Should Cell Phones Carry Cancer Warnings?
Garrison Hilliard
Should Cell Phones Carry Cancer Warnings?
Web Produced By: Ian Preuth
Email: ian.p...@wcpo.com
Last Update: 1:45 pm
(Harry How/Getty Images)
(Harry How/Getty Images)
Should cell phones carry cancer warnings? Let us know in the comment
section
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Web Produced By: Ian Preuth
Email: ian.p...@wcpo.com
Last Update: 1:45 pm
By GLENN ADAMS (AP)
AUGUSTA, Maine =97 A Maine legislator wants to make the state the first to
=
require
cell phones to carry warnings that they can cause brain cancer, although
th=
ere
is no consensus among scientists that they do and industry leaders dispute
=
the
claim.
The now-ubiquitous devices carry such warnings in some countries, though
no=
U.S.
states require them, according to the National Conference of State
Legislat=
ors.
A similar effort is afoot in San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom wants
=
his
city to be the nation's first to require the warnings.
Maine Rep. Andrea Boland, D-Sanford, said numerous studies point to the
can=
cer
risk, and she has persuaded legislative leaders to allow her proposal to
co=
me up
for discussion during the 2010 session that begins in January, a session
us=
ually
reserved for emergency and governors' bills.
Boland herself uses a cell phone, but with a speaker to keep the phone
away=
from
her head. She also leaves the phone off unless she's expecting a call. At
i=
ssue
is radiation emitted by all cell phones.
Under Boland's bill, manufacturers would have to put labels on phones and
packaging warning of the potential for brain cancer associated with
electromagnetic radiation. The warnings would recommend that users,
especia=
lly
children and pregnant women, keep the devices away from their head and
body.
The Federal Communications Commission, which maintains that all cell
phones=
sold
in the U.S. are safe, has set a standard for the "specific absorption
rate"=
of
radio frequency energy, but it doesn't require handset makers to divulge
radiation levels.
The San Francisco proposal would require the display of the absorption
rate
level next to each phone in print at least as big as the price. Boland's
bi=
ll is
not specific about absorption rate levels, but would require a permanent,
nonremovable advisory of risk in black type, except for the word
"warning,"
which would be large and in red letters. It would also include a color
grap=
hic
of a child's brain next to the warning.
While there's little agreement about the health hazards, Boland said
Maine's
roughly 950,000 cell phone users among its 1.3 million residents "do not
kn=
ow
what the risks are."
All told, more than 270 million people subscribed to cellular telephone
ser=
vice
last year in the United States, an increase from 110 million in 2000,
accor=
ding
to CTIA-The Wireless Association. The industry group contends the devices
a=
re
safe.
"With respect to the matter of health effects associated with wireless
base
stations and the use of wireless devices, CTIA and the wireless industry
ha=
ve
always been guided by science, and the views of impartial health
organizati=
ons.
The peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that
wir=
eless
devices do not pose a public health risk," said CTIA's John Walls.
James Keller of Lewiston, whose cell phone serves as his only phone,
seemed
skeptical about warning labels. He said many things may cause cancer but
la=
ck
scientific evidence to support that belief. Besides, he said, people can't
=
live
without cell phones.
"It seems a little silly to me, but it's not going to hurt anyone to have
a
warning on there. If they're really concerned about it, go ahead and put a
warning on it," he said outside a sporting good store in Topsham. "It
would=
n't
deter me from buying a phone."
While there's been no long-term studies on cell phones and cancer, some
scientists suggest erring on the side of caution.
Last year, Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director emeritus of the University of
Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, sent a memo to about 3,000 faculty and staff
members warning of risks based on early, unpublished data. He said that
chi=
ldren
should use the phones only for emergencies because their brains were still
developing and that adults should keep the phone away from the head and
use=
a
speakerphone or a wireless headset.
Herberman, who says scientific conclusions often take too long, is one of
numerous doctors and researchers who have endorsed an August report by
reti=
red
electronics engineer L. Lloyd Morgan. The report highlights a study that
fo=
und
significantly increased risk of brain tumors from 10 or more years of cell
=
phone
or cordless phone use.
Also, the BioInitiative Working Group, an international group of
scientists,
notes that many countries have issued warnings and that the European
Parlia=
ment
has passed a resolution calling for governmental action to address
concerns=
over
health risks from mobile phone use.
But the National Cancer Institute said studies thus far have turned up
mixe=
d and
inconsistent results, noting that cell phones did not come into widespread
=
use
in the United States until the 1990s.
"Although research has not consistently demonstrated a link between
cellular
telephone use and cancer, scientists still caution that further
surveillanc=
e is
needed before conclusions can be drawn," according to the Cancer
Institute'=
s Web
site.
Motorola Inc., one of the nation's major wireless phone makers, says on
its=
Web
site that all of its products comply with international safety guidelines
f=
or
radio frequency energy exposure.
A Motorola official referred questions to CTIA.
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