Some recent studies are calling us to be more cautious about our
cell phone usage. There have been some studies on lab rats over the last two
years that have started linking cell phone usage to higher cancer rates.
Basically what the experiment was, Scientists exposed a bunch of lab rats to
about the same amount of RF radiation (Radio Frequency, the kind of radiation
cell phones use to communicate with cell towers) cell phones and wireless
routers and basically all of our modern internet devices, expose us to. Long
story short the Rats had a noticeably higher rate of schwannomas, and cancer in
glial cells than regular non-exposed rats.
There were some other really
cool findings from the study too. For example only Male lab rats contracted
Schwannomas (cancer of Schwann cells in nerve tissue) and only female lab rats
were found to have glioma. (cancer in glial cells, cells that help brain cells)
They also found higher levels of other types of cancer such as skin cancer,
prostate cancer, and lymphomas, but the most noticeable cancer was the
schwannoma. It's really interesting that the lab rats who were exposed to the
radiation were found to have higher cancer rates, but they also lived longer
than the non-exposed rats.
This is really fascinating
because we live in a day and age where there are cell phones absolutely
everywhere you look. If you can't see a cell phone you're basically bound to
see a laptop, Ipad, internet router or something else that emits the same type
of Radiation. In this article they also mention other studies linking extreme
high rates of cell phone usage to "tumors inside the skull". The
World Health Organization's International Agency on Cancer has listed phones
and RF radiation as a possible carcinogen since 2011. However there are a lot
of disputes on this study, mainly being that there hasn't been an outstanding
increase in cancer since cell phones were made but, with that being said Cell
phones are still very new and Humans are very different than rats. It's
possible humans are more resilient than rats to this kind of radiation but it's
also noteworthy that we probably get exposed to more radiation than the lab
rats did, it’s also mentioned in the article that brain cancer is usually
latent for quite a long time before being noticed or causing any harm.
This is a really cool subject to me because all of my grandparents
had cancer, many family members of mine have had cancer, my aunt is currently
fighting lung cancer as best she can, after just having gotten over breast
cancer a year ago. It’s a pretty safe bet to say that everyone in our class
knows someone who’s going through cancer or had cancer. This is also one of
those scary topics where no matter what you do and where you go you hear about
how almost everything can cause cancer. I’ve made my peace with getting cancer
at some point in my life because I’m sure it’s bound to happen. But the really
cool thing about this article is the fact that we can discover and make real
connections about what may be causing more cancer and hopefully the next step
is then to find the ways to treat, prevent, and delete cancer from our lives. Like
I said I’ve made my peace with having cancer, but I sure as heck would like to
find out more about it and keep other people from having to have the disease.
Article Link--https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-studies-link-cell-phone-radiation-with-cancer/
Cancer is defiantly a very scary thing! My uncle just passed away from battling pancreatic cancer. I have read a couple articles about cell phones and if they can really cause cancer. I found your article pretty fascinating, I did not have time to check out the article, but was wondering how long they tested the rats? and how did they come to see if the rats were getting the same amount of radiation as humans do? awesome topic!
ReplyDeleteMelanie Tiedemann
I'm sorry about your uncle! My grandma also had a battle with breast cancer but luckily survived. The researches from the National Toxicology Program tested 3,000 rats and mice from both sexes for over two years. They also evaluated the levels of radiation exposures like how we experience in our everyday lives. They looked at “near-field” exposures which is equivalent to how close we are in contact with our phones. While “far-field” exposures were equivalent to wireless radiation through our laptops, tablets and televisions. The rats and mice were exposed to the radiation for nine hours a day for two years. The lowest dose allowed for the public from cellphone exposure is 1.6 Watts/kg. To get a constant rate of exposure, the researchers increased the amount of radiation as they grew so it matched the dose per unit body weight.
DeleteJG
Schmidt, C. (2018, March 29). New Studies Link Cell Phone Radiation with Cancer. Retrieved April 22, 2018, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-studies-link-cell-phone-radiation- with-cancer/
Why do you think that the rats exposed to radiation and developed cancer lived longer than rats that weren't? I am wondering this because we think of cancer as something bad, but would we be able to figure out a way to make cancer into a good thing that could help humans live longer?
ReplyDeleteJZ
Good question! I'm not sure why they lived longer, it would have been interesting to see how much longer they lived and if there were any other factors relating to their environment that could have effected that. But in regards to you thought about making cancer into a good thing, I think it's important to remember that cancer is the uncontrolled division of cells. Emphasis on uncontrolled. However, if we specifically target areas and cause cell division in a controlled way, yes, I think that would be beneficial. Imagine the possibilities regarding excelled regeneration of livers or even lungs. The potential is amazing to think about.
DeleteBen Bryson
I enjoyed reading the post about cell phones and its possible link to cancer. Even though the results of the study were inconclusive to a definitive connection to cancer, it's important to consider some of the additional concerns it raises. As a society, we need to start to ask ourselves how these new technologies are affecting our lives; not only on a psychosocial level, but a biological level. In evaluating these issues, we may be able to avoid unintended consequences. For example, I have seen the adverse effects that information or misinformation that can spread so quickly via cell phones can have on teenagers' mental health in my job as a crisis worker in the emergency room. If we could have foreseen or considered all of the negative consequences that have come along with cell phones and the significant impact on not just teenagers, perhaps we would have been more careful in the use and implementation of them into our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog post really interesting because it is a very large and new problem that our previous generations have not experienced before because of the lack of cell phones in their time. I have had family friends that are convinced that they contracted breast cancer from keeping their phone in their bra, and have also heard of people claiming pain in their upper thighs from radiation from keeping their phones in their pocket. I know that humans have a certain immunity to all types of radiation but with the extra exposure that we are putting ourselves in with all this new technology it is a very interesting observation that this can alter our lives in a medical way. I am very interested to see further studies in upcoming years to see if someone can actually prove a direct linkage from cellular radiation to cancer in humans.
ReplyDelete-Davis Zwicky
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ReplyDeleteI think it is really interesting in the correlation between cellphone radiation and cancer. I work at a family practice and we have a video that is offered by an individual to watch about the effects of cell radiation. It talks about the negative effects and how it does harm to the human body. It also talks about how wifi also is similarly related to that harm with cell phones and other hand held devices that are connected to wifi. This is one reason why our office doesn't use wifi and use just the cord in the wall for the internet connection. This subject has really helped me have a open mind to possible radiation on how bodies and minds. I am very curious for further research and implementation on our society.
ReplyDelete-Janet Taufa
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I like this post because it is so relevant to our current society. I have also heard that cell phones can cause cancers, however, it seems that everything today causes cancer. I don't think we should be afraid to live our normal lives because it might cause us to get cancer. Would you stop using your phone and any other technology we have because it could or could not lead to cancer? I believe that there are other genetic factors that lead to a person getting cancer other than using their phone. The technology we have in our lives to day is amazing. I don't think we should stop progressing in our society out of fear of cancer.
ReplyDelete- Haylee Dagley
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed learning about this. Recently there has been lots of public discussion if phone use and screen time can cause things like this. Something I found to be interesting was the fact that some types of things were only found in males or females. There were also things found in both. Its not just cell phones that emit this kind of radiation that can cause these types of cancers. Tablets, computers, wifi routers and many more daily things we see emit this type of radiation that can harm us. - SL
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