We have heard it before. We all know that one person who always tells us that the radio waves from our cellular phones are going to hurt us and eventually cause us cancer. Most of the time, we brush off the comments of people like that as overly pessimistic. We often do not believe such small radio waves can truly emit enough radiation to cause us cancer.
But lo and behold, those “Negative Nancy’s” ended up being right after all.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization revealed their latest findings on cell phones. The trusted experts on health concluded that the radiation that comes from cellular phones could in fact lead to cancer in human beings.
Cell phones are now considered in the came cancer causing class as chloroform, lead, and engine exhaust as far as the World Health Organization is concerned.
However, no official statement was released that said that cell phones definitely led to disease.
Officially, the 31 highly educated scientists from the fourteen participating states, which included the United States, determined that cell phone use “possibly” could cause cancer in human beings as a result of reviewing studies done on cell phones.
The official determination stated that in cell phone users, glioma and acoustic neuroma brain cancer was more evident than in non-users.
One of the obstacles keeping the scientists from a clear-cut determination is that cell phones have only been in wide use for a little over a decade. The time frame is too small to determine whether or not they are truly causing cancer. True results would not be detectable for years to come. Even then, so many other factors come into play.
It could be argued that computer use and uses of other technological advances could be playing a factor as well. It would be difficult to deem cell phones as the only detrimental component in the technological world leading to health problems.
Because the radiation coming off of the phones is like that of a microwave oven, it is possible that memory may be effected over time since when we talk on our cell phones, we hold them up to our memory temporal lobes.
But all of this is inconclusive. Cell phones have simply not been around long enough to make a final judgment. It is not a call to cancel your subscription with your wireless carrier and trade in your iPhone’s and BlackBerry’s for a landline, but it is a call to be a little more conscious with how often and for how long that cell phone is held up to your head.
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