Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Cellphones Harm DNA, Study Says
CNN is being very cagey about this report, sub-heading it, "Laboratory did not prove that mobile phones are health risk."
Here's the crux of it: "MUNICH/AMSTERDAM, Germany/Netherlands (Reuters) -- Radio waves from mobile phones harm body cells and damage DNA in laboratory conditions, according to a new study majority-funded by the European Union, researchers said on Monday. The so-called Reflex study, conducted by 12 research groups in seven European countries, did not prove that mobile phones are a risk to health but concluded that more research is needed to see if effects can also be found outside a lab."
What to take away from this are what lab studies are in general. For example, the recent alarm set off by Celebrex (following Vioxx) was met with the reply, "The Laboratory fed the rats 4x the recommended dosage!" At the same time, lung cancer in rats forced to smoke 100x the average cigarette consumption is warmly embraced.
You can get anything to happen in a lab. Anything. There is always the possibility, and often the likelihood, that there is a kernel of truth involved. But to truly judge the severity of the impact you have to look deeper for agendas.
UPDATE: There's a very detailed analysis of what the study actually said (as opposed to only those words members of the media were able to understand) at Common Sense Technology. Thanks for the note, Ed.
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