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The citing paper is:
Foster, Kenneth R., and John E. Moulder "Are mobile phones safe? Research intensifies as the public grows wary of one of its favorite communications tools." IEEE Spectrum (August 2000) Volume 37, Number 8 (http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/publicfeature/aug00/prad.html).
Rothman, K. J.; Loughlin, J. E.; Funch, D. P.; Dreyer, N. A. "Overall mortality of cellular telephone customers." Epidemiology 7(3):303-305, 1996. [Abstract]
Dreyer, N. A., Loughlin, J. E., Rothman, K. J. "Cause-specific mortality in cellular telephone users (Letter)." JAMA 282(19):1814-1816, 1999. [Abstract]
Discussion: Rothman et al. and Dreyer et al. report on an ongoing mortality study of cell phone users based on records from US service providers. Billing information is used to estimate amount of use and service type as a rough indicator of exposure. To date there has been no indication of increased mortality among phone users: there are similar overall mortality rates for users of portable phones (handheld phones where the antenna is next to the head) and mobile cellular telephones (usually in cars, with the antenna away from the user). Overall, phone user mortality rates are lower than corresponding rates for the general population, perhaps reflecting higher socioeconomic status and activity level of cellular telephone account holders (essentially a "healthy worker effect"). The more recent study noted some increased mortality from fatal automobile accidents among cell phone users, an observation consistent with other reports of higher accident rates associated with using a cell phone while driving. The significance of results reported to date are limited by the relatively short time the cohort has been followed, which would likely underestimate mortality from diseases like cancer that have a substantial latency period between exposure and outcome, and the difficulty of estimating actual exposure of the primary user from billing records. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
Morgan, R. W.; Kelsh, M. A.; Zhao, K.; Exuzides, K. A.; Heringer, S.; Negrete, W. "Radiofrequency exposure and mortality from cancer of the brain and lymphatic/hematopoietic systems." Epidemiology 11(2):118-127, 2000. [Abstract]
Discussion: A cohort study was conducted of cancer mortality among Motorola, Inc. employees working in occupations in which they were exposed to radiofrequency radiation from two-way radios, defense and space communication devices, pagers, and cellular telephones. An emphasis was placed on brain tumors and hematopoietic cancers because of suggestions in the research literature of increased risk for these forms of cancer associated with other forms of electromagnetic field exposure. In the Motorola cohort there was no indication of an increased cancer risk even when the data was stratified in various ways and compared by cancer subtype. The authors qualified their conclusion by noting that the number of highly exposed workers was small, and the young work force and a strong healthy worker effect resulted in a low number of deceased workers in the cohort. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
Hardell, L.; Nasman, A.; Pahlson, A.; Hallquist, A.; Mild, K. H. "Use of cellular telephones and the risk for brain tumours: A case-control study." Int J Oncol 15(1):113-116, 1999. [Abstract]
Discussion: Two hundred seventeen patients with verified brain tumors and 425 matched controls completed questionnaires that asked about their cellular phone use. No overall increased risk for brain tumors was found, the odds ratio (OR) being 0.98 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69-1.41) where an OR of unity indicates no difference in risk between cases and controls. When the data was broken down further, there was a marginal increase in risk for cases with right brain tumors who used the phone at their right ear (OR 1.28, CI 0.68-2.38, based on 25 cases) which became stronger for temporal or occipital localization of the tumor on the right side (OR 2.45, CI 0.78-7.76, 8 cases) and increased somewhat more when only users of NMT analogue phones were considered (OR 2.56, CI 0.72-9.12, 7 cases). The analog phones deposit more net power into the user's head and the technology has been in use longer than the digital (GSM) phones, so NMT users may have been exposed to higher average levels over a longer period of time than GSM users. None of these risk increases were statistically significant however and the authors treated their results cautiously, considering them only suggestive for future approaches to the research. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
