Cell Phones May Be 'Carcinogenic': Scientists

WHO cancer agency ranks them in same category as DDT
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 31, 2011 1:32 PM CDT
Cell Phones May Be Carcinogenic to Humans: WHO Cancer Research Agency
   (Shutterstock)

The evidence linking cell phones and other wireless devices to cancer seems to be getting stronger: An international team of scientists has concluded cell phones are "possibly carcinogenic to humans," reports AFP. After reviewing scores of published studies on the issue, the International Agency for Research on Cancer—an arm of the World Health Organization—ranked cell phones in category 2B, the same as DDT and gasoline engine exhaust.

The finding now goes to WHO and other health agencies, which may issue official warnings on use, notes AP. The radio frequency electromagnetic fields generated by the phones and other such devices got the ranking "based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer," the agency said. Similar concerns have been around for a while. Click for one writer's safety check list. (More cell phone dangers stories.)

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