Cross talk: Federal agencies face the risk of cancer in cell phones
Cross talk: Federal agencies face the risk of cancer in cell phones
Two agencies of the United States government are giving conflicting interpretations of a safety study on cell phone radiation: one says it causes cancer in rats. The other says there is no reason for people to worry.
No new investigation was issued on Thursday. Instead, the National Toxicology Program improved its concerns about a link to the heart and brain cancer of a male rat study that was made public last winter.
The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the security of cell phones, did not agree with the updated warning. And "these findings should not be applied to the use of human cell phones," said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, head of radiology at the FDA. Health.
The most important thing is what happens in humans, not in rats, said Dr. Otis Brawley, medical director of the American Cancer Society.
"The incidence of brain tumors in humans has been flat for the last 40 years," Brawley said. "That is the most important scientific fact."
The original study
In a $ 30 million study, scientists placed rats and mice in special cameras and bombarded them with radio frequency waves, like those emitted by older 2G and 3G phones, for nine hours a day for two years, most of them of their natural lives.
The levels that rodents experienced were much higher than people normally are exposed to.
THE RESULTS
Last February, the National Toxicology Program said there was a small increase in an unusual type of heart tumor in male rats, but not in mice or female rats. The agency concluded that there was "some evidence" of a link. In addition, the February report cited "equivocal evidence" of brain tumors in male rats.
On Thursday, the agency updated its description of those findings. The increase in heart tumor marked "clear evidence" of cancer in male rats, he announced. There is "some evidence" of brain cancer.
The change came after the agency asked external experts to analyze the findings.
"We believe that the link between radiofrequency radiation and tumors in male rats is real, and external experts agreed," said John Bucher, lead scientist at the toxicology agency.
While his agency said that the risks to rats do not apply directly to people, the study raises safety issues.
THE DESAGREE
The FDA did not immediately agree and released a press release that assured Americans that "decades of research and hundreds of studies" have prompted the health agency to believe that current safety limits for telephone radiation Cell phones protect public health.
In addition, the FDA noted confusing results from the study with rodents, such as that irradiated rats lived longer than comparison rats that were not exposed to lightning. The toxicology agency said it appeared that radiofrequency energy helped the kidneys of older rats.
There is a reason why two different government agencies confront each other: they ask different questions, said George Washington University public health professor George Washington.
Gray, former chief scientist of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the toxicology program examined how cell phone radiation affected animals. By looking at what it means for humans, the FDA "brings more sources of information and data than just these recent tests on rats and mice," he said in an email.
ARE THE CELLULARS SAFE?
"I'm calling you from my cell phone," said Brawley of the cancer society.
He pointed out a well-known risk of cell phones: car accidents when drivers are distracted by them.
As for cancer, if people are worried, they could use hearing aids or speakers, he said.
Those who study risk are not hanging.
"My family and I will not change our mobile phone habits based on this news," said Gray, of George Washington, co-author of the book "Risk: a practical guide to deciding what is really safe and what is really dangerous in the world that It surrounds him. " "
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The Associated Press Department of Science and Health receives support from the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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