The Cellphone Study

[Commentary] Cellphone users have every right to be befuddled. Just last year, a major study in 13 countries found no clear evidence that exposure to the radiation from cellphones causes brain cancer. Yet, this week, a panel convened by the same agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, declared that the radiation is “possibly carcinogenic” to humans.

It made this pronouncement by press release before publishing a monograph that will lay out the basis for its concerns — and will give independent scientists their first chance to evaluate this new judgment. The agency, a unit of the World Health Organization, based its determination on what it called “limited evidence” that heavy users of cellphones had an increased risk of developing a rare brain tumor known as a glioma. Cellphones were placed in a “possibly carcinogenic” category that also includes pesticides, dry cleaning chemicals, engine exhaust, lead, pickled vegetables and coffee. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the safety of cellphone emissions, said it would review the forthcoming monograph carefully but that “the existing weight of scientific evidence does not show an association between non-thermal radio frequency energy and adverse health outcomes.” For now, it seems reasonable to conduct more research and to monitor usage by children, who could have a lifetime of exposure ahead. Heavy users of cellphones might want to use headsets, speaker phones or text messaging to keep the device at a distance. Most would be surprised to learn that cellphone manufacturers, presumably to ward off liability claims, already advise users in very small print to hold the phones a short distance from the body while calling.