Cell Phone Health and Safety Pages
[Moulder's statement] [FCC's statement-->] [FDA's statement]
Editor's note. These pages remain as current as when I posted them three years ago. Nothing has changed. Every peer-reviewed report says the same thing: 1) no link between cell phones and cancer exists, and yet, 2) more research is needed.
A statement by Professor John Moulder, Professor of Radiation Biology at the Medical College of Wisconsin
The issue of whether cell phones cause brain cancer has been rather extensively studied in the last three to four years. At the moment there is no evidence that they do. The hype started with a Larry King Live show in 1992 or 1993 and has stayed in the media since then. It's basically urban legend. There are no animal studies suggesting that RF (radio frequency) radiation of this strength causes cancer, and the epidemiology studies that have been done so far don't show anything.
On the other hand, this does not prove that things are safe, either. Part of the problem is that you cannot prove that something does not cause cancer. The closest you can come is to repeatedly try to show that it does and repeatedly fail. I know some scientists who think there might be a risk, that it needs to be studied more, but I don't know of anyone who claims that a hazard has been shown.
The biggest threat that I see in wireless technology, quite frankly, is that it's made bicycling much more dangerous because of the people who are driving down the road talking on the phone instead of watching where the hell they're going.
Editor's Note: Please read Professor Moulder's papers on cell phones and health; on this subject I think they are the best, most authoritative writing on the web. Among them are these two:
1. Cellular Phone Antennas (Base Stations) and Human Health http://www.mcw.edu/gcrc/cop/cell-phone-health-FAQ/toc.html
"This FAQ addresses the issue of whether base station transmitter/antennas for cellular phones, PCS phones, and other types of portable transceivers are a risk to human health. Issues surrounding the phones (transceivers) themselves, including the regulation of radiation-frequency radiation from the phones, are discussed only indirectly. . ." continues off site . . -->"
2. Are Mobile Phones Safe?: Research intensifies as the public grows wary of one of its favorite communications tools, By Kenneth R. Foster, University of Pennsylvania & John E. Moulder, Medical College of Wisconsin http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/publicfeature/aug00/prad.html
"A MOTORIST USING A WIRELESS TELEPHONE might be worried about having an accident, even while being reassured that if one were to happen, he or she could call for help. Recently some scientists and lay people have expressed alarm at another possible danger--that the use of mobile phones itself may harm the user's health, perhaps even causing cancer. . ." continues off site . . ->
[Moulder's statement] [FCC's statement-->] [FDA's statement]
