LONG BEACH, California -- The cellular phone industry probably didn't
pay
researchers US$27 million dollars hoping they'd produce bad news about
the
health effects of cell phones.
Nonetheless, an industry-funded study has done just that.
"These data are the first data that are directly relevant to
the human-exposure situation," said Dr. George Carlo,
chairman of Wireless Technology Research, or WTR. "Prior
to this, the studies were largely speculative."
A set of results from a variety of studies were presented
at a WTR-sponsored colloquium Saturday and Sunday. The
latest findings suggest a correlation between cell phone
emissions and a slightly higher incidence of human brain
tumors, cell growth in human blood micronuclei, and DNA
breakage in rats.
While the findings are far from conclusive, they are the
first from an organization like the industry-supported
Wireless Technology Research.
"You would come to the [possible] conclusion that RF
[radio frequencies] causes genetic damage," Carlo said.
"That is a huge surprise."
The findings represent a need for coordinated public health
action while there is more investigation into the hazards,
he added. "When you have 200 million people who are
being exposed to cell phones, you can't wait around for
the slow scientific process to work."
Some of the conclusions are roughly parallel to studies
that have found DNA breakage caused by microwave
emissions, which are near cell phones on the radio
frequency spectrum.
Another group of researchers funded by the industry
organization suggested that a cell phone's "non-ionizing"
radiation could cause the growth of cells in the micronuclei
of human blood samples.
Washington-based Wireless Technology Research was
established in 1993 to address the public health risks from
wireless communication technologies. The organization is
also creating a scientific database for use in making public
health decisions related to cell phone manufacturing and
use. Its US$27 million budget comes from the cellular
phone industry.
Paul Joseph Morrissey, the head of Motorola's biological
research program, sought to downplay the findings.
"We saw both effects and no effects, and we need to
replicate [the studies] to assess the results," said
Morrissey. The findings were just a few among a far
greater number of studies showing negative results -- or
no effects -- when examining the effects of cell phone
radiation on everything from rats' brains to in vitro human
tissue.
"The results of genotoxicity studies using radio frequency
exposure at nonthermal levels continue to be
predominantly negative," Morrissey said during his
presentation. "Any new positive genotoxic finding must be
carefully and independently replicated by another
laboratory before it can be considered as a genuine
nonthermal effect."
The findings weren't surprising to critics and activists,
who've been pointing to studies dating as far back as
1995.
DNA breaks were found in an oft-cited study conducted by
University of Washington researchers Dr. Henry Lai and Dr.
Narendra P. Singh. In 1994, the researchers say they tried
to alert the WTR in 1994 to their experimental data
showing DNA damage in live rats from microwave exposure.
In March of this year, they charged in a letter published in
Microwave News that these attempts were met with
stonewalling and foot-dragging.
Given this history, critics charge the WTR data is too little
and too late.
"You spend $25 million, and you have two reports? Where
did the money go?" said editor Louis Slesin.
He said no one knows conclusively whether or not there
are negative health impacts of cell phones -- and that's
the problem. "No one really expected to really know
whether cell phones are safe with $25 million," he said.
"But we should know a lot more."
By now the industry and government should have
implemented more conclusive research and precautionary
public health measures, he said.
In Switzerland, for example, the government recently
approved precautionary rules for cell phone exposure. The
restrictions set limits for cell phone power levels that are
substantially lower than US standards.
The WTR's Carlo was among the most vocal public health
advocates at the colloquium, calling for immediate steps to
begin tracking and coordinating all cell phone research.
Slesin called Carlo's comments ironic, but nonetheless
seconded his demands.
Carlo admonished one panel, "This would be just a
scientific issue -- but for the 200 million people around the
world using this technology."
