The low incidence of cancer observed in the rats in the USA government study were likely the result of whole-body exposure to the radiation, and was similar to tumors seen in some studies of mobile-phone use, the researchers said.
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Male rats exposed to the radiation developed two types of tumors, glioma tumors in the brain and schwannoma tumors in the heart, which were similar to those identified in previous global studies. But female rats didn’t, and even the rats that developed tumors lived longer than rats not exposed to the radiation.
On the other hand, Dr. Otis Brawley, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President for the American Cancer Society, said this “is the first study to actually show that non-ionizing radiation (causes) cancer”.
A massive on-going study conducted by the US National Toxicology Program found that rats that have been exposed by cellphone radiation for nine hours, seven days of the week had an increased chance of developing cancers.
Study author John Bucher, however, said the study found what he called a likely cause of cancer in rats.
The findings have reawakened the debate that cell phone use might just cause cancer. The NIH study also revealed a high percentage of gliomas in male rats exposed to radiations.
But Ron Melnick, who ran the NTP project until retiring in 2009, told the newspaper that the their results should put an end to people saying there’s no risk. The increased risk was relatively small, but if the finding translates to humans – still an unknown – it could have a large public health impact, given the widespread use of cellphones worldwide.
Biochemist Jerry Phillips of University of Colorado, who has experience in his own lab trying to understand the effects of radio-frequency radiation (RFR) on rats, said all the study does is provide few answers and raise more questions.
How the study was conducted.. A 2011 Danish study, which included more than 358,000 adults born after 1925, also found no link between cellphone use and brain tumors.
In short, researchers believe there is a link between cell phone use and some cancers, but the risk seems to be a low one.
That evidence includes federal brain-cancer statistics showing that since the introduction of cellphones in the U.S.in 1983, “the rate of brain cancer in the United States has remained stable, CTIA said”.
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They found that “low incidences” of two types of tumours were found in the animals in both the brain and the heart. “We will continue to follow all recommendations from federal health and safety experts including whether the FCC should modify its current policies”.
