US FDA to review wireless phone safety

[NorthernSun]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it will review wireless phone safety following a recently published study that raised concerns about a heightened risk of brain cancer
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-04-06T165649Z_01_N061368_RTRUKOC_0_US-FDA-CELLPHONES.xml

[NYC]

1. A long time ago, they said cell phones increased the risk of

brain tumors. Then, things got quiet. Then, within the past few months, I asked someone about brain tumors, and was told that was the old technology. New cell phones don't cause brain tumors.

Someone at DU recently posted that cancers of the head and neck have increased, regarding what topic, I don't remember, but it was not about cell phones. When I read it, I wondered if cell phones were a contributing cause.

[flamingyouth]

2. A bioengineering professor at the University of Washington

...found that cell phone signals caused damage to rat brain cells. However, I don't know if that has been proven in humans.

[NYC]

3. If not proven, at least suspected.

I see more people than ever with cell phones now. They have ear plugs and microphones so they don't even have to hold them. Maybe that's an improvement -- cancer wherever the pocket is instead of in the brain.

I never heard an outcome of a study that said cell phones do not cause cancer. I wonder if all the people who spend so much time on cell phones even think about it.

[Up2Late]

4. Why would the FDA do this?!? Wouldn't this be the job of the FCC?

Last time I checked, a Cell phone had nothing to do with FOOD and it's not a DRUG? Unless they are saying that when using a Cell Phone, the microwaves cook your brain? :shrug:

[Tesha]

6. That, more or less, is the basic allegation.

"Cooking" may not be the exact mechanism; it may have more
to do with changes in the migration of ions through cell
membranes in the presence of microwave fields or some similar,
subtle mechanism, but yes, in layman's terms, the allegation
is that cell phones cook users' brains.

And, at some low level of probability, it's probably true.
As with most things, people will need to make a risk/benefit
tradeoff before using their cell phones.

Tesha

[KevinJH87]

5. hopefully it doesnt...

I am hoping it does not cause cancer... As I am at college it is the only phone I use. Maybe I should invest in a headset.

[Tesha]

7. Even headsets aren't a panacea.

Not all headsets are effective at reducing the amount of
radio (microwave) energy coupled into your brain. And I
don't know if anyone has rated which headsets are good
at this and which are bad.

Tesha