When What You Don’t Know May Hurt You After All
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'When What You Don’t Know May Hurt You After All’
Anna Maria Tremont – CBC Radio ‘The Current’ with Wendy Mesley
Listen to Part 2. Listed below are some of the highlights.
Finland is now another country that has joined a growing list of countries advising precaution for cell phone use
CBC survey showed that 42 % of 9 – 11 years have a cell phone
It takes a long time to grow a tumour – 10 or 20 years
It is urgent that we study children
Low level radiation is emitted from cell phones and it does have a cumulative long term effect
Very serious debate – inconclusive or there is mounting evidence of increased risk of brain cancer
Potential threat for adults, WHO is now saying that we have to look at kids
Dr. Devra Davis epidemiologist – the adult brain is thicker and denser than a child’s brain The cell signal is absorbed about 2 - 3 inches into the adult brain
Child’s brain is more vulnerable
radiation is absorbed to a greater degree in a child’s brain because the skull is not as thick and the brain matter is not as dense … the radiation is absorbed more deeply, more than half way
The studies show that there is a significant risk of brain tumour for cell phone users on the same side of the head for more that ten years
Big countries (you may have heard of them!) are issuing precautionary notes to their public - U.K., France, Germany, Russian, Israel, Belgium, Finland, India
Germany even says that cell phones don’t belong in the hands of children, period!
Health Canada’s only precaution for children is that they should not use cell phones while riding bicycles, there is no convincing evidence, only you can decide if you can live with an unknown risk
Bernard Lord (head of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association) says that we just follow Health Canada and that cell phones are safe for everyone
But Wendy Mesley challenges - For people to take precautions, the message has to get across to them there’s doubt about whether they are safe are not ... they don’t seem to be getting that message and aren’t you [Bernard Lord] not part of them not getting that message? Part of the information that is needed is that there is doubt.
Massive [telecommunications] industry, so much at stake, billions and billions of dollars
Scientists have had funding cut off when they have found an effect
Head of WHO has said that the effect of industry money on science these days is ‘malignant’
Canada has not even analyzed our data from the Interphone Study and we have had it for years.
Dr. Devra Davis’ comments University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute PreventingCancerNow.org
Cell phone industry is starting to look like the tobacco industry
Electrical engineer Dr. Om Gandhi - bioelectromagnetics – developed model of a man’s head (how we set cell phone standards) to show that standards were not adequate for protecting children, he lost his funding from industry
Dr. Henry Lai – University of Washington – research demonstrated that RF can permanently damage cells from rats’ brains, lost his funding as well
In India, it is illegal to sell a cell phone to a child under the age of 16
Independent, arms’ length research is needed
Nobody should keep a cell phone next to their head for any long period of time
France to issue a demand that cell phones only be sold with ear pieces and speaker phones
The reality is that more and more studies are coming out that the risk is doubled or greater for tumours when cell phones have been used heavily for 10 years or more
If cell phone use is started in the teen years when the brain is still fully developing, the risk of brain tumour is even greater
Do we really want
to wait until we have enough proof of human harm while we wait for
conclusive proof?
Informant: Janice Burns
Kids & Cellphones Talk Tape
When it comes to the safety of cell phones, the word you hear a lot is "inconclusive." That's especially true when you're talking about children and cell phones. But despite that, Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority is recommending that parents restrict the amount of time their children spend on their cell phones. The agency acknowledges that the research into the possible effects of prolonged cell phone use is unclear.
But it's encouraging parents to err on the side of caution. It's the latest in a growing number of warnings about prolonged cell phone use ... warnings the cell phone industry says are not based on sound research.
Wendy Mesley has been investigating the effects of cell phone use on children. She's a host of CBC Television's Marketplace. Her documentary on the subject will air tomorrow night on the program. And she joined Anna Maria in studio to tell us what she's discovered.
Marketplace will air 'Generation Cell Phone" tomorrow night at 8:30 on CBC Television ... half an hour later in Newfoundland and parts of Labrador.
Kids & Cellphones
The first voice you heard in Wendy's story was that of Devra Davis. She's a Professor of Epidemiology and the Director of the Centre for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. She talked about the differences between the brains of adults and children when it comes to how they absorb the radiation that cell phones emit.
But Devra Davis has also given a lot of thought to the relationship between the cell phone industry and researchers who study cell phones. She is the author of The Secret History of The War on Cancer and she joined us from Pittsburgh.
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http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=World+Health+Organization
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Interphone
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=tobacco+industry
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Om+Gandhi
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Henry+Lai]