Muscat, J. "Epidemiological study of cellular telephone use and malignant brain tumors (Meeting Abstract)." Second State of the Science Colloquium on the Public Health Impact of Wireless Technology, 19-20 June, Long Beach, CA; Wireless Technology Res., LLC, Abstract No. 18, 1999. [Abstract]
Discussion: This meeting presentation describes a still unpublished case-control epidemiologic study to assess the risk of brain cancer associated with cell phone use. There was no significant increase overall in risk of brain cancer among phone users nor was there a concordance between the side on which the brain tumor was located and the favored hand for cell phone users. There was a significant risk increase for one particular tumor subtype (neuroepithelliomatous tumors) but the risk did not appear to increase with increased phone use and therefore may be a chance association. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
Adey, W. R.; Byus, C. V.; Cain, C. D.; Higgins, R. J.; Jones, R. A.; Kean, C. J.; Kuster, N.; MacMurray, A.; Stagg, R. B.; Zimmerman, G.; Phillips, J. L.; Haggren, W. "Spontaneous and nitrosourea-induced primary tumors of the central nervous system in Fischer 344 rats chronically exposed to 836 MHz modulated microwaves." Radiat Res 152(3):293-302, 1999. [Abstract]
Adey, W. R.; Byus, C. V.; Cain, C. D.; Higgins, R. J.; Jones, R. A.; Kean, C. J.; Kuster, N.; MacMurray, A.; Stagg, R. B.; Zimmerman, G. "Spontaneous and nitrosourea-induced primary tumors of the central nervous system in Fischer 344 rats exposed to frequency-modulated microwave fields." Cancer Res 60(7):1857-1863, 2000. [Abstract]
Discussion: Companion papers report results from two large-scale lifetime exposure animal toxicology studies. Fischer 344 rats were exposed, starting before birth, to simulated digital or analog cellular phone signals with or without simultaneous treatment with the chemical brain-tumor inducer ethylnitrosourea (ENU). There was no indication of a microwave-associated effect on spontaneous or ENU-induced brain tumors with the analog signal. With exposure to the digital signal, the spontaneous tumor incidence was not affected but animals treated with ENU and also exposed to the digital signal had significantly reduced mortality due to tumors and had fewer and smaller tumors than animals treated with ENU and not exposed to the microwaves. Interpretation of these results has been controversial as many consider the outcome of both experiments negative (no tumor-promoting effect of microwave exposure) while the authors emphasized in their discussion the apparent "protective effect" of exposure to the digital signal as indicative of biological activity. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
Zook, B. C. "The carcinogenicity of RF radiation to the brain of rats (Meeting Abstract)." 11th International Congress of Radiation Research, M. Moriarty, C. Mothersill, C. Seymour, eds., 18-23 July, Dublin, Ireland, Abstract CAS17, p. 280, 1999. [Abstract]
Discussion:This meeting abstract briefly reports results of a study in which 900 rats were exposed or sham exposed for their lifetime to high levels of pulsed or continuous wave radiofrequency radiation, with or without brain tumors initiated by prior exposure to the chemical ethylnitrosourea (ENU). Overall there were no clear indications that radiofrequency radiation exposure altered tumor incidence, except for a marginally significant decrease in the time needed for the fist tumors to appear in the group of animals with the highest level of ENU treatment that were exposed to a pulsed radiofrequency field. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
Lai, H.; Singh, N. P. "Acute low-intensity microwave exposure increases DNA single-strand breaks in rat brain cells." Bioelectromagnetics 16(3):207-210, 1995. [Abstract]
Discussion: Using a sensitive "comet" (DNA microgel) assay developed by Singh, the authors reported significant amounts of DNA damage in cells isolated from the brains of rats that had been exposed to microwave sources at relatively low intensity levels (maximum brain SARs of 2 W/Kg). With pulsed 2,450 MHz microwave exposure no DNA damage was seen immediately after exposure ended, but significant dose-related increases in the amount of single-strand DNA breaks were detected in cells from the hippocampi and other brain tissues when the tissue was processed 4 hours after exposure ended. Continuous wave radiation produced damage that was evident both immediately and 4 hours after exposure ended. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
