Re: Can long-term cordless phone use cause cancer?

"I got a cordless phone for my birthday and I talk on it at least 1-2 hours a day. One of my friends said that talking on this type of phone can actually cause cancer! I find this hard to believe. Can talking on a cordless phone or cell phone cause cancer and, if so, how is this possible?

Laura:

Many people are worried that radiofrequency radiation (RFR) from mobile (cellular) phones might cause brain cancer. Since both mobile phones and cordless phones are two-way radios that are held close to the head, any health effects produced by one type of radio might be cause by the other.

But:

• Despite many studies there is no real evidence that mobile phones actually cause brain cancer in humans.
• Multiple studies have shown that mobile phone RFR does not cause brain cancer in animals, even when they are exposed for most of their life.
• There is no scientific reason to think that the levels of RFR delivered to the user of a cell phone or cordless phone would cause any biological effects at all.
• Most cordless phones produce far less RFR than most cellular phones.

However, since it is impossible to prove that any technology is absolutely safe, there is no way to absolutely prove that cordless phones could not cause some type of biological effect. The best we can say is that:

• scientists have studied the possibility that RFR might cause cancer,
• there is no evidence that RFR from cordless phones cause cancer,
• there is no real scientific reason to think that cordless phones would cause cancer.

Reasonably up-to-date reviews of this area include:

• KR Foster and JE Moulder: Are mobile phones safe? IEEE Spectrum, August 2000, pp 23-28.
  (http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/publicfeature/aug00/prad.html)
• Human Exposure to Radio Frequency and Microwave Radiation from Portable and Mobile Telephones and Other Wireless Communication Devices. IEEE Eng Med Biol, Jan/Feb 2001, pp 128-131.
  (http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~kfoster/phone.htm)
• H Frumkin, A Jacobson et al: Cellular phones and risk of brain tumors. CA Cancer J Clin 51:137-141, 2001.
  (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/pub/content/ pub_3_8x_environmental_carcinogens- cellular_phones_and_risk_of_brain_tumors.asp)
• Cell Phone Facts: Consumer Information on Wireless Phones, Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Communications Commission..
  (http://www.fda.gov/cellphones/)
• JD Boice and JK McLaughlin: Epidemiological studies of cellular telephones and cancer risk -- A review. Stockholm, Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, 2002.
  (http://www.ssi.se/ssi_rapporter/pdf/ssi_rapp_2002_16.pdf)

John Moulder
Radiation Biologist
Medical College of Wisconsin