Friday, May 10, 2013

Cell Phone Use, Acoustic Neuroma and Cancer of the Pituitary Gland


Cell phone use was associated with increased risk of two types of brain tumors in a new study of 790,000 women.

BERKELEY, Calif. - May 10, 2013 - PRLog -- Cell phone use was associated with increased risk of acoustic neuroma and cancer of the pituitary gland in a prospective study of more than 790,000 women in the United Kingdom. (1)

Acoustic neuroma is a rare, non-malignant tumor that develops on the main nerve leading from the inner ear to the brain. The pituitary gland is an organ that produces hormones which regulate important functions of the body and is located in the middle of the base of the brain.

Women who used cell phones for ten or more years were two-and- a-half times more likely to develop an acoustic neuroma. Their risk of acoustic neuroma increased with the number of years they used cell phones.

The results for acoustic neuroma re-affirm one of the two major conclusions by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its recent monograph about radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and form the basis for classification of cell phone radiation as "possibly carcinogenic" to humans:

“Positive associations have been observed between exposure to radiofrequency radiation from wireless phones and glioma, and acoustic neuroma.” (p. 421) (2)

The risk of cancer of the pituitary gland more was more than twice as high among women who used a cell phone for less than five years as compared to never users. Although the risk was elevated for women who used a cell phone for ten or more years (about 60% greater than never users), this effect was not significant. Since this may be the first study to find an association between cell phone use and pituitary cancer, further research on this cancer is necessary.

The women reported their cell phone use in 2005 to 2009 and again in 2009 and were followed through 2011 to see whether they developed tumors. The analyses controlled for other factors associated with tumor risk.

The study had numerous weaknesses which may explain why the research failed to replicate the increased risk of glioma associated with cell phone use of ten or more years found in several previous studies. Although this was a prospective study, the assessment of cell phone use was poor. Cell phone use was measured only at two time points and in a crude manner. The authors considered anyone who used a cell phone at least a minute per week to be a cell phone user. Although the authors measured the amount of cell phone use per week at follow-up, they did not report these results.The study did not assess cordless phone use or other microwave radiation exposures that are similar to cell phone emissions. If the never-cell phone users were cordless phone users, the effect of cell phone use on brain tumor risk would have been underestimated.

Since brain tumors can take decades to develop, the study underestimates the long term risk due to cell phone use as the average follow-up period for cell phone users was only seven years. Few women (about 8%) in this study used cell phones for ten or more years. Moreover, the women in this study may have used their cell phones much less than women do today.

The study was published online in the International Journal of Epidemiology on May 8, 2013. The authors are affiliated with the University of Oxford and the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Also see: U.K. Cell Phone Study Points to Acoustic Neuroma, Not Brain Cancer, Risk: Fourth Study to Show Tumor Link, Microwave News, Updated May 11, 2013

http://microwavenews.com/uk-study-points-acoustic-neuroma

References

(1) Benson VS, Pirie K, Schüz J, Reeves GK, Beral V, Green J; for the Million Women Study Collaborators.Mobile phone use and risk of brain neoplasms and other cancers: prospective study. Int J Epidemiol. 2013 Jun;42(3):792-802. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyt072. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23657200 

(2) Non-ionizing radiation, Part II: Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (2011: Lyon, France). Vol. 102. 2013. http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol102/index.php

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Maine Children's Wireless Protection Act: Update

Maine: Children's Wireless Protection Act (LD 1013) Update 

May 8, 2013

The work session scheduled today before the Joint Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology of the Maine State Legislature regarding Andrea Boland's Children's Wireless Protection Act was tabled.


The following individuals and organizations have submitted public hearing testimony. See links below to download documents.

Barris, Elizabeth American Assoc. of Cell Phone Safety(127 KB)
Boland, Andrea Maine State Legislature(1779 KB)
Callahan, Kevin TechAmerica(108 KB)
Carpenter, David University of Albany, N.Y.(529 KB)
Cobb, Kristin Portland(908 KB)
Edwards, Jane Vassalboro(171 KB)
Friedman, Ed Bowdoinham(241 KB)
Hayes, Terry Maine State Legislature(65 KB)
Keegan, Gerard CTIA-The Wireless Association(5175 KB)
Keene, Elery Winslow(72 KB)
Parker, Beedy Camden(53 KB)
Picard, Curtis Retail Association of Maine(112 KB)
Spear, Jody Harborside(63 KB)
 
