Strange findings in cellphone cancer research

WASHINGTON: A new federal study of the potential dangers of cellphone radiation, conducted in rats, found a slight increase in brain tumours in males and raised longdormant concerns about the safety of spending so much time with cellphones glued to our ears.

But the study had enough strange findings that it has caused other federal scientists to highlight flaws in the research, and experts said these findings and those from other studies continue to suggest the potential risk from cellphone radiation is very small.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) study bombarded rats with cellphone radiation from the womb through the first two years of life for nine hours a day.

It found tumours in 2% to 3% of male rats, which the study’s authors called low.

But females weren’t affected at all and, strangely, the rats not exposed to the cellphone radiation died much faster – at double the rate – of those that were.

The results were preliminary, and only part of what will ultimately be released.

They were made public before they were officially published – and despite strong criticism from other NIH scientists – because the results were similar to other studies that hint at a potential problem, said study author John Bucher.

The study is part of a sevenyear, US$25mil (RM102.29mil) effort conducted by the National Toxicology Program at the request of the Food and Drug Administration.

It looked at the specific type of radiation that cellphones transmit, called nonionising radiofrequency.

“This is the first study to actually show that nonionising radiation (causes) cancer,” said Dr Otis Brawley, the American Cancer Society’s chief medical officer.

The cancer society in a statement praised the study for “evidence that cellphone signals could potentially impact human health” but notes that it doesn’t quite address real risk.

“If cellphones cause cancer, they don’t cause a lot of cancer,” he said in an interview.

He said people should be far more concerned about “distraction caused by cellphone”, which he said causes more deaths.