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Data interpretations: Mobile device radiation & cancer

#1
C C Offline
Jun 2011 - Mobile phones cause 'five-fold increase in brain cancer risk'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/8...-risk.html

EXCERPT: People who started using mobile as teenagers and have been doing so for more than a decade are at a five-fold risk of developing a common type of brain cancer, new evidence indicates. The Swedish study found large increased incidence of astrocytoma, the most common form of a malignant brain tumour type called glioma, in those who had been using mobiles for over 10 years. Campaigners said the research, published in the International Journal of Oncology, was further evidence of the need to educate children of the potential dangers of talking on mobile phones. Researchers from the University Hospital of Örebro and Umeå University examined the mobile and cordless phone use of more than 1,200 Swedes, who were diagnosed with malignant brain cancer between 1997 and 2003. Of those, the 905 who were still alive were interviewed about their phone usage. For the remaining 346 who had died., researchers asked their relatives about their loved-ones' telephone habits. They then compared this to phone use information on almost 2,500 'controls' who were either living and had no brain cancer, or had died of other causes. Each 'case' and each 'control' was matched for age, sex and social class. The team concluded that using both mobiles and cordless phones led to "an increased risk for malignant brain tumours". People who started using mobiles as teenagers, and have done so for at least 10 years, were 4.9 times more likely to develop astrocytoma, compared to controls. Worringly, the comparable figure for cordless home phones - which are very similar to mobiles in terms of radiation emission - was almost as high, at 3.9....



October 20, 2011 - Use of mobile phones and risk of brain tumours: update of Danish cohort study
http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d6387

Conclusions: In this update of a large nationwide cohort study of mobile phone use, there were no increased risks of tumours of the central nervous system, providing little evidence for a causal association....



Oct 21, 2011 - 'No evidence' mobiles cause cancer - but others beg to differ
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/n...iffer.html

EXCERPT: A large study of mobile phone users has found no evidence that longer-term users are at an increased risk of developing brain tumours. However, the Danish study, published in the journal BMJ Open, has been criticised as being "worthless" by fellow academics who say its methods are "seriously flawed". [...] Denis Henshaw, emeritus professor of human radiation effects at Bristol University, said the researchers had wrongly classified the 88 per cent of the Danish population who started using a mobile phone since 1996 - for whom there is no subscription information for legal reasons - as non-users....



May 14, 2014 - Cell Phones May Increase Brain Cancer Risk If Use Exceeds 15 Hours A Month
http://www.medicaldaily.com/cell-phones-...nth-282374

EXCERPT: [...] Using your smartphone for more than 15 hours plus a month can triple your brain cancer risk just over a span of five years. This new report from French scientists comes after an extensive 11-year report found there is no link between mobile phone usage and cancer. Although the previous study did not establish a link between the two, scientists like Isabelle Baldi, author of the French study, believe a risk does exist because cell phones emit radiofrequency energy — a form of non-ionzing electromagnetic radiation — thought to be a carcinogen. This form of energy can be absorbed by tissues closest to where the phone is held, says the National Cancer Institute, questioning mobile phone safety.

"It is difficult to define a level of risk, if any, especially as mobile phone technology is constantly evolving," wrote the team of French scientists at the University of Bordeux in south-western France, according to Medical Xpress. This holds especially true since investigations over the last 15 years have failed to turn up conclusive results regarding cellphone use and cancer risk. However, these studies include clear proof that these radiofrequency fields are harmful to human cells.

To observe the link between glioma and meningioma — types of brain tumors — and heavy cellphone use, Baldi and her colleagues looked at over 250 cases of glioma, and almost 200 cases of meningioma reported in four French departments between 2004 and 2006. Glioma is the general term used to describe any tumor that forms from the supportive tissue of the brain, known as the glia, which helps keep the neurons in place and functioning normally. Unlike glioma, meningioma arises from the coverings of the brain and spinal cord, and do not grow from brain tissue. The participants of the study were matched against about 900 healthy individuals drawn from the general population, to be used as a comparison to spot any differences between the two groups.

