Another Interphone Researcher Urges Caution
Dear Colleagues:
Bruce Armstrong, the head Interphone researcher in Australia, believes that there may indeed be a brain tumor risk among those who have used a mobile phone for ten years or more.
Take a look at our latest post at:
http://www.microwavenews.com
Louis Slesin, PhD
Editor, Microwave News
A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation
Phone: +1 (212) 517-2800; Fax: +1 (212) 734-0316
E-mail: mwn@pobox.com
Internet: http://www.microwavenews.com
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New York, NY 10075, U.S.A.
April 28… Another Interphone
researcher is expressing concern over the tumor risks associated with
the long-term use of mobile phones. "I think the evidence that
is accumulating is pointing towards an effect of mobile phones on
tumors," Professor Bruce
Armstrong of the University of Sydney School of Public Health
told "TodayTonight,"
an Australian current affairs show on Channel 7, a national network.
"I would not want to be a heavy user of a mobile phone,"
Armstrong said. "People might be shocked to hear that the
evidence does seem to be coming more strongly in support of harmful
effects."
The ten-year Interphone data has clearly
changed Armstrong's outlook. A few years ago, he told the Sydney
Morning Herald that "there is no consistent evidence that
there is an increased risk of cancer," but even then he allowed
that "it could be 15 years before we see an effect."
Armstrong, who is leading the Australian component of the
Interphone project, is the second principal investigator of the 13
country teams to urge precaution. Last December, Siegal Sadetzki of
the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Israel told Haaretz,
a national newspaper, that, "The time is past when it could be
said that this technology does not cause damage; apparently it
damages health."
Neither the Australian nor the Israeli
results on brain tumor or acoustic neuroma risks have yet been made
public. Sadetzki has reported a significant increase of parotid gland
tumors after ten years of cell phone use. Her paper
appeared in the February 15th issue of the American Journal of
Epidemiology.
Meanwhile, the final Interphone paper is
still not finished. Just a few days ago, Elisabeth Cardis, who leads
the overall Interphone study, told Microwave News that she
hopes that the combined results from all 13 countries will be
submitted for publication "in the not too distant future."
Cardis recently left IARC
to join the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL)
in Barcelona.
At this writing, the TodayTonight
segment, "Health
Fears over Mobile Phones" can be viewed over the Internet.
It is one of the "Featured Videos" on the program's Web
site.
The nine-minute piece also features an interview with
Chris Zombolas, the technical director of EMC
Technologies. In measurements commissioned by the TV show,
Zombolas found that a number of cell phones do not meet the 2W/Kg SAR
standard when placed in a pocket and used with a hands-free set or a
BlueTooth transmitter. The worst of the four phones tested was a
Nokia E65.
Zombolas measured an SAR of 3.35W/Kg at 1800MHz and an SAR of
5.84W/Kg at 2100 MHz. The Australian SAR standard is 2W/Kg.
[ http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Bruce+Armstrong
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Sadetzki
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Interphone