WHO says cell phone radiation is possibly carcinogenic. Now what?

Time

Bryan Walsh

May 31, 2011

Using a mobile phone may increase your risk for certain kinds of brain cancers. That was the scientific conclusion relayed today by a working group of 31 scientists from 14 countries meeting at the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO/IARC) who completed a review of the available scientific evidence on cell-phone radiation and brain tumors.

The group, which is working on a research monograph that will soon be available, classified cellphones in the carcinogenic category 2B, similar to chemicals like the pesticide DDT and gasoline engine exhaust. In slightly clearer terms, that means cell-phone radiation is “possibly carcinogenic” to human beings. “A review of the human evidence of epidemiological studies shows an increased risk of glioma and malignant types of brain cancer in association with wireless-phone use,” Dr. Jonathan Samet, the chairperson of the IARC working group, told reporters today.