The findings revealed those who used their phones frequently, especially among those who used it for work, such as in sales, faced a higher risk of developing these tumors within five years of use. Moreover, the researchers discovered contrary to previous research, cancer occurred on the opposite side of the brain, rather than on the same side where the phone is customarily used. However, the French scientists caution that further research is needed to investigate the potential long-term effects of heavy cell phone use....



Oct 20, 2014 - Sharp increase in patients treated for brain tumors with unclear diagnosis in Sweden

EXCERPT: An increasing number of patients are treated for brain tumor ”of unknown nature” in Sweden since 2008, but the increase is not reflected in the national cancer registry. It is serious if the statistics on new cases of brain tumors is incorrect because the brain tumor statistics is widely being used as an argument that cell phones do not increase the risk of cancer and brain tumors, says Mona Nilsson, Chairman of Swedish Radiation Protection Foundation....



May 06, 2016 - 30-year study turns up no link between mobile phones and cancer
http://www.sciencealert.com/30-year-stud...and-cancer

EXCERPT: For many of us born in the last 30 years, it's hard to imagine life without a smartphone, but these gadgets are still relatively new, and scientists are continuing to gathering data on their long-term mental and physical effects. Now the results of a new Australian study shows no correlation whatsoever between cellphone use and cases of cancer. The researchers behind the study looked at three decades of data, gathered between 1982 and 2013, and mapped phone use against brain cancer rates.....



May 27, 2016 - "Game-Changing" study links cellphone radiation to cancer

EXCERPT: It's the moment we've all been dreading. Initial findings from a massive federal study [...] suggest that radio-frequency (RF) radiation, the type emitted by cellphones, can cause cancer. The findings from a $25 million study, conducted over two and a half years by the National Toxicology Program (NTP), showed that male rats exposed to two types of RF radiation were significantly more likely than unexposed rats to develop a type of brain cancer called a glioma, and also had a higher chance of developing the rare, malignant form of tumor known as a schwannoma of the heart. The effect was not seen in females. The radiation level the rats received was "not very different" from what humans are exposed to. The radiation level the rats received was "not very different" from what humans are exposed to when they use cellphones, said Chris Portier, a former associate director of the NTP who commissioned the study....



May 31, 2016 - Study that found cell phones cause cancer in rats is riddled with red flags: Researchers strangely release partial results without formal review, cause alarm
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/05/s...red-flags/

EXCERPT: [...] headlines blared that a new $25 million years-long US government study had finally found a clear connection between cellphone radiation and tumors in rats—striking fear in the hearts of gadget lovers worldwide. The finding—if true—would suggest we’re headed for an upsetting uptick in cancer incidence and death. Mobile phones, after all, are ubiquitous, and many among us have a near-religious devotion to them if not an unhealthy co-dependence.

Luckily for us, the study does not provide that clear link.

The study, which was not properly peer reviewed—despite what some outlets have reported—is chock full of red flags: small sample sizes, partially reported results, control oddities, statistical stretches, and a slim conclusion. In short, “there is nothing in this report that can be regarded to be statistically significant," Donald Berry, a biostatistics professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, told Ars. "The authors should have used the 'black box warning.'"

If cellphone radiation really does cause cancer, this study wouldn’t have proven it. And the mountains of preexisting data on the topic all point to mobile devices as posing zero to very low risks. This includes a recent Australian study that found no significant increases in brain cancer since the introduction of mobile phones.....





