About every six months or so, a new study comes out linking cell phones to cancer – or trying to prove that no such link exists.
But the latest study out today from the World Health Organization (WHO) seems to again validate the claims that there is a possible connection between cell phones and brain cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the WHO, now lists cell phones in the same category as lead and gasoline engine exhaust, calling them a “carcinogenic hazard.”
This goes against what the FCC and FDA have been saying for years about the safety of cell phones, and the study does come with a few caveats. First, no new research was actually conducted, only analysis of past published studies on the subject. And, while the WHO scientists now list cell phones as “possibly carcinogenic,” they agree that there aren’t enough long-term studies to definitively say one way or the other. You can read the results of the actual study on the IARC website.
Personally, I think that until we see some type of cancer epidemic, it’s probably too late to put the genie back in the bottle. Carrying a cell phone has become as commonplace in our society as carrying a wallet or wearing a wristwatch. And cell phone use is only going to increase as smartphones become, well, even smarter. I guess this is just one of those issues where we’ll have to wait and see, hopefully not before it’s too late…what do you think?
I have three words–earpiece, speaker phone, texting!
And don’t let your little ones ever talk without an earpiece. Actually the speaker phone, so you can hear what they’re hearing.
Great advice Yvonne! Thanks for the comment!
steph