Despite concern about health, lawmakers not changing their cell phone habits

Lawmakers who have raised concern about a possible link between cell phones and cancer have not stopped using their held-held devices. Several members of Congress in May spoke out when the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) labeled the radiofrequency fields generated by mobile phones as possibly carcinogenic to humans.

Sen Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who has held hearings on the issue, IS concerned about young people spending hours everyday with their cell phones next to their ears. "We don't know the long-term effects," Harkin said. "There's no scientific evidence, but it can't be good," he added, noting that intermittent use is OK. In addition, Reps. Edward Markey (D-MA), Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) asked the Government Accountability Office last month to conduct a thorough review of existing research on the health risks of long-term mobile use. But none of these lawmakers said they had curbed their own cell phone use.