Protect your kids from cancer-causing cellphones

Protect your kids from cancer-causing cellphones - doctor Photo: INLSA February 20, 2010 Edition 1 SIPOKAZI MAPOSA AN AMERICAN scientist and health activist has called on the South African government to restrict cellphone use by children to limit their possible exposure to radio frequency radiation that could cause brain cancer. Speaking at the opening of the Cancer Association of SA (Cansa) new science and resource centre in Mowbray, Dr Davra Davis warned that children were more vulnerable than adults to the radiation produced by cellphones. Davis, who also launched her new book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer, said recent studies in the US and Europe had shown that excessive use of cellphones posed a major cancer risk. She warned that the studies had shown children were particularly vulnerable to brain tumours and hearing problems because the cellphone signals penetrated deeper into their brains. This was because children''''s skulls were smaller, thinner and still in the developmental stages. Children also had more fluid in their brains than adults. Davis, who compared cellphone radiation to that of a microwave oven, warned that even adults were at risk of developing brain cancer, especially if they had smaller heads. And men were at risk of lowered sperm counts. "The reality is that these (cellphones) are powerful machines... they are hand-held computers. Studies have shown that children who use cellphones before the age of 20 have a greater risk of developing cancer than adults. If we are to invest in our children''''s health, we need to act now," she said, urging the South African government to consider policies that warned against the use of cellphones by children. "It is better to be safe than sorry," Davis said. Countries such as England, Germany and France had formulated policies that discouraged the unsafe use of cellphones. These included issuing warning labels about safer cellphone use, requiring manufacturers to sell cellphones with hands-free kits, and increasing public awareness of the radiation absorption rate. Other ways of avoiding cancer-causing radiation included keeping cellphones away from the body when they were on, avoiding talking in areas with low connectivity and using SMSes rather than calling. Pressure Davis suggested South Africa take a different approach to battling cancer by investing more in prevention instead of pumping millions of rands into treatment. She also encouraged the new resource centre to distribute information on the impact of the environment. "We''''ve got to give people information on cancer. For years we''''ve been selling hope rather than prevention," she said. However, Davis commended the government for its progressive anti-tobacco legislation, saying a ban on smoking in public areas would help boost the economy. Dr Carl Albrecht, Cansa''''s head researcher, said the centre would support people affected by cancer. In the next few years, the association would use research findings on the role of cellphone use in cancer to put pressure on the government to formulate an appropriate policy on the issue.