The Cell Phone Cancer Connection

90 percent of adults now own a cell phone. Now that we're addicted to the constant talk and instant contact, new conversation has started. Could your cell phone cause a brain tumor?

Carlye Jones is your typical college student. She's constantly on her cell phone, "At least an hour a day I text almost constantly."

The same is true for Pamela Weadler. She says, "talking 15-20 minutes and texting several hours."

But what these Palm Beach Atlantic University students aren't hearing is that all of that talk could be hurting their health.

Dr. Ronald Herberman runs a leading cancer institute at Pittsburgh University. He made worldwide headlines for sending out a memo to his staff. It warns cell phones might cause brain tumors. He says "it's a possibility. It's a concern. We should take precautions."

A growing number of studies, mostly from Scandinavia where cell phones have been in use the longest, show radiation emitted from phones may cause brain tumors. Dr. Herberman told his staff to change their habits to protect their health.

He suggests: shortening conversations, moving the phone from ear to ear while talking, using an earpiece or speakerphone, not carrying the phone next to your body all of the time. Also, don't use your phone in a fast moving car or when it has a low signal - it must emit more radiation to connect.

However, the number one warning is for children to never use a cell phone. "The younger the child the more there is to be concerned," says Dr Herberman.

We looked at images of the way an adult's brain absorbs radiation and compared that to the way a 10 year old's brain absorbs, then compared it to a 5 year old's brain absorption. The difference was staggering. The images show a much greater rate of absorption in younger children. A recent study found those who started using a cell phone as a teen are 5 times more likely to have a brain tumor by the age of 29.

Pamela is shocked and says, "I had no idea."

But we have another surprise. According to the Federal Communications Commission, different phones emit different amounts of radiation. Pamela's Blackberry is ranked number 4 on the FCC's list of phones that emit the most. We repeatedly asked the maker of the Blackberry for a comment for this report, but they did not send us one.

Pamela says, "I think I'm going to put my cell phone down, definitely."

Dr. Herberman recently testified in front of Congress. The cell phone industry refused to testify under oath, but the association that represent the industry told CBS 12 quote, "to date, the available scientific evidence does not show that any health problems are associated with using wireless phones...Some studies have suggested such a connection, but their findings have not been replicated or supported in additional research."

Dr. Herberman agrees more research is necessary, but says it only makes sense to take precautions until all questions can be answered. He compares the potential cell phone health crisis to the 1950s when we first realized cigarettes cause cancer. He goes on to say, "the total number of brain tumors would at least rival what we have for tobacco-related cancers."

For now, Carly is like most of us and not yet willing to give up her phone for her health. She says, "I don't think so. I'm too attached to it."

Here is the bottom line: No one can say for sure if cell phones do cause cancer. But Dr. Herberman says there is enough evidence that it might be smart to take precautions now. There is no known cure for the type of brain tumor we're talking about. In fact once diagnosed, patients usually survive less than a year.

Click here the tips on how to reduce your risks and to read the memo sent by Dr. Herberman to his staff.

http://www.upmccancercenters.com/news/upci_news/2008/072308_celladvisory.html

Click here to read Dr. Herberman's testimony to Congress.

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20080925142803.pdf

Here is the FCC's list of the top 10 cell phones that emit the most radiation in the U.S.

1.6 is the highest level allowed by law.  _{SAR reading follows name of phone.}

1 Motorola V195s 1.6

2 Motorola ZN5 1.59

3 Motorola VU204 1.55

4 Motorola W385 1.54

4a RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Sprint) 1.54

4b RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (U.S. Cellular) 1.54

4c RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Verizon Wireless) 1.54

8 Motorola Deluxe ic902 1.53

8a T-Mobile Shadow (HTC) 1.53

8b Motorola i335

Since Motorola has 6 phones on the top ten list we asked them to comment for our report. Here is their full response.

"Motorola's uncompromising commitment to safety continues to be our highest priority. All of our mobile phones, two-way radios and other Motorola portable radio products are designed, manufactured and tested to assure that they operate within nationally and internationally recognized safety standards and regulatory requirements. Motorola has information regarding the health and safety of radiofrequency energy available to our customers through our Web site http://www.motorola.com/rfhealth.

For years, expert panels around the world have been convening on an ongoing basis to review the full complement of research and have uniformly found that there is no public health risk from wireless communications products operating within international standards. These panels include the World Health Organization, the United States' Food and Drug Administration, and the International Council on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. The significant weight of the evidence demonstrating that RF energy in mobile phone products poses no credible health risk may be reviewed on the WHO website at http://www.who.int/peh-emf/research/en/ ."

Here is the FCC's list of cell phones that emit the lowest amont of radiation:_{SAR reading follows name of phone.}

1 Samsung SGH-G800 0.23

2 Samsung Soul 0.24

3 Samsung Innov8 0.287

4 Motorola Razr2 V8 0.36

5 Samsung SGH-T229 0.383

6 Nokia 6263 0.43

7 Samsung SGH-i450 0.457

8 Samsung Rugby SGH-A837 (AT&T) 0.46

9 Samsung SLM SGH-A747 0.478

10 Samsung Access SGH-A827 0.486