Cell Phone Use Linked To Brain Tumors

Love talking on your cell phone endlessly? Been talking since the phones weighed 10 lbs? Bad news for you. From Gizmodo:

    Long-term (10+ years) cellphone use has been linked with brain tumors. According to the study, people who had used cellphones for more than 10 years had a 40 percent higher chance than others of developing certain brain tumors. This news comes to us from the same British researcher who said that more research was needed to determine if there actually is a relationship between (long-term) cellphone use and cancer.

    The researcher admits that now that we’ve seen what appears to be a true link between cellphone use and cancer, more research is needed

The original article states the tumors form on the side of the head where users typically hold their handsets. Kinda makes you want to use a ear piece, doesn’t it?—MEGHANN MARCO

Mobile phone use ‘linked to tumour’ [Telegraph via Gizmodo]


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  1. Pasketti says:

    I really hate articles like that. There isn’t enough information to really evaluate the risk.

    It says “39% more likely”. More likely than WHAT, exactly? What is the average rate of glioma occurrance? What’s the margin of error? How many people in the study got the tumors?

    Guess I’ll have to wait until they actually publish to find out.

    Me? I’m still stuck in the 90s. I don’t have a cell phone.

  2. kenposan says:

    I agree with Pasketti. And there was recently a study done that found that cell phone use did not increase the chance of tumors.

    Part of the problem here is that cell phone technology has advanced greatly in the last several years. IIRC, it was primarily older phones that weren’t shielded as well that were the big risk.

    (I use speaker phone whenever possible, just in case) LOL

  3. kerry says:

    I wish they’d say how much time a person has to spend with the phone against his or her head in that 10 years. I’ve had a cell phone for about 7 years now, but for three of those it was attached to the car. In fact, I’ve been around car phones for most of my life. Is that going to give me a brain tumor? Just being in close proximity to cell phones for more than 10 years, or do I have to pay the bill, too? And what if you’ve owned a handheld cell phone for more than 10 years but only make, say, 2 or 3 calls a week on it?
    More data, please! I want Venn diagrams and P values and standard deviations!

  4. Daytonna says:

    News Flash, I have just discovered through intense scientific research that Breathing Oxygen is FATAL!!! Fully 100% of all humans who breath oxygen DIE!!! Everyone run screaming, but dont breath!

    Better yet, please get scared, damand your congressman hold hearings, and pass funding for my research. So I can live off your fear.

    I fucking hate fearmongering..
    Sincere appologies for my language, but its sincere hatred.

  5. homerjay says:

    I’m more concerned about the wifi on my laptop doing damage to my… goods.

  6. Morgan says:

    I dunno about you, homerjay, but I carry my cell phone in a pocket that’s fairly close to my… goods as well.
    I remember a few years back a company came out with pants with lead-shielded pockets for just that reason.

  7. Kinda makes you want to use a ear piece, doesn’t it?

    Not if it means I’m going to be developing those tumors on my twig and berries.

    Now where is my tinfoil hat?

  8. Hawkins says:

    Well, maybe. But consider the fact that cell phones differ wildly in the amount of radiation that they actually emit.

    CNet has a chart that lists various cell phone models by radiation level, measured in standardized SAR units (Specific Absorption Rate): http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6602_7-5020357-1.html?tag=txt

    They range from 0.12 Watts/Kg to 1.6 (the FCC legal maximum).

    So if you have a Motorola V195, you might want to consider a headset. Although there’s evidence that the wire that connects the headset to the phone also focuses the radiation onto your head.

    On the other hand, you can probably do cool party tricks with your phone (like boiling water).

  9. JeffreyK says:

    I sterilize sponges with my phone.

  10. stonestix says:

    Bah. Studies like this can’t determine if tumors truly are linked to cell phone use or if people who use cell phones a lot are just more likely to get tumors near their ears. And here’s what the actual research article says: “We found no evidence of increased risk of glioma related to regular mobile phone use.”

    The study is online at the journal site.

  11. 24fan24 says:

    In other news…”Bluetooth leads to frost bite”

  12. empty01 says:

    For those naysayers I doubt you have spent any serious time considering this. Cancer can be cause by the loss of an electron from an atom in a cell in your body. The reason Chrome-6 is so carcinogenic is because it can steal up to 6 electrons (generally 3 or 4 if I remember) from the atoms in your body. When this happens you now have an ion in one of your cells which leads to goofy behavior (sometimes cell death, sometimes cancer).

    Now what are radio waves? They are part of the electro magnetic spectrum. A transformer functions by having two seperate windings on a shared core. When electricity flows through the first winding it creates an EMF (electro-magnetic field) that causes a current to flow through the second winding. A current flow can also be considered the movement of electrons. Ever stick metal into a microwave? The sparks are the microwaves bumping out electrons.

    SO, when you stick a radio transmitter (read EMF generator) next to your brain (read collection of atoms) you actually are risking the loss of an electron or two which could lead to tumors, also note that if you read most cell phone manuals there is a statement in the back that waives the manufacturer of all liability for any effects due to the radio waves being in proximity to the human brain, because according to the manufacturer, it is not proven or disproven… Makes me think they knew this a long time ago.

    Cancer is, by the large, man made. We use carcinogenic materials to manufacture almost every item that we come into contact with on a daily basis. Teflon included cyanic acid up until recently, when the teflon coating flakes off and you eat it with your eggs you are increasing your likelihood of a form of digestive cancer. Next time your kid chews on a piece of plastic, ask yourself, do I know what carcinogens were used to make it?

    Finally, one other interesting facet to point out, who lives close to a transformer on a power line? The amount of EMR that those things generate dwarf the amount that a cell phone generates. When you realize that our brains are a collection of tiny wires and that passing in and out of an EMF will change the current in them ever so slightly it makes you wonder how many emotional disorders are man made.

  13. Jim C. says:

    empty01 – do you have a cite for any of that?

    And what about naturally occurring carcinogens?

    Meghann wrote:


    Speculation follows: If the radio waves can cause cancer, the earpiece and its cable might act as an antenna routing radio waves directly to the ear and surrounding area, which could be worse.

  14. Plasmafire says:

    Don’t forget that older cell phones gave out massively more radiation than the current generation of cell phones. so if you average out all the radiation exposure its probably something like 100 years of today’s cell phone radiation exposure. And since I’m not planning on living to 100, I have no worries.