45 Healthy Adults Used a Cell Phone

45 Healthy Adults Used a Cell Phone for 50 Minutes – What Happened?

by Dr. Joeseph Mercola

For several years, doctors, scientists and activists have been raising concerns about the possible connection between cell phones and brain cancer. And recent research by scientists at NIH and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory conclusively determined that a cell phone’s electromagnetic field can indeed cause changes in brain activity. CNN reports: “Brain activity means that the cells are using glucose to create energy ... Compared with subjects whose phones were turned off, the group whose phones were on had ‘significantly higher’ brain activity in the area closest to the telephone antenna.” Time Magazine lists five simple ways to reduce your exposure to cell phone radiation: • Use a wired headset - This keeps the antenna far away from your skull. • Get used to texting - Texting also keeps the handset away from your brain, reducing the radiation risk. • Don’t use your cell phone as an alarm clock - If you use your phone as your wake-up call, you’ll likely need to keep it close to your head; there’s still radiation being emitted even when it’s not taking calls. • Don’t carry your phone in your pocket - There’s preliminary research to indicate that men who carry a phone in their pocket all day could be putting their fertility at risk, and women who carry their phones in their bra could be increasing their risk of breast cancer. • Use a radiation-blocking case - These can reduce cell phone radiation by two-thirds. These are all important precautions, especially since the recent study by leading brain imaging researcher Nora D. Volkow, MD et al— one funded by the US government and led by one of “Top 100 People Who Shape Our World” (2007) according to Time —has found that cell phone use does affect your brain. After just 50 minutes on a cell phone, the emitted radiation increases the activity in your brain cells, the study found. The exact effects of that brain activity are as of yet unknown. But the study in effect has debunked the myth that cell phone radiation at nonthermal levels

does not cause biological changes, as the SAR exposure involved was only .901 W/Kg, well under the FCC limit of 1.6 W/Kg for cell phones. The study has also raised the specter that if acute cell phone radiation is impacting glucose in the brain, an established marker of brain activity, might it also be impacting neurotransmitters and other brain biochemistry? Chronic elevated glucose levels in the brain is, of course, also of concern, and is currently being investigated by Volkow. Scientists are now calling for urgent research on effects on the brain from cell phone radiation, previously believed in orthodox circles to have no effect. They are also calling for reinstatement of federal funding for bioelectromagnetics research, which dried up in the mid-1990s as government facilitated the roll out of cellular infrastructure across the country. Dr. Ronald Herberman, former Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, says, “We know that increased glucose also occurs with infections and other inflammatory processes, and leads to the production of potentially damaging reactive oxygen radicals that can alter the ways that cells and genes work. This important finding should stimulate many biologists to perform in-depth studies to determine the consequences of such changes in nerve cells or other bodily cells in the region of the radiation. We need to develop a better understanding of how radiofrequency radiation might contribute to increased risk for brain tumors as well as other alterations in brain functions.”

David Carpenter, MD, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment, University of Albany, has called the NIH study ‘dynamite’. He says it will now be hard to deny that cell phones alter nervous system activity. However, Louis Slesin of Microwave News cautions,

“For decades, the microwave community has been awash with reports that low-level radiation can lead to numerous neurological effects, such as leakage through the blood-brain barrier, changes in calcium in and around brain cells and DNA breaks in the brains of exposed animals. But in each case skeptics have countered that they could not repeat the experiments and therefore the original work must have been flawed and should be repudiated. Volkow’s new study will no doubt face a similar barrage of criticism.”

Slesin, a long time, well-respected expert in this field, also noted he learned, “The closing sentence of original version of the JAMA paper advised cell phone users to keep the antenna away from the brain by using a wired earpiece. This was edited out in the review/revision process.” So, while it is encouraging a respected journal such as JAMA has published on this topic, and also issued a press release about the research, we must all realize there could still be interests wanting to downplay the importance of the finding for cell phone users. The Volkow study was the first to look at how electromagnetic radiation from cell phones affects glucose metabolism in the brain. When glucose metabolism goes up, it activates cells. Many scientists believe this may provide insight into the biochemical process leading to increased incidence of brain tumors in heavy cell phone users. Based on the NIH research, Mayor Mark Barron and the City Council of Jackson, WY last week initiated a cell phone safety awareness program in schools for students in grades K-12. Jackson is the first town in America to take specific action to protect schoolchildren from microwave radiation.

Mayor Barron states “Given the extraordinary acceleration of cell phone use by our school children and the seeming social acceptance of placing this powerful tool next to our head, it is only prudent to address the issue at this time.”

Please Protect Yourself, and Your Family, Starting Today All the evidence points to the fact that our current safety standards are completely inadequate. Our rapidly expanding wireless technologies must be properly evaluated, first of all, and the precautionary principle must be invoked when new technologies emerge. While you can’t completely avoid radiation in today’s wireless world, you can at least minimize your exposure by heeding the following advice: Children Should Always Avoid Using Cell Phones: Barring a life-threatening emergency, children should not use a cell phone, or a wireless device of any type. Children are far more vulnerable to cell phone radiation than adults, because of their thinner skull bones.

Reduce Your Cell Phone Use: Turn your cell phone off more often. Reserve it for emergencies or important matters. As long as your cell phone is on, it emits radiation intermittently, even when you are not actually making a call. Use a Land Line at Home and at Work: Although more and more people are switching to using cell phones as their exclusive phone contact, it is a dangerous trend and you can choose to opt out of the madness. Reduce or Eliminate Your Use of Other Wireless Devices: You would be wise to cut down your use of these devices. Just as with cell phones, it is important to ask yourself whether or not you really need to use them every single time. Use Your Cell Phone Only Where Reception is Good: The weaker the reception, the more power your phone must use to transmit, and the more power it uses, the more radiation it emits, and the deeper the dangerous radio waves penetrate into your body. Ideally, you should only use your phone with full bars and good reception. Also seek to avoid carrying your phone on your body as that merely maximizes any potential exposure. Ideally put it in your purse or carrying bag. Placing a cell phone in a shirt pocket over the heart is asking for trouble, as is placing it in a man’s pocket if he seeks to preserve his fertility.(See ElectromagneticHealth. org’s Letter to Parents on Fertility and Other Risks to Children from Wireless Technologies)

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