WHO study has no clear answer on phones and cancer

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Experts who studied almost 13,000 cell phone users over 10 years, hoping to find out whether the mobile devices cause brain tumors, said on Sunday their research gave no clear answer.

A study by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the largest ever to look at possible links between mobile phones and brain cancer, threw up inconclusive results but researchers said suggestions of a possible link demanded deeper examination. "The results really don't allow us to conclude that there is any risk associated with mobile phone use, but... it is also premature to say that there is no risk associated with it," the IARC's director Christopher Wild told Reuters.

The results of the study have been keenly awaited by mobile phone companies and by campaign groups who have raised concerns about whether mobile phones cause brain tumors. Years of research have failed to establish a connection.

The British-based GSM Association, which represents international cell phone firms, said IARC's findings echoed "the large body of existing research and many expert reviews that consistently conclude that there is no established health risk."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64F1MV20100516

[anachro1]

1. I won't use cell phones for this reason

and also for the fact that I don't like placing cheap plastic toys on the side of my head.

My life operates just fine without a cell phone.

[customerserviceguy]

5. Ok, then I'm not going to give you one of these:

I'll just keep it for myself.

[anachro1]

7. Does it come with GPS?

I'm pretty sure I would need it.

[customerserviceguy]

9. GPS?

You mean a meter that would measure gallons per second of beer consumed? Heck, why would you need that, just hook up the cans in series!

[patrice]

11. !

:rofl:

[snagglepuss]

2. Dr Hardell, a Swedish expert, states that there is a 5% increase in tumors in those who began

using cells in their teens. Children should not be using cells. Teens should restrict their use.



http://www.thepeoplesinitiative.org/

[truedelphi]

3. Meanwhile ads for cell phones and other unrelated products, like new cars

Show people letting their toddlers watch movies on the phones.

And of course, how many tens of thousands of car accidents occur each year while people TEXT?

You or I could lose our lives so some young adult can type "OMG! I saw my HotBabe!"

[PurityOfEssence]

4. Yeah, well they're not GOOD for you

It's an analog kind of life; it's people like libertarians who think that if something isn't absolutely lethal, it's just fine.

[customerserviceguy]

6. The safest thing

is to minimize use. I have a 500 minute a month plan, and I usually leave a half to a third of the minutes on the table each month. Most of the rest of the used minutes are with the speakerphone on.

[patrice]

12. There's also that handset you can jack into them; that would be a good idea if you're

stationary and doing a phone-bank or something like that.

[customerserviceguy]

13. I've got one that I use at home

but it's a hassle in the car, so I use the speakerphone. In any case, the majority of my calls are less than about five minutes each, and I frequently have days where I make no calls at all. Some people are really addicted to these things. They're the ones who are going to get brain cancer.

[Robb]

8. Wait, what?

....Data from the IARC study showed that overall, mobile telephone users in fact had a lower risk of brain cancer than people who had never used one, but the 21 scientists who conducted the study said this finding suggested problems with the method, or inaccurate information from those who took part.

Other results showed high cumulative call time may slightly raise the risk, but again the finding was not reliable.

"We can't just conclude that there is no effect," said Elisabeth Cardis of the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, Spain, who led the study.

"There are indications of a possible increase. We're not sure that it is correct. It could be due to bias, but the indications are sufficiently strong... to be concerned."....

If I'd paid for this study, I'd want my money back.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. ...unless you were one of the mobile phone companies.

The fact that they helped fund the study makes me question the accuracy of the findings.

[Joe Chi Minh]

10. I love the fact the study was part paid for by mobile-phone companies. It really took

me by surprise.

But seriously, whenever the results of a survey are related in equivocal terms - not such and such, but in the end there are indications ... and 'there are certainly reasons for concern' It only muddies the water, causes confusion. Now who would want that?