Can mobile phones cause cancer?

There have been informations going around suggesting heavy mobile phone use is ‘likely’ to cause cancer,these informations are misleading, and don’t reflect what the evidence really shows.
With a lot of the evidence around mobile phones and cancer before. Overall, this evidence shows that mobiles are unlikely to cause brain tumours (nor any other type of cancer).
It is important that additional research be conducted into the long‐
term, heavy use of mobile phones.

Source of Radiation

When talking on a cell phone, a transmitter takes the sound of your voice and encodes it onto a continuous sine wave. A sine wave is just a type of continuously varying wave that radiates out from the antenna and fluctuates evenly through space. Sine waves are measured in terms of frequency, which is the number of times a wave oscillates up and down per second. Once the encoded sound has been placed on the sine wave, the transmitter sends the signal to the antenna, which then sends the signal out.

Cell phones have low-power transmitters in them. Most car phones have a transmitter power of 3 watts. A handheld cell phone operates on about 0.75 to 1 watt of power. The position of a transmitter inside a phone varies depending on the manufacturer, but it is usually in close proximity to the phone's antenna. The radio waves that send the encoded signal are made up of electromagnetic radiation propagated by the antenna. The function of an antenna in any radio transmitter is to launch the radio waves into space; in the case of cell phones, these waves are picked up by a receiver in the cell-phone tower.

Electromagnetic radiation is made up of waves of electric and magnetic energy moving at the speed of light. All electromagnetic energy falls somewhere on the electromagnetic spectrum, which ranges from extremely low frequency (ELF) radiation to X-rays and gamma rays.

Potential Health Risks

In the late 1970s, concerns were raised that magnetic fields from power lines were causing leukemia in children. Subsequent epidemiological studies found no connection between cancer and power lines. A more recent health scare related to everyday technology is the potential for radiation damage caused by cell phones. Studies on the issue continue to contradict one another.

 All cell phones emit some amount of electromagnetic radiation. Given the close proximity of the phone to the head, it is possible for the radiation to cause some sort of harm to the 118 million cell-phone users in the United States,Currently

59%of the Tanzanians are subscribed as users of mobile phones.More

What is being debated in the scientific and political arenas is just how much radiation is considered unsafe, and if there are any potential long-term effects of cell-phone radiation exposure.

There are two types of electromagnetic radiation:

• Ionizing radiation - This type of radiation contains enough electromagnetic energy to strip atoms and molecules from the tissue and alter chemical reactions in the body. Gamma rays and X-rays are two forms of ionizing radiation. We know they cause damage, which is why we wear a lead vest when X-rays are taken of our bodies.
• Non-ionizing radiation - Non-ionizing radiation is typically safe. It causes some heating effect, but usually not enough to cause any type of long-term damage to tissue. Radio-frequency energy, visible light and microwave radiation are considered non-ionizing.

In 2011 the International Agency of Research on Cancer under WHO made their report
 Lyon, France, May 31, 2011 ‐‐ The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based  on  an  increased  risk  for  glioma,  a  malignant  type  of  brain  cancer 1 ,  associated  with wireless phone use.

Background

Over  the  last  few  years,  there  has  been  mounting  concern  about  the  possibility  of  adverse
health effects resulting from exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, such as those
emitted  by  wireless  communication  devices.  The  number  of  mobile  phone  subscriptions  is
estimated at 5 billion globally.

From May 24–31 2011, a Working Group of 31 scientists from 14 countries has been meeting
at  IARC  in  Lyon,  France,  to  assess  the  potential  carcinogenic  hazards  from  exposure  to
radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. These assessments will be published as Volume 102 of the IARC Monographs, which will be the fifth volume in this series to focus on physical agents, after  Volume  55  (Solar  Radiation),  Volume  75  and  Volume  78  on  ionizing  radiation  (X‐rays, gamma‐rays,  neutrons,  radio‐nuclides),  and  Volume  80  on  non‐ionizing  radiation  (extremely low‐frequency electromagnetic fields).

