September 14, 2009. Washington, DC. An examination of the potential impact of cell phone use on health, including the increased risk of brain tumors, was conducted today in Senate hearings organized by Senator Arlen Specter. Video coverage of the Senate hearings and of the proceedings of the 1st ever “International Expert Conference on Cell Phones and Health” being held in Washington, DC this week will be available shortly at www.environmentalhealthtrust.org.

 

C-Span Video Coverage of Senate Hearing on Cell Phone and Health at: C-Span Archives

 

The Senate hearings come just weeks after the release of a new report by international health advocates, called “Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern—Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone”. This report (of which I am a co-author) examines the science linking cellphones with brain tumors and critiques design flaws in a large 13-country, industry-funded research project called the Interphone study. The 11 key design flaws cited suggest results from industry-funded research greatly underestimates the risk of brain tumors.

 

Despite the effects of the 11 main design flaws which minimize risks, it should be noted that the Interphone studies released so far still all show an increased risk of brain tumors after 10 years of cellphone use, on the same side of the head as the phone was held. Download Report Here

 

A Growing Global Health Concern

 

Around the globe, pressure on governments is growing. Citizens are insisting governments examine the science on the biological effects of microwave radiation from cellphones and wireless technologies, and that they revise exposure guidelines for industry accordingly. People are increasingly distressed by symptoms they experience around cell phone base stations, wi-fi networks and from cellphone use. Many are deeply concerned about the impact of this radiation on the brains and DNA of children, and surprised to find that the common everyday portable phone emits the same dangerous radiation as cellphones.

 

In some countries, there have been riots in the streets once people learn the dangers, even cell towers bulldozed by residents. Landlords have been chased down the street for putting antennas on roofs, and large gatherings of people have picketed outside telecom industry meetings. To draw attention to concerns about microwave radiation’s impact on fertility, greatly reduced by these exposures, French men recently protested on bicycles in their underwear en masse to draw attention to this issue.

 

In the United States, most people are in the dark about the health consequences because the media has not been covering this much, and many scientists in this field have been silenced. I have met scientists who have had funding dried up when they disclosed positive findings showing a connection between microwave radiation and biological changes, such as impact on DNA, and others who have been punished for speaking to the media about the known biological effects of this form of radiation. As a result, there are few independent scientists left in the United States.

 

Historic Gathering of Experts in Washington, D.C.

 

Suppression of scientists certainly hasn’t stopped Devra Davis, PhD, MPH from assembling scientists from abroad to educate legislators in the U.S. Davis is lead organizer of a D.C. conference that began on Sunday, called “Expert Conference on Cell Phones and Health: Science and Public Policy Questions”. Several of the scientists attending this conference spoke at the Senate hearings chaired by Sen. Arlen Specter this afternoon (See conference agenda at www.environmentalhealthtrust.org).

 

Scientists have come to the U.S. to share their expertise from Germany, Israel, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, and Sweden. Many U.S. public health experts and scientists are also in attendance, as are key members of Congress and their staffs. Representatives from the cell phone industry were evidently invited to the conference and asked to present research that they claim validates cell phone safety, but all declined to attend.

 

Conference sessions include ‘Dialogue on Modeling Exposure’, ‘Mechanisms and Animal Studies’, ‘Epidemiology’ and ‘Cell Phones, Public Policy and the Precautionary Principle’.

 

Dr. Davis, author of the Secret History of the War on Cancer, says, “Deeply troubling findings have been reported by researchers from countries outside the US where cell phones have been widely used for longer periods of time. These findings show a doubling of the risk of brain cancer.” She adds, “Many governments, including France, Finland, China and Russia, advise that children simply not use cell phones”.

 

In addition to Dr. Devra Davis, organizers of the “Expert Conference on Cell Phones and Health” include Ronald B. Herberman, MD, Director Emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Dariusz Leszcynski, PhD, STUK-Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Finland and David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD of the University of Pittsburgh.

 

The goal of the conference is to propose a U.S. research agenda.

 

For background on the health effects from wireless technologies, please read the book I co-authored recently with Magda Havas, PhD, “Public Health SOS: The Shadow Side of the Wireless Revolution” found at www.electromagnetichealth.org or on Amazon.com.

 

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