News: Special Report

Conflicting Cancer Studies Continue
By Kristy Bassuener

Wireless use does not increase the risk of cancer, a new Danish study proclaims. Carried out by the Danish Cancer Society and support from the International Epidemiology Institute in Maryland, the study of 420,000 people is the largest yet. In 1996, researchers Chistoffer Johansen, Joergen Olsen, John Boice and Joseph Laughlin began their research and tracked instances of cancer in individuals who used mobile phones for four to 18 years.

The researchers say their findings confirm earlier results from American Health Foundation and National Cancer Institute studies that also found no statistical link between using mobile phones and cancer. At issue are the radio frequencies emitted from wireless devices during use and whether prolonged exposure can cause cell damage and eventually cancer. More on RFwaves.

However, there are also several studies that illustrate a link between mobile use and cancer. Results of a German study released last month indicated a link between regular use and a rare form of eye cancer. The British Stewart Report had sketchier findings, but the U.K. government still went on to recommend that children refrain from or limit exposure to wireless devices.

A definite answer to the wireless health risk debate continues to elude consumers, but lawsuits claiming mobile phone use cause cancer still proliferate. Most recently, a 38-year-old Atlanta man with a brain tumor sued Nokia, BellSouth Mobility and the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, claiming the companies knew use of wireless products and services had health risks, but developed, sold and promoted them anyway

New German Study Links Mobile Phones And Cancer, Skeptics Cry Foul
By Kristy Bassuener
January 16, 2001

Scientists in Germany say they have discovered a link between wireless phone use and eye cancer. Carried out by researchers at University of Essen Clinic, the study finds that people who use mobile phones 'regularly' are three times as likely to develop uveal melanoma.

The study examined 118 people with the eye cancer and 475 without the disease. Researchers were not told of the patient's condition to prevent bias. Hypotheses of how the phones' radio-frequency emissions could contribute to cancer include that eyes' watery makeup could possibly increase RF radiation absorption.

Authors of the research, however, caution that the results are preliminary. Critics point out the study was not engineered to study a wireless-cancer link. Other critics point out that the results are meaningless unless the level of radiation exposure or exact amount of time the phones were used are known quantities. Outside forces -- including heredity and other exposures -- could also factor into the situation.

'The study is very limited and its results need to be interpreted very cautiously,' says Jo-Anne Basile, vice president for external and industry relations at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.

The true test of the study's validity is whether or not the results can be replicated in another test. Uveal melanoma is relatively rare and strikes few people, scientists say.

But the public has been on alert for the past several months about the possibility of the phones causing brain tumors. Numerous studies on the issue conflict, though as of yet none of them have been able to prove a definite link between wireless use and brain cancer.