got out our tin foil hats".

Safety council wants total ban on cell phones while driving
From King5 News, Seattle, on January 11, 2009 via Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A national safety group is advocating a total ban on cell phone use while driving, saying the practice is clearly dangerous and leads to fatalities.

States should ban drivers from using hand-held and hands-free cell phones, and businesses should prohibit employees from using cell phones while driving on the job, the congressionally chartered National Safety Council says, taking those positions for the first time.

The group's president and chief executive, Janet Froetscher, likened talking on cell phones to drunken driving, saying cell phone use increases the risk of a crash fourfold.

"When our friends have been drinking, we take the car keys away. It's time to take the cell phone away," Froetscher said in interview.

No state currently bans all cell phone use while driving. Six states -- California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington -- and the District of Columbia ban the use of hand-held cell phones behind the wheel, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Also, 17 states and the district restrict or ban cell phone use by novice drivers.

Council officials acknowledged a total ban could take years.

"Public awareness and the laws haven't caught up with what the scientists are telling us," Froetscher said. "There is no dispute that driving while talking on your cell phone, or texting while driving, is dangerous."

Froetscher said the council examined more than 50 scientific studies before reaching its decision. One was a study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that estimates 6 percent of vehicle crashes, causing about 2,600 deaths and 12,000 serious injuries a year, are attributable to cell phone use. Hands-free cell phones are just as risky as hand held phones, she added.

"It's not just what you're doing with your hands -- it's that your head is in the conversation and so your eyes are not on the road," Froetscher said.

John Walls, vice president of CTIA-The Wireless Association, a cell phone trade group, objected to a complete ban. He said there are many instances where the ability to make a phone call while driving helps protect safety.

"We think that you can sensibly and safely use a cell phone to make a brief call," Walls said.

What makes cell phone use distinct from other risky driving behaviors, Froetscher said, is the magnitude -- there are 270 million cell phone users in the U.S. and 80 percent of them talk on the phone while driving.

Froetscher said the council is the first major national safety group to call for a total cell phone ban for drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board has been urging states since 2003 to ban the use of cell phones or any wireless device by inexperienced drivers who have learner's permits or intermediate licenses. Last year, at least 23 states considered some form of legislation to restrict the use of cell phones or wireless devices, according to the board.

Council officials said they will press Congress to address the issue when it takes up a highway construction bill this year, possibly by offering incentives to states that enact cell phone laws.

The Governors Highway Safety Association agreed that cell phone use while driving is dangerous, but said it would be difficult to enforce a ban. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is funded by auto insurers, said banning all cell phone use "makes sense based on the research," but agreed that enforcement will be difficult.

October 2008: hot topics

and from 1997
Cell Phones: As dangerous as driving drunk
Report: Using Car Phones Is as Dangerous as Driving Drunk

Related: Hand-free phones just as risky as handheld
February 13, 1997
©Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved ©FOX News Network 1997. All rights reserved.

BOSTON -- The risk of having a traffic accident while using a cellular phone is the same as that while driving drunk, according to a study appearing in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. University of Toronto researchers found cell phone users four to five times more likely to get into traffic accidents than those who do not use them. "Telephones that allowed the hands to be free did not appear to be safer than hand-held telephones," they said. "This may indicate that the main factor in most motor vehicle collisions is a driver's limitations in attention rather than dexterity." An editorial by Malcolm Maclure of the Harvard School of Public Health and Murray Mittleman of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said the research was the first "direct evidence that the use of cellular telephones in cars contributes to roadway collisions."

The Toronto study by Dr. Donald Redelmeier and Robert Tibshirani said the risk "is similar to the hazard associated with driving with a blood alcohol level at the legal limit."

A definitive study with people randomly assigned cellular phones so their accident rates could be checked was unlikely because it would be difficult and possibly unethical. Representatives of the cellular phone industry were quick to cite what they said were the study's shortcomings. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, a trade group, said in a statement that the study dealt with an association between accidents and the phones. The researchers did not directly assess whether the phones caused accidents. The association also said cell phone use was way up and traffic injuries were down, showing users drive safely.

Nonetheless, the findings were likely to reverberate through the cell phone and insurance industries, and among drivers and government regulators as well. About 35 million Americans have cell phones. Brazil, Israel and Australia have banned the use of cellular telephones while driving and the new finding may spark similar moves, even though the researchers stressed that there are benefits to the phones, such as the ability of drivers to make emergency calls quickly.

Driver error was responsible for more than 90 percent of motor vehicle collisions, which were the top cause of death among children and young adults, the researchers said.

Redelmeier and Tibshirani used 13 months of accident data and phone billing records of 699 volunteers to pinpoint the time of the accident and determine when a cell phone customer was last using the phone. They also made some statistical adjustments to account for the intermittence of driving.

Among their findings:

-- The risk of an accident was nearly five times higher than normal when a person was on the telephone one minute or five minutes before the accident. The typical call in the study lasted nearly 2 1/2 minutes.

-- The collision rate was four times higher than expected when the call was made less than 15 minutes before the accident.

-- Only after the driver had been off the phone for more than 15 minutes did the risk seem to dissipate.

-- Younger and older drivers with a cell phone faced essentially the same risk.

-- "Subjects with many years of experience in using a cellular telephone still had a significant increase in risk," but the highest risk was among people who had not graduated from high school.

Related: Hand-free phones just as risky as handheld

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