Malyapa, R. S.; Ahern, E. W.; Straube, W. L.; Moros, E. G.; Pickard, W. F.; Roti Roti, J. L. "Measurement of dna damage after exposure to electromagnetic radiation in the cellular phone communication frequency band (835.62 and 847.74 MHz)." Radiat Res 148(6):618-627, 1997. [Abstract]
Roti Roti, J. L.; Malyapa, R. S.; LaGroye, I.; Anane, R.; Li, L.; Zhang, P.; Moros, E.; Straube, W.; Pickard, W. "Measurements of dna damage following exposure to radiofrequency radiation (Meeting Abstract)." Bioelectromagnetics Society, 22nd Annual Meeting, 11-16 June, Munich, Germany, Abstract No. 18-2, p. 101, 2000. [Abstract]
Discussion: Two papers by the same group detail unsuccessful attempts to confirm reports of DNA damage produced by low-level microwave irradiation in a different experimental system. In the initial reports of DNA strand breaks, Lai and Singh reported DNA damage in rat brain cells exposed in situ to moderate 2,450 MHz microwave radiation (Bioelectromagnetics 16:207-210, 1995). Malyapa et al. used a variation of the "comet" (DNA microgel) assay employed by Lai and Singh, assayed two types of cultured cells, and exposed the cells to fields at commercial cellular phone band frequencies (835.62 and 847.74 MHz). The recent meeting abstract indicates that to date numerous attempts have been made to detect DNA damage after exposure to many different waveforms and frequencies of radiofrequency radiation corresponding to various wireless protocols, with possible damage assessed by employing additional variations of the comet assay. These experiments, which have included conditions closer to those employed by Lai and Singh, have also not detected increases in DNA damage. The same assay methods detect dose-related increases in DNA strand breaks with 0.6-1.0 centigrays of ionizing radiation. The authors therefore conclude that radiofrequency radiation is unlikely to be a strong inducer of DNA damage. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
Verschaeve, L.; Slaets, D.; Van Gorp, U.; Maes, A.; Vankerkom, J. "In vitro and in vivo genetic effects of microwaves from mobile telephone frequencies in human and rat peripheral blood lymphocytes." Proceedings of Cost 244 Meetings on Mobile Communication and Extremely Low Frequency Field Instrumentation and Measurements in Bioelectromagnetics Research, Plzen, Chech Republic, 17-18 April, p. 74-83, 1994. [Abstract]
Discussion: This conference presentation provides preliminary data on DNA damage produced by exposing rat and human peripheral blood lymphocytes to a 954 MHz GSM base station signal. Human lymphocytes isolated from normal volunteers showed increased single strand breakage in the comet (DNA microgel) assay when they were exposed in vitro to the GSM field at its highest intensity (5 cm from the antenna) but not at lower levels (12 cm or more from the antenna). Workers maintaining base station antennas showed no significant increase in DNA damage in their lymphocytes. Rats exposed to the antenna for up to 5 weeks showed some increase in DNA damage in their lymphocytes, but control animals transported to the lab for analysis also showed similar damage suggesting the effect may have been a stress artifact. The authors suggest their results are "reassuring" because they indicate possible effects only at intensity levels at or above existing exposure limits. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
MacGregor, D. G.; Slovic, P.; Morgan, M. G. "Perception of risks from electromagnetic fields: A psychometric evaluation of a risk-communication approach." Risk Anal 14(5):815-828, 1994. [Abstract]
Discussion: To evaluate the results of informing the public about potential EMF health risks, the authors administered opinion surveys before and after subjects read a brochure on power-frequency electromagnetic field (EMF) research results prepared at Carnegie Mellon University. Surprisingly, subjects evidenced significantly greater concern and ranked the relative risks associated with EMF exposure higher after they read the informative booklet. This "sensitizing effect" was most pronounced for exposures that were less obvious, such as use of hair dryers and electric can openers, but also included significant increases in risk perception for recognized environmental EMF exposures like powerlines. Similar discussions of EMF health effects issues can be found in our bimonthly newsletter EMF Health Report.
This document was prepared by Information Ventures, Inc.