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Mobile phones and cancer study in the media

ExTechOp

New Blood
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Joined
May 11, 2010
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The UK National Health Service reports of possible media bias on reporting results of the INTERPHONE Study Group, supported by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization. The research in question was a well-conducted analysis of several international studies that actually found no plausible evidence of a link between cancer and mobile phone use.

Some newspapers have selectively quoted a few results in this research that suggest a significant link, but this is misleading in the context of the overall results. The researchers themselves explain these few anomalous results, and conclude that there are no conclusive signs of an increased risk of brain tumors.

"Brain cancer not linked to phones" at nhs.uk/news
 
ExTechOp said:
The UK National Health Service reports of possible media bias on reporting results of the INTERPHONE Study Group, supported by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization. The research in question was a well-conducted analysis of several international studies that actually found no plausible evidence of a link between cancer and mobile phone use.

Some newspapers have selectively quoted a few results in this research that suggest a significant link, but this is misleading in the context of the overall results. The researchers themselves explain these few anomalous results, and conclude that there are no conclusive signs of an increased risk of brain tumors.

"Brain cancer not linked to phones" at nhs.uk/news
Click to expand...
Cool. Espcecially considering that the kind of radiation involved can't cause the kind of damage to cells that would lead to cancer, it's no surprise.
 
Eos of the Eons said:
Cool. Espcecially considering that the kind of radiation involved can't cause the kind of damage to cells that would lead to cancer, it's no surprise.
Click to expand...

You mean there's no plausible physical mechanism by with cell phone EMFs could cause cancer?! ;)

Physics wins over woo, yet again.
 
But....these phones are essentially magic and we all know how carcinogenic magic is!
 
ExTechOp said:
"Brain cancer not linked to phones" at nhs.uk/news
Click to expand...

Of course, this may not be entirely true. As noted here, as well as in the article from the OP, the study actually shows that mobile phone use is correlated with fewer brain tumours.

Of course, the researchers give various reasons why this may not be a real effect, and their actual conclusion is merely that there is still no evidence that phones cause cancer. But it really is amazing that some newspapers sensationalist fearmongering rags can take a study that is not only negative but, if anything, shows the exact opposite, and use it to claim that phones really do cause cancer after all.
 
When I am teaching nuclear chemistry in gen chem, one of the things we do is pull out the Geiger counter and check things out. We have a radioactive rock, and some old Fiestaware, and a smoke alarm - all things that show radioactivity. You can also get above background signals from a jar of KI. Then I ask what else we should check out, and the students inevitably ask to check a cell phone. They are somewhat amazed to discover that cell phone radiation (we'll turn it on and make a call, even) is not radioactivity.
 
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