Your Mobile Phone Probably Won’t Give You Cancer Despite Cancer Found In Rats | Men's Health Magazine Australia

Your Mobile Phone “Probably” Won’t Give You Cancer

The dangers of mobile phone radiation have been the subject of debate for almost three decades. Despite the rumours swirling around, most notably about if their radiation is carcinogenic, tech companies have continued to develop them to be bigger and better. And as consumers, our reliance on them has increased immeasurably.

Well scientists from the National Toxicity Program in the US have unsuccessfully attempted to put this debate to bed, through a two year long experiment which exposed 3000 mice and rats to 3G and 2G mobile phone frequencies. The conclusion delivered by the researchers: mobile phones won’t give you cancer… probably.

The summary provided by the research team has confused the science community, as the results of the trial actually DID produce heart tumours in male rats. While talking to NBC, lead researcher John Buckner said that the growth of tumours in the rats wasn’t concerning as humans would never be exposed to the radiation levels experienced by the rodents in the study.

“I think the reports don’t go much further than what we reported earlier, and I have not changed the way I use a cellphone, no,” said Bucher.

What has the scientific community both confused and concerned is that fact that the experiment was specifically designed to mimic the effects of mobile phone usage and their radiation on humans, through the use of rodents, which are commonly called on as human replacements in dangerous studies.

Whilst humans may not be exposed to the levels of radiation experienced by the rodents in the study, our usage has already surpassed the short two year study. The long term effects of radiation still need to be investigated according to government health bodies, despite the reported incidence of tumours as a result of phone radiation not increasing.

“I want to underscore that based on our ongoing evaluation of this issue and taking into account all available scientific evidence we have received, we have not found sufficient evidence that there are adverse health effects in humans caused by exposures at, or under the current radio-frequency energy exposure limits,” said Director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Jeffrey Shuren. “Even with frequent daily use by the vast majority of adults, we have not seen an increase in events like brain tumors. Based on this current information, we believe the current safety limits for cell phones are acceptable for protecting the public health.”

Shuren did acknowledge that based on the cancer findings as a result of this study, continued research, debate and discussion surrounding regulations would continue.

It seems the jury is still out, so stay tuned for information on the dangers of your phone. Just play it safe by reading it on a PC, not on your phone.

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