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Mobile Phone Use And Acoustic Neoroma

Posted by timothy on from the details-emerge dept.

meeiw writes "A study from the Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM) at Karolinska Institute, Sweden found that 10 or more years of mobile phone use increase the risk of acoustic neuroma (slow-growing tumor) and that the risk increase was confined to the side of the head where the phone was usually held."

24 comments

  1. Gee who would have thought by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    microwaving your brain would be bad for you?

  2. Considering... by ttfkam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Considering that cell phones have been out for more than twenty years and that digital cell phones (higher frequency but lower power) have been out for more than ten, are we seeing significantly higher rates of acoustic neuroma?

    Let's face it. We have a sample size in the hundreds of millions. It would be pretty easy to pick out pathology rates with any significance.

    And is it the radio frequency that would cause the problem? The power output? The heat? The volume level?

    I applaud these researchers for looking into it, but I am not looking forward to the crackpots who will inevitably come out of the woodwork proclaiming this to be proof that cell phones and cell towers are obviously the cause of every ailment that plagues them from toothaches and bed head to their 89 year-old grandmother's lumbago and lactose intolerance.

    --

    - I don't need to go outside, my CRT tan'll do me just fine.
    1. Re:Considering... by BandwidthHog · · Score: 1

      I'm trying to reconcile that comment with your .sig...

      --

      Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
  3. One more reason to quit analog cell phones by jsveiga · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Note that the study was performed with analog-phones only.

    Analog phones (which survive mostly in the US) transmit 100% of the time during a call (actually it starts transmitting even before the other party answers).

    GSM phones transmit at 1/8 of the time - maximum (if you are not using data - but then when you are doing GPRS/EDGE, you don't have the phone in your ears). If you use half-rate it's 1/16 of the time. If it's AMR and DTX (discontinuous transmission), it can be even less.

    TDMA phones transmit at 1/3 of the time.

    CDMA (IS2000) phones transmission can vary (similar to DTX), but its more than the GSM minimum - max power is lower, frequency is spreaded, yaddayadda, but its more RF per time.

    So, if you take GSM at it's 1/8 of the time, would that mean 80 years of usage? Maybe not. Max GSM handheld power is higher than max Analog handheld power (but then, you only use it if you are FAR from a cell site), and I bet we use cell phones more and more often if compared to 10 years ago.

    So let's say 60 years to be safe? And let's alternate the cell phone ear, so it's 120?

    I'll take it.

  4. Chances are doubled! Panic! by ivan256 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh, wait... They're doubled from one case in 100,000 to two cases in 100,000... So, talking on a cell phone for ten years changes my chance of getting one of these (cureable) tumors from slim, to... slim. (assuming they can even get that accurate given a sample size of 600)

    So what?

    1. Re:Chances are doubled! Panic! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Keep in mind that the 1:100,000 figure does not appear to assume cell phone use. Obviously, a sample size of 600 would not suffice to demonstrate an event with probability 0.00001.

      I agree that it is a little bit suspicious that they do not include number of positives in their study (depending on this number, the sample size may be inferred to be adequate). Bah; stupid press release.

      Here's another interesting article, in which the RF emission characteristic of cell phone use is correlated with a reduction in time taken to answer simple questions:
      http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000212/fob1. asp

      It seems clear that RF exposure has some biological effect. I hope that this good science can continue and come to some clear, unbiased answers. Hell, it might even be good for you, kind of like low-level background radiation!

  5. And also, that was a Swedish study... by jsveiga · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I guess they didn't take into account the 10-year effect of uncovering your ear from the warmth of a hood to the cold Nordic weather everytime you had to answer the cellphone being outdoors.

    I bet they didn't have that on the control group!

    (is slashdot slashdotted? I'm getting a lot of 503)

  6. A slow-growing benign tumor? by jgoemat · · Score: 1
    Let's see... 1 in 100,000 chance of getting a slow-growing benign tumor after 10 years of use. I'm going to throw my cell phone away immediately!

    The odds of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime are 1 in 3,000 (the 1 in 700,000 figure is for each year). I'm going to live in my basement from now on too. (source)

    1. Re:A slow-growing benign tumor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm going to live in my basement from now on too.

      -1: Redundant

    2. Re:A slow-growing benign tumor? by Sancho · · Score: 1

      The statistics are lower, sure, but it indicates that the microwaves can cause problems. Also, this particular type of tumor affects your hearing, so while not life-threatening, it is an issue.

