[ RadSafe ] Cell phone & Cancer Article

Tue Aug 10 11:11:09 CDT 2010

John,  

Thank you for your question, John, it made me think about this a little more than I had. Maybe someone (Bjorn???) can answer my questions below.

I myself have not studied magnetic fields which is why I think someone else would be better versed in providing a response to the Newsweek article and the statement you quoted is my recollection of the conclusion given in the seminar I went to in the 1990s.  I think the physicist at Yale who was at the seminar was Dr. Adair  who studied the magnetic fields surrounding cell membranes which according to him have a strong field due (if I state it correctly) to bipolar ion layers. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12483664.  His wife who also did research and participated in the seminar on RF was a biologist.  She has subjected animals to RF radiation and the predominant body response I recall that she noted was due to heating of tissue; I don't recall if she did studies of longer duration.   

I also remember reading that microwave ovens were developed using a frequency that killed the spinal cord tissues of armed services personnel carrying radio equipment and working near radio towers on ships during WWII.  I long have believed as you indicated that RF from cellphones does not cause brain cancer as the wavelengths do not selectively damage  DNA.  Radiation related cancer initiation has long been linked to cell division, and nerve cells in adult brains don't divide and so are expected to be resistant to radiation damage. I don't know about division of other cell types in the brain.  There have been some interesting developments in cancer research this year - some of the specific proteins involved in faulty DNA repair have been identified as initiating cancer cell formation.  

I pose a question:  is it impossible that RF heat damage to brain and other cells later results in cancer?  What are the proposed mechanisms and cell types involved?   

I still wonder why breast cancer induction was used as the marker for some RF radiation cancer induction studies, is that because the cell types involved are the same as the cell types that are origins for some brain cancers?  Here's a link to research about origin cells for brain cancers, seems like there is still work to do on this  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090508093934.htm

Babara Reider, CHP

-----Original Message-----
From: Dixon, John E. (CDC/ONDIEH/NCEH) (CDC/ONDIEH/NCEH) <gyf7 at cdc.gov>
To: blreider <blreider at aol.com>; doug.huffman <doug.huffman at wildblue.net>; radsafe <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Sent: Tue, Aug 10, 2010 7:47 am
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Cell phone & Cancer Article

I agree that the true science does not support the postulate of cell
hones causing damage to DNA. Commercial cell phones do not have the
eeded energy (or energy density) to cause ionizations/chemical
eactions needed to cause that kind of biological damage. Cell phone
radiation" and true ionizing radiation are two very different forms of
nergy. 
P. S. Could you clarify this sentence? " The cell membrane has huge
icroscopic local magnetic fields than power lines and so the magnetic
ield added from power lines is insignificant."
v/r
John E. Dixon
-----Original Message-----
rom: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of
lreider at aol.com
ent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 12:22 AM
o: doug.huffman at wildblue.net; radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
ubject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Cellphone & Cancer Article

 actually thought that for a lay article the author did a reasonable
ob of discussing the political issues as well as the problems with
pidemiological studies. Is providing a discussion really a fault? So
any authors would pick the answer they want based on fear or belief as
ou said rather than evaluating data.  This author here has stayed away
rom that. 
The Health Physics Society fact sheet on cellphones
ttp://hps.org/documents/mobiletelephonefactsheet.pdf  states:
Investigations into possible health effects of mobile phones will
ontinue into the future, and it will be especially important to
dentify if there are any adverse effects in long-term users or
hildren. The available evidence does not show that the use of mobile
hones or exposure to emissions from their base stations causes brain
ancer or any other health effect." 

eople who have not studied radiation effects know that some radiation
s harmful and can't perform the type of evaluations some of us can.  If
ll radiation were harmless there would be no need for the field of
ealth Physics.  Perhaps it would be worthwhile for one of our HPs or
hysicists versed in nonionizing radiation of the wavelengths in
uestion to provide a response in clear terms stating why there are no
ffects expected.  Long ago I went to a fabulous seminar at Yale about
agnetic fields and the cellular mechanisms supporting the conclusion
hat living under power lines does not increase cancer rates in animals
humans).  It was easy to understand and to explain.  Here in two
entences is the conclusion that I remember: The cell membrane has huge
icroscopic local magnetic fields than power lines and so the magnetic
ield added from power lines is insignificant.  Therefore it is
mpossible that magnetic fields from power lines have any effect on
ancer rates. 
Barbara Reider, CHP

-----Original Message-----
rom: Doug Huffman <doug.huffman at wildblue.net>
o: radsafe <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
ent: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 7:06 pm
ubject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Cellphone & Cancer Article

ewsweak?  It's for emotional impact, a.k.a. hysteria.
ellphone correlation with cancer is THE epitome of "research until the 
sired conclusions are reached."  Well, maybe that's caffeine but still 
e point is made.
n 8/9/2010 17:54, blreider at aol.com wrote:
 Not to bring up the issue of cell phone use and cancer again but...

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/05/will-this-phone-kill-you.html
 One of the comments is something that I also thought of when reading
he 
ticle.  Does anyone know why some of the studies used breast cancer as

nchmark for doing cell phone research?
 Barbara Reider, CHP

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