There were two very recent articles in good medical journals that confirm a large literature that there is no proof of handheld cellular telephones causing brain cancer. You never know what a court will decide, but at least the literature is on the side of no cause.
JAMA 2000 Dec 20;284(23):3001-7 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut
Handheld cellular telephone use and risk of brain cancer.
Muscat JE, Malkin MG, Thompson S, Shore RE, Stellman SD, McRee D, Neugut AI, Wynder EL
American Health Foundation, 1 Dana Rd, Valhalla, NY 10595. jmuscat2@earthlink.net.
CONTEXT: A relative paucity of data exist on the possible health effects of using cellular telephones. OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that using handheld cellular telephones is related to the risk of primary brain cancer. DESIGN AND SETTING: Case-control study conducted in 5 US academic medical centers between 1994 and 1998 using a structured questionnaire. PATIENTS: A total of 469 men and women aged 18 to 80 years with primary brain cancer and 422 matched controls without brain cancer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Risk of brain cancer compared by use of handheld cellular telephones, in hours per month and years of use. RESULTS: The median monthly hours of use were 2.5 for cases and 2.2 for controls. Compared with patients who never used handheld cellular telephones, the multivariate odds ratio (OR) associated with regular past or current use was 0.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.6-1.2). The OR for infrequent users (<0. 72 h/mo) was 1.0 (95% CI, 0.5-2.0) and for frequent users (>10.1 h/mo) was 0.7 (95% CI, 0.3-1.4). The mean duration of use was 2.8 years for cases and 2.7 years for controls; no association with brain cancer was observed according to duration of use (P =.54). In cases, cerebral tumors occurred more frequently on the same side of the head where cellular telephones had been used (26 vs 15 cases; P =.06), but in the cases with temporal lobe cancer a greater proportion of tumors occurred in the contralateral than ipsilateral side (9 vs 5 cases; P =.33). The OR was less than 1.0 for all histologic categories of brain cancer except for uncommon neuroepitheliomatous cancers (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 0.9-4.7). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that use of handheld cellular telephones is not associated with risk of brain cancer, but further studies are needed to account for longer induction periods, especially for slow-growing tumors with neuronal features.
1: Lancet 2000 Nov 25;356(9244):1837-40 Related Articles, Books
Epidemiological evidence on health risks of cellular telephones.
Rothman KJ
Epidemiology Research Institute, Newton Lower Falls, MA 02462-1450, USA. KRothman@aol.com
It is too soon for a verdict on the health risks from cellular telephones, especially in view of changing technology. From the Interphone project and some other large studies in progress, better information may emerge. Based on the epidemiological evidence available now, the main public-health concern is clearly motor vehicle collisions, a behavioural effect rather than an effect of radiofrequency exposure as such. Neither the several studies of occupational exposure to radiofrequencies nor the few of cellular telephone users offer any clear evidence of an association with brain tumours or other malignancies. Even if the studies in progress were to find large relative effects for brain cancer, the absolute increase in risk would probably be much smaller than the risk stemming from motor vehicle collisions. Cellular telephones affect the quality of our lives in myriad ways, for good and ill; the health risk is just one part of a picture that is slowly coming into focus.
PMID: 11117928, UI: 21004006 |