The CTIA's testimony (dated May 2, 2013) submitted by Gerard Keegan made the following assertions: 
  • the March 29, 2013 FCC Notice of Inquiry (NOI) states that the FCC "continues to have confidence in the current exposure limits"; that the FCC does not expect consumers to keep cell phones "at least a specified distance (up to 2.5 cm) from the head during normal use to ensure compliance with SAR limits"; and that exceeding the SAR limit does not necessarily imply unsafe operation, nor do lower SAR quantities imply safer operation;
  • federal law preempts state governments from mandating cell phone labeling; 
  • regarding the CTIA's lawsuit to block San Francisco's cell phone right to know law: the "Ninth Circuit ruled in the CTIA's favor, finding that the FCC has concluded that cell phones are safe and the ordinance's requirements were misleading"; "Accordingly, the court permanently enjoined the City from enforcing its ordinance"; and "CTIA and San Francisco have entered into a settlement agreement that would permanently bar the City from enforcing its cell phone labeling and disclosure ordinance."
The CTIA filing is available at  
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/getTestimonyDoc.asp?id=10653

Did the CTIA know ahead of time that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors would vote on May 7, 2013 to enter into the settlement agreement? 

http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?PID=0&snum=126&paper&paperld=l&ld=1013#

Monday, May 6, 2013

Open Letter to San Francisco Mayor and Board of Supervisors

April 30, 2013

Dear Mayor and Members of the Board,

Since December, 2010, I have served as a consultant to the San Francisco City Attorney's Office regarding the health research related to cell phone radiation. I have done this work pro bono in support of San Francisco's "cell phone right to know" ordinance because the public needs to know.

Although the U.S. has been in denial about the health effects of cell phone radiation, fifteen nations and the European Union have issued precautionary health warnings about mobile phone use, especially among children. Two states, Maine and Pennsylvania, will soon try to adopt a Children's Wireless Protection Act.

In my opinion, the public needs ample warnings and other protections from what is likely to be a major public health problem resulting in substantial costs to our health care system, lost productivity, needless suffering, and preventable deaths.

Three years ago, I published an op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle which called for precautionary health warnings about cell phone use (1). This article was based upon a review of the research about mobile phone use and tumor risk that my colleagues and I published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2).

Today, the evidence is considerably stronger. The evidence is also stronger than two years ago when 30 experts convened by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer categorized mobile phone radiation "possibly carcinogenic" in humans (Group 2B). (BTW, almost all substances listed in Group 2B are covered by Proposition 65 health warnings in California.) In fact, many experts now believe we have sufficient evidence to upgrade the classification of mobile phone radiation to "probably carcinogenic" (Group 2A). Also, we now have evidence that cell phone radiation damages human sperm and is associated with male infertility. Moreover, prenatal exposure is associated with increased risk of neurological disorders in children, especially attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

For more information about the health risks of cell phone radiation, see my news releases and social media web sites (links below). Two of my news releases document that San Francisco's cell phone radiation fact sheet that was approved by District Court Judge Alsup is indeed factual and non-controversial (3, 4).

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.

School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley

====

(1) Moskowitz JM. Government must inform us of cell phone risk (Open Forum), San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2010. URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/28/EDMB1D58TC.DTL

(2) Myung SK, Ju W, McDonnell DD, Lee YJ, Kazinets G, Cheng CT, Moskowitz JM. Mobile phone use and risk of tumors: a meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2009 Nov 20; 27(33):5565-5572. Epub 2009 Oct 13. URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19826127

(3) Moskowitz JM. San Francisco’s Cell Phone Fact Sheet is Factual. Sep 12, 2012. URL: http://www.prlog.org/11973342-san-franciscos-cell-phone-fact-sheet-is-factual.html

(4) Moskowitz JM. The San Francisco Cell Phone Fact Sheet Suppressed by the CTIA. Apr 17, 2013. URL: http://saferemr.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-san-francisco-cell-phone-fact-sheet.html

 

The San Francisco Cell Phone Fact Sheet Suppressed by the CTIA

Below is a link to the fact sheet that the Wireless Industry does not want the City and County of San Francisco to show you (see page 2).  I have appended annotated comments that verify it is indeed factual.

The fact sheet was approved by the Federal district court judge, but then the CTIA appealed the case to a higher court.

The fact sheet is the basis for the CTIA's current lawsuit against SF.  The industry has claimed  if retailers were forced to distribute it, this could cause confusion and panic among consumers.
 
You can decide for yourself whether the industry is right.


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9fjS-Ghc0OkZEVjRFFXRjRrQUE/edit?usp=sharing