There is reason to believe that cell phone use may pose certain health risks to the brain. That is the word coming out of the Center for Environmental Oncology (CEO), a part of the leading University of Pittsburg Cancer Institute. Although no major academic study has been conducted to prove this, an international panel of experts has recently announced that “Electromagnetic fields generated by cell phones should be considered a potential human health risk.”

Ronald Herberman, the CEO’s director, has disseminated a memo to thousands of his staff members, urging them to take caution when it comes to their cell phone use. CEO has been quoted as saying that recent studies “which include subjects with a history of cell phone usage for a duration of at least 10 years, show a possible association between certain benign tumors (acoustic neuromas) and some brain cancers on the side the device is used on.”

A distinction has been made between the possible effects for children and adults. CEO has stated that there is a greater risk posed for children because their brains are still developing. Because of this, many feel that cell phone use among children should be limited to emergencies only.

 

The panel has not broached the topic of banning cell phone use altogether, but CEO has released a list of precautions that may be taken. For one, the existence of hands-free cell phones would curtail the emissions of potentially harmful electromagnetic fields by nearly 100%. Other precautions include holding the cell phone at a considerable distance from oneself and alternating from the right and left ear when using your cell phone to decrease exposure.

Many have been hesitant to embrace CEO’s announcement today. They maintain that there exists an ample amount of research that suggests that there is no correlation between cell phone use and cancer. However, CEO still maintains that the absence of this research does not equal the absence of a threat.

- Lexy Smith