Expert downplays cellphone cancer danger
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To: Iris Atzmon
Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2011 4:49 PM
The source for this seems to be the industry and Establishment ruled Science Media Centre (this time the NZ one). The UK SMC admits that they are there to get the Establishment view out and to keep FoE, Greenpeace and other tree-hugging NGOs out!
I suggest that loads of people email them asking for the scientific reference(s) that show
"Newer technologies (3G/XT/CDMA) produce much lower exposures than these phones."
I do not believe that this is true - in fact the evidence is that they put out more power and are in the higher ranges of SAR when used on 3G/UMTS (although the SAR is harder to measure due to the spread spectrum frequency jumping). And don't allow them to say analogue phone - we haven't been using those tor 15 years or more - they were higher powered. But the Interphone and Hardell papers mainly concern GSM handsets. I have not seen evidence that 3G/UMTS handsets produce a lower SAR in the user's head than a GSM phone - given a similar distance to the nearest base station / cell tower.
Alasdair (Philips) - I have just emailed them.
Martin Gledhill, Senior Advisor (Science) National Radiation Laboratory comments:
“This conclusion is expected because IARC puts greater weight on the human data (epidemiology studies) some of which suggest the possibility of a small increased brain tumour risk for long term cellphone users. Nevertheless, this data is subject to a lot of uncertainty and it is acknowledged that biases in the data could be responsible for the apparent risk.
“It should be noted that the data on which this conclusion is based mostly arises from older technology phones. Newer technologies (3G/XT/CDMA) produce much lower exposures than these phones.
“If people are concerned there are simple steps people can take to reduce exposures:
- Use the phone in places
with a good signal strength, which allows the phone to
transmit at reduced power.
- Phones using the newer CDMA or 3G (UMTS) technologies
usually provide greater reductions in power.
- Minimise the length of time spent on calls. Use a
conventional landline phone (ie, not cordless), or car kit
with an external antenna
“Tests of hands-free kits have generally found that they reduce exposures to the head by up to 98%. To reduce exposure to all parts of the body, the phone should be placed away from the body when making a call.
“Using a cellphone while driving (even with a hands-free kit) is not recommended, as studies have consistently demonstrated that this substantially increases the risk of accidents. Using a hand-held phone while driving is illegal.”
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From: Iris Atzmon
Sent: 05 June 2011 14:45
To: Iris Atzmon
Subject: Gledhill- New Zealand