Do cellular phones cause cancer? As I walk through the doors at Circuit City I
look around at all the customers shopping throughout the store and wonder which
one will ask the question first. I sell cellular phones, and many customers are
concerned with getting cancer from the phones. In recent years, many scientists
have conducted tests, which show that cell phones can cause cancer over a period
of time. Many shows on television have talked about the tests and show the tests
that were preformed to determine which ones can cause cancer. Many of the
popular phones are proven to cause cancer. Because of this study many customers
are concerned with the use of these phones. Have you ever wondered if using your
cellular phone will cause you to develop cancer and possibly end your life
early? This question also helps ask the question why is the number of cellular
phone users increasing and at the same time so is the number of brain cancer
that is reported? Many questions arise when talking about the use of the
cellular phones, but many of the questions are still unanswered. This question
first arose in 1993 when David Reynard of Florida filed a suit against NEC
Corporation of Japan claiming his late wife’s brain cancer was caused or
accelerated by cell phone use. In 1995, his case was dismissed from court
because the judge said the medical evidence did not prove that the cell phone
had accelerated the brain tumor. As the study started to decrease the number of
cell phones sold, the companies decided to test the study. Many scientists have
discussed the study and have facts that show it is only the p.2 Jundt analog
phones that can cause cancer. These phones run at 800 MHz, verses the digital
phones, which run at 1900 MHz. Because the analog phones run at lower
frequencies they require more power to work, thus in the long run they can cause
cancer. Each phone that was tested was done so in the same manner. Most
companies now are coming out with only digital phones instead of the
conventional analog phones that most people have. Many of the tests that have
been conducted also showed that the amount of radio waves that entered the brain
depends on how the user held the phone. If the user held the phone the way it is
meant to be held it points the antenna away from the head and in then the phone
directs the radio waves through the phone and not the head. The amount of power
that is released depends on how far the phone is away from the tower. Depending
on the distance from the tower the phone can release up to sixty percent of its
power around the head, which in return can penetrate up to an inch, and a half
into the human brain. Many scientists have proven that a small amount of radio
waves will enter the body, but such a small amount is actually in the body that
it will take over fifty years to see any effects if any at all. Because of these
tests that have been conducted already many of the companies are spending
between twenty-five and thirty billion dollars to conduct their own test to see
if the phones do cause cancer. The scientists have found that depending on how
close the phone is to cellular-transmission the phone can release as much as
sixty percent of the power around the users head. Dr. George Carlo, a researcher
that was hired by the cellular-phone industry, conducted this study. Because the
population in the world is constantly rising seventeen thousand Americans will
be diagnosed as having cancer of the brain or central nervous system this p.3
Jundt year, and twelve thousand will die of the disease. Brain cancer in the
United States has increased about one percent per year since 1973, and the death
rate has increased less than one percent per year. The increase of brain cancer
is seen mainly in people who are sixty-five years of age or older. For this age
group the death rates have increased three percent per year since 1973. For
people under the age sixty-five, the death rate has only increased half of a
percent in each year. Because of this many companies are wondering if the use of
cell phones have an effect on the brain. In 1998, the cellular phone industry
added a record thirteen million user. As the users of cellular phones increase
so does the cause of brain cancer. However, because there are more cell phone
users in the world does not reflect why brain cancer has also increased. The
number of patients diagnosed with brain cancer has risen simply because the
increase in population throughout the world. However the stocks of the companies
slowly begin to drop as the result of these studies. In the studies that have
been conducted the cellular phones show no signs of causing brain cancer. They
have been shown to cause cancer in mice, but the studies also explain that the
mice require less power to develop the signs.