As I’m sure we’ve all heard, there are a number of people who’re concerned that cell phones could cause brain cancer. The evidence is far from conclusive on this point, and I’m quite skeptical that there’s any danger. But it did get me to thinking - my cellphone doesn’t spent most of its time pressed to my head. I keep it in a front pocket, rather close to some bits that I value highly and would miss if I had to well, be parted from them permanently.
Is there any evidence that cell phones contribute to testicular cancer? Obviously, they aren’t transmitting as much in one’s pocket as they do during a conversation - but they are transmitting something, aren’t they? I thought that’s how cell towers know where your phone is.
Edit: Note that I’m not asking whether they definitively cause testicular cancer - or brain cancer, for that matter. I’d rather not turn this into a GD thread. Rather, I’m asking if anyone in the medical community is looking into this question, or believes that it is worth investigating.
There have been absolutely no studies at all which have survived peer review and follow-up studies which have proven any sort of link between cell phone radiation and anything bad at all. Not only that, but no one has even yet suggested a plausible mechanism by which it could.
Once problem with this is just the way science works. You do a bunch of studies, and sometimes you find something and sometimes you don’t. If you do, then you have follow-up studies and the like. Unfortunately, CELL PHONES KILL makes a great headline. When an initial study finds a possible link, it gets a lot of attention in the press. WE TRIED IT AGAIN AND DIDN’T FIND ANYTHING isn’t quite as much of an attention grabber, and never makes the front page (in fact it often doesn’t make the paper at all). This leads people to think that there’s a lot more evidence against cell phones than there really is.
ETA: Possible links to cancer from things like cell phones and power lines has been a very hot topic since the 1980s. Lots and lots and lots of people are looking into it.
Several years ago there were reports that radar police were getting cancer from their hand helds resting in their crotches. All the testing, by radar manufacturers of course, showed no conclusions to prove the problem. I personally know of two such officers in their mid 40’s that were heavy users and both experienced testicular cancer. I think the chances of that are quite rare. The radar units have been changed now and dash units are more common I believe. As with a microwave oven, a tiny distance away from the source reduces the exposure greatly. It’s that inverse square of the distance type of calculation, but I digress.
I can’t find it right now, but there was a recent paper/review on cell phones in Science or Nature (I listened to the discussion about it on one of their podcasts) and the conclusion from the collection of all known cell phone + cancer papers including some analysis of the raw data showed:
- a little cell phone usage decreases your risk of cancer slightly
and
- a lot of cell phone usage (as in professional cell phone talker) did show a slight increase in cancer risk
Neither effect was large but both were statistically significant.
Slight update:
Cellphones ‘possibly carcinogenic,’ WHO says
Well, I guess the issue is now on first …
"The experts added that it remains far from clear how cellphones could cause brain cancer, given that the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the devices is far too weak to have a biological effect.
“That remains an open question,” said Robert Baan, a senior scientist."
Color me unimpressed (and I use my cellphone very little (having one for on-call use is a job requirement)).
A recent study did show increased metabolism in the cells near a cell phone that was turned on, and not in the cells further away, or when the cell phone was not turned on.
As I understand it, the WHO conclusion (linked above) was based on a single study which concluded there was an association (and there were 30 studies showing no such association).
And, what about that single (and unfortunately influential) study? It was based on people’s recall, i.e. “now that you’ve had a brain tumor diagnosed, think back; did you use a cellphone in the past? how much”?
Such studies are next to useless and very often come up with spurious associations. One that comes to mind had to do with multiple sclerosis and dogs. People with MS were asked if they ever had a dog and, if so, did the dog have neurological troubles like seizures. Well, of course people with MS would be more likely to remember that type of thing given they themselves now had neurological problems (they may have had years to reflect on “why did this happen to me? what was I exposed to?”. But, if you’re well, it may slip your mind that Fido once shook all over for five minutes. And even if you do remember it, you may not consider it as being anything significant. If you have MS, you recall it as a seizure. Subsequently, prospective studies showed no association between MS, owning dogs, and/or your dog having neurological problems.
Would those “cells near the cell phone” be involved in hearing what was being said on the phone? Of course they’d show increased metabolism, if so.