Are cell phones hazardous to your health?
New book chronicles the investigation by Dr. George Carlo of the impact of cell phones on human health
Dec. 15 — There are over 100 million cell phone users in the United States today, and over 500 million worldwide. And as more people journey into the wireless world, more questions arise about the safety of cell phones. Are they too dangerous to use while driving, and do they emit cancer-causing radiation? In his new book, “Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age,” Dr. George Carlo recounts the scientific and political battles he fought to find out if we’re being exposed to harmful radiation every time we use a cell phone.
The book reports:
"IT WAS THE Orwellian year of 1984. Some Americans were wondering if Walter Mondale would really be able to capture the presidency by defeating the incumbent, Ronald Reagan. Some were wondering if the Chicago Cubs would really be able to capture the National League championship by defeating the San Diego Padres. But almost nobody was wondering about the potential cancer-causing risk of what was surely the year’s most technologically, socially and culturally transforming event — the first mass marketing of an instrument called a cellular telephone. It was a wireless marvel by which people could reach into their pockets, then reach out and touch someone-anywhere in the world.
"At first, it seemed like just another toy for people with money; it was rather expensive to buy and use each month. There had been no premarket testing of this radiation-emitting device that people would use while pressing it against their heads; after all, it was viewed as more of a luxury and curiosity than a necessity. But after a slow start, just-plain people everywhere began to feel this was one instrument they just had to have. The telephone manufacturers quickly discovered that clever and costly advertising campaigns would produce wondrous payoffs — for the manufacturers and the carriers that provided the telephone service.
"By 1993 there were 15 million cellular telephones in use in the United States alone. Still the U.S. government had taken no action and apparently given little thought to whether or not this radiation-emitting instrument that people were pressing to their skulls would cause any adverse health effects.
"In the past few years, the technological and cultural revolution that is the Wireless Age has virtually exploded around the world. By the year 2000 there were more than 103 million mobile phones in the United States — and more than 500 million mobile phones in use worldwide. This instrument that was once satirical fodder for comedians poking fun at the boring rich had become a neo-necessity and plaything of the masses. People who may have barely been able to pay their rent and grocery bills were walking down the streets, sitting on buses and even in restaurants with their mobile phones pressed against their heads, chattering away even while they appeared to be by themselves.
"Meanwhile, the wireless revolution continues growing exponentially. Visit any public building, college classroom, courthouse, or commuter train, and look around: You’ll see people using not just wireless phones but also wireless laptop computers and miniature palm tops. What you won’t see are the microwaves that are crisscrossing a confined space where a number of people who are not even using these instruments are bombarded by these waves. What is happening with these waves is not unlike the scene from the movie “The Saint,” in which infrared burglar detector beams crisscross a room. Only these waves cannot be seen. And whether or not they will cause any damage, near term or long term, is unknown. Society was not really prepared for the wireless revolution — nor was politics, or science. There was no policy in place anywhere in the world to safeguard the public as these instruments of unknown potential risk were suddenly available to all.
***
"It was 1993 when the cellular telephone industry was rocked by the first wave of damaging news. CNN’s Larry King Live devoted an entire show to a lawsuit that was filed on behalf of a cancer victim against the cell phone industry. To ease public concerns and governmental pressures, the industry turned to Dr. George Carlo, a public-health scientist, to head a $25 million research and surveillance program that, in the words of the industry, would assure the public that cell phones were safe. In the early years, when Carlo initially found no cancer or other health problems, his relations with the industry were basically tranquil. But later, he implemented a series of studies using newly designed exposure systems; they produced findings that raised red flags of warning that cell phone radiation could indeed lead to the development of brain tumors, other cancers, or other adverse health effects. And the industry reacted by treating him as an enemy — to be ostracized in public and discredited in private.
"Yet as the calendar approached 2001, the U.S. government still had taken no action to advise the public of the scientific evidence that had generated these red-flag warnings of cancer and other adverse health effects.
"One good way to grasp all that has happened — and mainly, all that hasn’t — is to think about the cellular telephone from a totally different perspective: If a mobile phone (which facilitates oral communication) were something that was taken orally, like a pill or capsule, the government would have required that it be premarket tested to assure its safety before it ever reached the hands of consumers. And if the testing had turned up evidence such as the findings produced by a number of studies, including those in Carlo’s program, cell phones probably would have been withheld from sale to the public until modifications were made — such as mandatory use of a headset, at a minimum — to assure that use of the product was safe. At the very least, there would have been a regulation requiring that warning labels be placed on the telephones. (It is worth noting, for instance, that studies by the Swedish scientist Dr. Kjell Hansson Mild found that cell phone users experienced headaches and dizziness. Those symptoms appear frequently on warning labels of many pharmaceutical products, at the insistence of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA].)
"But because cell phones are held alongside the brain rather than swallowed like a capsule, they were never premarket tested. And there will be no post-market recall. But meanwhile, the government has been slow to act and the industry is not about to voluntarily make major design changes or recommend the use of headsets — because that could be considered an industry admission that there is some sort of problem. And that could put the industry at risk in future class-action lawsuits.
***
"This book tells the story of the controversy over the cellular telephone — and what it means for every man, woman, and child — by recounting the scientific investigations that were led by one man. Carlo began his quest in 1993 as the industry’s designated insider on the case. But as his team began pursuing an independent path, the industry began treating him as an outsider within.
***
"This book follows two paths simultaneously: First, it outlines the science of cell phone radiation. Second, it follows the politics involved, which have been every bit as complex — for this was an effort to determine whether products of a burgeoning industry, suddenly the fastest-growing industry in the world, can cause cancer and other health problems to the people it serves.
***
"Because of the book’s unusually layered storyline, following both the science and the politics of the cell phone controversy, it is written not in one voice but in two. To provide a straightforward narrative, the report is presented in the third person. That was done for two reasons: First, to provide much-needed perspective and context in the presentation of the events, the account is based both on Carlo’s notes, files, and recollections, and also upon additional reporting by co-author Martin Schram. In the end, Carlo was responsible for the recollections of events that transpired and for all analysis of the science. Second, there are a number of occasions where additional reporting and detached insight have made it clear that mistakes were made by many of the players in the probe of cell phones and public health. And those errors — by industry executives, government officials, prominent scientists, and to be sure, by Carlo himself — are painstakingly reported in this book with no punches pulled."
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an excellent overview of the current political/scientific
cellular phone situation by B. Blake Levitt, an expert in the field.
BBC News Article
BBC News Article
BBC News Article