Cell phone radiation: Harmless or health risk?

Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part series on issues related to cell phone radiation. Look for Thursday's story on safety standards and testing and Monday's story on what consumers can do to reduce their radiation exposure.

A typical day for Jonathan Hirshon, a San Francisco-based public relations representative, is spent with his iPhone 4 pressed to his head for two or three hours.

What does he fret about while he's using that phone? He hopes he can make it through an entire conversation without his call being dropped; he hopes his voice is clear enough that the people on the other end of the call can understand him; and he hopes AT&T doesn't take away his unlimited data plan.

You may not be very surprised to hear that the one thing Hirshon, whose first cell phone was the groundbreaking 1996 Motorola StarTAC, doesn't spend much time worrying about is whether his heavy cell phone use will give him brain cancer.

Jonathan Hirshon's first cell phone, the Motorola StarTAC, debuted in 1996 and won an Industrial Design Excellence Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America for being the first clamshell phone.

(Credit: Motorola)

 

"Is it a worry? Maybe," he said. "But for me I need to use my phone. And until I see some evidence that has been verified by five different, reputable sources that say I'll get cancer tomorrow, I can't change my behavior."

Hirshon may have more luck waiting for the Rapture than consensus on the risks of cell phone radiation. For years, consumer advocates and scientists have questioned the safety of cell phones. Scientists know that humans absorb radiation from cell phones, but whether that radiation causes health risks, such as cancer, is unclear.

Why is it still unclear? There's plenty of blame to go around. The research is often contradictory, sometimes based on outdated data, sometimes driven by industry groups soft-pedaling concerns, sometimes driven by health advocates who appear too alarmist and unreasonable. About the only thing researchers agree on is that they need to do more research.

What's more, a close look at the research used to set federal safety standards indicates that the standards themselves may be outdated at best and could be meaningless at worst. Some countries, like Finland and France, are concerned enough to issue public warnings, especially when it comes to allowing children to use cell phones. And some local and state governments in the U.S., such as San Francisco and the state of Maine, have tried to create their own warning labels for cell phone use despite the lack of consensus.

There's no question that cell phones are here to stay, but how concerned should consumers be about a potential health risk from using these devices that have become such an important part of our lives? Are the safety standards that we have today sufficient to protect us? And what can consumers do now to protect themselves from potentially damaging exposure?     Read More