April 15, 2003 - Increase in reported brain and central nervous system tumors
http://www.healthandenvironment.org/brai...r_reviewed

EXCERPT: [...] Many scientists believe that the reported increase in brain tumors is due to improved detection of the disease through use of CT (computerized tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). These scientists point particularly to the increases in diagnosed brain tumors in the elderly and contend that in the past these tumors would never have been diagnosed. Other scientists argue that the increase is not likely to be fully explained by improved diagnosis, especially in children, because in young people brain tumors do not go undetected for very long, regardless of the method used. Moreover, the increase appears to have continued for many years. If the increase were due entirely to improved detection, one might expect to see a plateau and then a reduction in new cases once the better detection method is adopted.
Known and Suspected Causes of Brain and Central Nervous System Cancer

Causes of these tumors are largely unknown. Some rare genetic syndromes are associated with a higher risk of childhood brain tumors, as is radiation exposure, but these causes account for only a tiny fraction of the disease. Several large studies have reported that gliomas are less likely to occur in people with allergies and in people who have had infections with common viruses such as that which causes chicken pox, implying that immunological factors may be involved. Some evidence suggests that people who have had serious head injuries may be at increased risk of subsequently developing a brain tumor near the site of the original injury.

Ionizing radiation is the only established environmental cause of brain tumors. Occupational exposure to radiation has been consistently linked to adult brain tumors, and has also been linked to childhood brain tumors in the offspring of people exposed to radiation at work. One study looking at geographic and time-related patterns of brain tumors in children found that rates of the disease significantly decreased in downwind communities when nuclear power plants ceased their operations. Other environmental agents that have been suggested as contributing to this type of cancer include pesticides, solvents, electromagnetic fields (including cell phones), and nitrosamines that may be created in the digestion of processed meats such as bacon, ham, and sausages.

Because brain tumors are fairly rare, studies looking for environmental causes face serious challenges. If the studies try to focus on specific types of brain tumors, they must include a very large number of people in order to achieve statistically reliable results. If, on the other hand, they lump all types of gliomas, meningiomas, and other brain cancer types together, they may miss important links between specific exposures and specific tumor types, especially since these different types of brain tumors have different occurrence patterns. Assessment of exposures in brain cancer studies is another serious problem. Many studies use occupation to try to predict possible chemical or radiation exposures, but people who work in the same industry do not necessarily share the same exposures, and all workers are exposed to a variety of substances at work and at home. Researchers also do not know for sure how many years it takes a brain cancer to develop. It is difficult to design studies looking at past environmental exposures when the critical time period is not known. Finally, many retrospective epidemiological studies may be weakened by a phenomenon known as recall bias, which can create false associations between exposures and a disease. People who have a serious illness are more likely to make the effort to remember past exposures than are healthy people. So even those studies that do find significant associations between environmental factors and brain tumors must be viewed with some degree of skepticism.
Pesticides

Adult Brain Tumors and Pesticides: Farmers have a higher risk of brain cancer compared to the general population. A meta-analysis of 33 studies done from 1981-1996 on this topic showed a 30% increased risk of brain cancer among farmers. Some researchers have proposed that the increased risk may be related to pesticide exposure. Farmers, however, are also exposed to factors other than pesticides, such as dusts, animals, animal viruses, and petrochemical products....
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#2
elte Offline
And now that more recent thing going back to maybe it does, again, once they go up to 5g data speeds.  They were contemplating the possibility that the increased transmission power needed for 5g could kind of be the straw that breaks the camel's back.  I think that is still just speculation.
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#3
C C Offline
The original post has been revised to reflect more balance and round-out the "interpretations" aspect of the topic. The following were the edited additions to the OP:

Jun 2011 - Mobile phones cause 'five-fold increase in brain cancer risk'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/8...-risk.html

Oct 21, 2011 - 'No evidence' mobiles cause cancer - but others beg to differ
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/n...iffer.html

May 14, 2014 - Cell Phones May Increase Brain Cancer Risk If Use Exceeds 15 Hours A Month
http://www.medicaldaily.com/cell-phones-...nth-282374

Oct 20, 2014 - Sharp increase in patients treated for brain tumors with unclear diagnosis in Sweden

April 15, 2003 - Increase in reported brain and central nervous system tumors
http://www.healthandenvironment.org/brai...r_reviewed
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