CDC Documents Show Disagreement about Cellphone Risk Recommendations

Internal documents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show there was debate among scientists and health officials about what recommendations to make for cellphone use and radiation, New York Times reports. The agency issued new guidelines eighteen months ago: “We recommend caution in cellphone use” the agency stated. Several weeks later, however, the CDC revoked this language in light of confusion about policy change. NYT reports that the initial warning was an unusually bold move for the CDC. Beforehand, the agency said radiation from cellphones “likely are comparable to other lifestyle choices we make every day.” The CDC also removed a section that talks about possible risks in children.

When it comes to cellphone use and radiation, most agencies assert that there is little or no evidence linking it to cancer. The study most often cited for this point is the 2010 Interphone study published by the International Agency for Research of Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization, which found “over all, no increase in risk” but there were “some indications of an increased risk of glioma,” among the heaviest 10 percent of users. However, the study looked usage rates much lower than what is seen today , according to Interphone’s principal investigator Dr. Elisabeth Cardis. In 2014, a study showed that Americans use smartphones more than 34 hours a month on average; this is much higher than the median call time of two to two and a half hours per month in the Interphone study. “I can’t say for sure there’s an effect, but I can’t say for sure there’s no effect.” Dr. Cardis said to NYT.

“If there’s a risk, it’s likely to be greater for exposures at younger ages,” said Dr. Cardis, who is currently conducting a European study looking at the risks of cellphone use in children, “simply because the skull is thinner and the ears are thinner in children than in adults. Basically your phone is closer to your brain.” The IARC called cellphones a “possible” carcinogen in 2011.

According to over 500 pages of records obtained by NYT, there was considerable back-and-forth concerning cellphone use recommendations. After the CDC issued its new language, there was confusion about policy change and questions of liability. The internal documents show CDC officials discussed how to move away from the new language. CDC spokeswoman Bernadette Burden said the guideline was prompted by “a C.D.C.-wide effort to make health information for the public easier to understand” but led many to mistakenly think a new policy has been implemented. “To correct that misperception and to confirm that C.D.C. had not changed its policy or recommendations, C.D.C. posted a clarification statement,” she stated, according to NYT.

Dr. Christopher J. Portier, who served on the IARC and is former director of the CDC branch that issued the cautionary language, supports the initial warning. “I would not have removed it,” in a NYT interview. “I would have been in support of a recommendation that parents look carefully at whether their children need cellphones or not.” He also said parents should be provided “with enough information to say caution isn’t ill advised, because we really don’t know, and there are enough indicators to say we should be cautious.”

from Parker Waichman http://www.yourlawyer.com/blog/cdc-documents-show-disagreement-about-cellphone-risk-recommendations/