Cellphones Are a "Carcinogenic Hazard", Says the World Health Organization.

A year ago the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released the Interphone Report, the conclusion of a ten year project to determine whether or not cell phone radiation caused health problems. At the time, the Interphone studys conclusion was that the evidence for cell phone hazards just wasnt there, even though a number of researchers involved in the project expressed concerns about long-term use. But today, after a working group of 31 scientists from 14 countries reviewed the latest research data, the IARC announced that it has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from cell phones as possibly carcinogenic to humans based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer. Jonathan Samet, overall Chairman of the Working Group, said that "the evidence, while still accumulating, is strong enough to support a conclusion that there could be some risk, and therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk." In its news release detailing its conclusions, the IARC indicated that this conclusion has implications for public health, particularly given that an estimated 5 billion people around the world use a mobile phone. This is the first formal acknowledgment that we may have a problem on our handsand it could be a very big problem. We dont know yet, Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, told Spectrum. This announcement will likely lead to increased research about the specific effects of cell phone radiation, and will likely give a boost to efforts to insist that a phones radiation emission levels are prominently labelled in cell phone stores, something the cell phone industry has been fighting.