      I've noticed a constant ringing in my ears lately that I probably should get checked out. Obviously the odds are in my favor for this type of tumor, but the thought of losing my hearing is still a scary one.

    3. Re:A slow-growing benign tumor? by lordscarlet · · Score: 1

      The 1 in 100,000 chance is per year and for acoustic neuromas in general. so you still need to compare to 1 in 700,000 first of all, and they're saying the chance is doubled from 1 in 100,000 per year.

      I happen to have an acoustic neuroma. I was diagnosed with it at the age of 24 (I'm now 25) which is very young for it to occur. This study makes me woner. Although, I didn't start using a cell phone until 5 or 6 years ago.

  7. One more reason to use a Bluetooth headset by Eric+Smith · · Score: 1

    I keep my GSM phone in my pocket. Bluetooth uses much lower transmit power than the phone. I suppose I have less risk of acoustic neuroma than if I had the phone to my ear, but maybe more risk of something else near my thigh.

    1. Re:One more reason to use a Bluetooth headset by Breakfast+Pants · · Score: 1

      "I keep my GSM phone in my pocket ... but maybe more risk of something else near my thigh." The word you are looking for is testicles. Home of some of the fastest dividing cells in your body; cells are most vulnerable to mutation from radiation when dividing.

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      --

      WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
    2. Re:One more reason to use a Bluetooth headset by Eric+Smith · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, the "line-of-sight" from the phone to my testicles is through more than six inches of flesh and bone. Not much 1.9 GHz RF is going to get through that.

    3. Re:One more reason to use a Bluetooth headset by Breakfast+Pants · · Score: 1

      Most people don't keep their cellphone in their ass pocket. I was talking about a front pocket.

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      --

      WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
  8. Risk factors. by Christopher+Thomas · · Score: 1

    And is it the radio frequency that would cause the problem? The power output? The heat? The volume level? ...The solvents used in the plastic of the handset?

    Assuming that the problem is RF related is premature (though that is, of course, one of the options, if the study is corroborated). I'm still waiting for the studies about power lines and cancer to look for soil contaminants. Transformer coolants used to be extremely nasty (and now are only _moderately_ nasty).

    1. Re:Risk factors. by cft_128 · · Score: 1
      I'm still waiting for the studies about power lines and cancer to look for soil contaminants.

      I read not too long ago about a UK study that found that an increase in some cancers came from living near power lines might be from the powerlines giving air pollution a charge and the charge causing the particles to stick in the lungs better. Ah, found the BBC story. Still under study but does make some sense.

      --

      Underloved Movies and Pub Quiz: donotquestionme.org

  9. What is "Neoroma"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is that the aroma from Neo's butt?

  10. RRRIPPP!!!!****crinkle****crinkle**** by rts008 · · Score: 2, Funny

    heard as I pull ou my roll of tinfoil and start constructing helmet....

    --
    Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
  11. OT: Interesting report timing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    It seems that this report has arrived AFTER
    Swedish Ericsson stopped making cel phones
    in Sweden... ;-)

  12. In 10 yrs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    we will be worrying a bout the rfid implant chips causing tumors, not cell phones...

  13. Do you have an iPod? by GCP · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    If you pull the plugs out of your ears that constant noise ought to stop. ;-)

    Seriously, I hope you don't have tinnitus. These amazing MP3 players are probably a far greater health hazard than any mobile phone. It's so easy to get adjusted to the sound level, turn it up a little, get used to it again, turn it up again, etc. Just because it doesn't SEEM too loud doesn't mean it's safe, especially over the very long time periods these devices make possible. BE CAREFUL!

    --
    "Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
    1. Re:Do you have an iPod? by Sancho · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I listen to music almost exclusively through speakers. When I do use a portable player, I keep the volume fairly low.

      Anyway, the ringing is fairly low right now and most of what I've read indicates that only if the problem is left untreated will it increase. Also, I had a history of ear infections as a child, so it's likely that this is simply a complication/side effect from all those years of bacteria :)

      Doubt it's music, though thanks for the thoughts :)

  14. Energy levels by bs83 · · Score: 1

    As the tumors are limited to the side of the brain that people hold the phone to, it would indicate that the problem is very localized. That is if you moved the antenna a few inches away from the head, the problem would go away. Remember the power levels drop as the square of the distance. Moving the antenna from 1 inch to 3 inches away gives us 1/9th the power hitting your brain. Some phones do this. Maybe we should encourage the rest of them to do the same. If I remember right the wave length is a few inches, making your brain a nice target.