The  IARC  Monograph  Working  Group  discussed  the  possibility  that  these  exposures  might induce long‐term health effects, in particular an increased risk for cancer. This has relevance for public  health,  particularly  for  users  of  mobile  phones,  as  the  number  of  users  is  large  and growing, particularly among young adults and children.

The  IARC  Monograph  Working  Group  discussed  and  evaluated  the  available  literature  on  the following exposure categories involving radiofrequency electromagnetic fields:  3⁄4 occupational exposures to radar and to microwaves; 3⁄4 environmental exposures associated with transmission of signals for radio, television and wireless telecommunication; and  3⁄4 personal exposures associated with the use of wireless telephones.

International  experts  shared  the  complex  task  of  tackling  the  exposure  data,  the  studies  of cancer  in  humans,  the  studies  of  cancer  in  experimental  animals,  and  the  mechanistic  and other relevant data.

1237 913 new cases of brain cancers (all types combined) occurred around the world in 2008 (gliomas represent 2/3 of these). Source: Globocan 2008Page 2
IARC CLASSIFIES RADIOFREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AS
POSSIBLY CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS

Results 

The  evidence  was  reviewed  critically,  and  overall  evaluated  as  being  limited 2   among  users  of
wireless telephones for glioma and acoustic neuroma, and inadequate 3  to draw conclusions for
other  types  of  cancers.  The  evidence  from  the  occupational  and  environmental  exposures
mentioned above was similarly judged inadequate. The Working Group did not quantitate the risk; however, one study of past cell phone use (up to the year 2004), showed a 40% increased risk  for  gliomas  in  the highest  category  of  heavy  users  (reported  average:  30  minutes  per  day over a 10‐year period).
 
Conclusions 
Dr  Jonathan  Samet  (University  of  Southern  California,  USA),  overall  Chairman  of  the  Working Group,  indicated  that  "the  evidence,  while  still  accumulating,  is  strong  enough  to  support  a conclusion and the 2B classification. The conclusion means that there could be some risk, and
therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk."

"Given the potential consequences for public health of this classification and findings," said IARC
Director Christopher Wild, "it is important that additional research be conducted into the long‐term, heavy use of mobile phones. Pending the availability of such information, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure such as hands‐free devices or texting. "

The Working Group considered hundreds of scientific articles; the complete list will be published in  the  Monograph.  It  is  noteworthy  to  mention  that  several  recent  in‐press  scientific  articles 4  resulting from the Interphone study were made available to the working group shortly before it was due to convene, reflecting their acceptance for publication at that time, and were included in the evaluation.

A  concise  report  summarizing  the  main  conclusions  of  the  IARC  Working  Group  and  the evaluations  of  the  carcinogenic  hazard  from  radiofrequency  electromagnetic  fields  (including the use of mobile telephones) will be published in The Lancet Oncology in its July 1 issue, and in a few days online.
2
'Limited evidence of carcinogenicity': A positive association has been observed between exposure to the agent
and cancer for which a causal interpretation is considered by the Working Group to be credible, but chance, bias or
confounding could not be ruled out with reasonable confidence.

3
 'Inadequate evidence of carcinogenicity': The available studies are of insufficient quality, consistency or statistical
power  to  permit  a  conclusion  regarding  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  causal  association  between  exposure  and
cancer, or no data on cancer in humans are available.

4
  a.  'Acoustic  neuroma  risk  in  relation  to  mobile  telephone  use:  results  of  the  INTERPHONE  international  case‐
control study' (the Interphone Study Group, in Cancer Epidemiology, in press)
b.  'Estimation  of  RF  energy  absorbed  in  the  brain  from  mobile  phones  in  the  Interphone  study'  (Cardis  et  al.,
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, in press)
c.  'Risk  of  brain  tumours  in  relation  to  estimated  RF  dose  from  mobile  phones  –  results  from  five  Interphone
countries' (Cardis et al., Occupational and Environmental Medicine, in press)
d. 'Location of Gliomas in Relation to Mobile Telephone Use: A Case‐Case and Case‐Specular Analysis' (American
Journal of Epidemiology, May 24, 2011. [Epub ahead of print].

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