After ten years awaiting a study to prove a link between cell phone use and cancer... the answer is: it can't prove it. But it can't DISprove it either!
The problem: how the US$24m study was done. It was retrospective, asking about past cell phone use. "Recall bias" appears as people forget the time they spent on the phone. Also "participation bias" occurs because of the study's voluntary nature: some with brain tumours participated because they already believed the culprit was cell phones. This can warp estimations of how often they held the phone to the side of the head where their tumour appeared, rather than to the other. Awareness of media cancer coverage may distort things even more. But scientists still warn there's an "increased risk" of tumours from excessive cell phone use...so are we any the wiser or just more confused?
A 2006 Danish study (420,000+ people over 20 years) found no mobile phone/cancer link. Yet the following year (2007) the International Journal of Cancer said regular cell phone users were nearly 40% more likely to develop brain tumours on the side of the head where they hold their phones. So now another study - about to start - will track 250,000 for the next 30 years, not retrospectively.
This seesawing mirrors the length of time before it was accepted that cigarettes DO cause cancer. In 30 years' time, if there IS a proven link between cell phones and cancer, it will be far too late.
For now, the onus is on users to decide if excessive use is worth the risk. I suggest, in this modern age, most users will not give it a second thought...
PS: 02 June 2011 - FINALLY! A study is pointing to a cancer risk in cellphones...
PS: 07 June 2012 - ...and now a study about the effects of cellphones on children's softer skulls...
The problem: how the US$24m study was done. It was retrospective, asking about past cell phone use. "Recall bias" appears as people forget the time they spent on the phone. Also "participation bias" occurs because of the study's voluntary nature: some with brain tumours participated because they already believed the culprit was cell phones. This can warp estimations of how often they held the phone to the side of the head where their tumour appeared, rather than to the other. Awareness of media cancer coverage may distort things even more. But scientists still warn there's an "increased risk" of tumours from excessive cell phone use...so are we any the wiser or just more confused?
This seesawing mirrors the length of time before it was accepted that cigarettes DO cause cancer. In 30 years' time, if there IS a proven link between cell phones and cancer, it will be far too late.
For now, the onus is on users to decide if excessive use is worth the risk. I suggest, in this modern age, most users will not give it a second thought...
PS: 02 June 2011 - FINALLY! A study is pointing to a cancer risk in cellphones...
PS: 07 June 2012 - ...and now a study about the effects of cellphones on children's softer skulls...
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