The story that has been running in the mainstream media over the last few days, claiming that worries over the cancer risk from used cell phones have been rebutted has itself been rebutted by worried experts. A new study which was released in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggested that the use of cell phones do not cause a greater risk of developing cancer in children or teenagers, resulting in the majority of the mainstream media jumping on the story with glee, but many experts have now come forward to dispute the claim and cast serious doubts on both the methodology and the ultimate conclusions of the study. It has also been revealed that the study was, at least in part, funded by none other than the cell phone industry itself.
“To have moms assume that kids using cell phones are safe is the wrong conclusion to make,” notes the founder and president of the consumer advocacy group known as Environmental Health Trust, Devra Davis. The European researchers studied over 1000 children and teenagers between the ages of seven and 19 over a period of six months – a period Davis says is ludicrously short to be making such conclusions. “It’s ridiculous to think that because you didn’t find a significant increase in brain cancer among kids that now cell phones are safe,” Davis comments, with brain tumor expert Dr Keith Black agreeing that tumors are usually caused by decades of exposure.