It is a controversial debate: Does cellphone usage lead to cancer? Years of study on the subject have produced conflicting results, the latest reflected in the public differences between US-based oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee and Finnish scientist Dr Dariusz Leszczyynski. The Finnish doctor says there is a direct connection between the two while Mukherjee, who has been treating patients with brain tumours, says the World Health Organisation needs to downgrade cellphones from the list of a carcinogens (cancer-causing agent). The primary concern with cellphones and cancer is to do with the development of brain tumours associated with cellphone use.
Cell phones emit radio-frequency energy which can be absorbed by tissues closest to where the phone is held. There have been hundreds of studies on the subject. One study followed more than 420,000 cellphone users over a 20-year period and found no evidence of a link between cellphones and brain tumours. Another study found an association between cellphones and cancer of the salivary glands. However, only a small number of study participants had malignant tumours. Another recent study suggested a possible increased risk of glioma?a type of brain tumor?for the heaviest cellphone users, but no increase in brain tumour risk overall. Dr Leszczyynski was part of a global study in 2011 that declared cellphone usage as carcinogenic. The International Agency for Research on Cancer?part of the WHO?agreed that there is limited evidence that cellphone radiation is carcinogenic. What that suggests is that there is no convincing evidence that cellphone use increases the risk of cancer. More research is clearly needed because cell phone technology and how people use cell phones has changed rapidly. Meanwhile, here’s a thought: The first link between between lung cancer and cigarettes was established in 1948. The first cigarette manufactured for mass sale was in 1845.
