http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/07/23/cancer.cell.phones.ap/index.html

I've felt like there was a danger with cell phones for a long time. I know one case is not indicative, but my next door neighbor died a few years ago of a recurring brain tumor after spending about 10 years with a cell phone glued to his ear.

Seems like there's also a lot of financial incentives not to find a correlation between cell phone use and cancer - and still the studies do find a correlation with "heavy users".

I've cut back cell phone use considerably - mostly because of the driving hazard. Maybe it's time to relent and get a blackberry.

I tend to think if there was a danger, brain tumors would have increased significantly over the last 20 years. We are bombarded with electromagnetic radition from all kinds of sources daily, not just cell phones. Think about the enviornment a pilot is in for hours on end several days a week. Everything electronic gives of some radition. IPODs are really bad, don't put one in your shirt pocket if you have a pacemaker. I would be more likely to think living next to power lines is worse for you then a cell phone and they can't prove adverse affects from that. Bring a little neon bulb with you around some high voltage power lines and watch it light up. Live next to an airport? RADAR can make you sterile. We used to have to put cones all around the front of the plane before we turned the RADAR on in the AF. I think there are lots of things besides cell phones in the air that can hurt us worse.

Cataracts I can believe, but cell phones or Radar for that matter does not have enough energy to be ionizing; its non-ionizing radiation.

I am no doctor, but I thought you needed ionizing radiation to mutate cells - i.e. cause cancer?

As far as I know, ionizing radiation includes some of the ultraviolet component of sunlight, X-rays, Gamma-Rays, and so forth.

I have always believed that non-ionizing radiation, such as cell phones and Radar, can still cause damage, but its the heating (or cooking) of the cells, not mutation. Cooking of one's brain cells to me would classify as brain damage.

But as I said, my knowledge is amateur in this regard.

Is that why I almost failed my vision test for the renewal of my driver's license when i've never had problems getting 20/20 in the past?

Nah. Doubt it.

Very interesting read, however!!!!!! Thanks for posting!

You're right al, but radar will cook the boys and cause temporary sterility. At least that's what we were taught in the military and no one I knew voluntered to test the theory. I doubt a cell phone has the power required, even long usuage to cook a brain cell. Newer cell phones output about 1 watt. Not much energy, compare that to a microwave oven, same frequency spectrum, outputting 1500 watts to cook your popcorn.

Which leads me to the question, radiating food with ionizing energy, does it not alter or mutate the cells?

In basic terms, irradiating food (either plant or animal) does not cause cell mutation because the cells are no longer capable of dividing (they are not mitotically active). "Mutations" derive from miscopied or altered DNA segments (genes) during cell division (mitosis). Genes coding for certain proteins may either be turned on or off as a result of the mutation or they may simply not code for anything at all. The latter can be important if it is a regulatory gene that tells the cell to stop dividing. Alternatively, the genes (DNA sequence) are altered and then code for an abnormal protein. Again, in very basic terms, these genes and/or their protein products can result in immortal cells that do not normally respond to the "quit dividing" signal. Cancer is simply defined as an uncontrolled proliferation of cells. The cells may or may not be functional.

Since food has been harvested and animals slaughtered, the cells are no longer growing (or living), and thus, they are not dividing. No cell division means no replication of DNA. No replicating DNA means no mutations. However, heat can denature the proteins and result in "altered" cells. The best example of denatured protein is to think of raw egg whites. Throw them in a skillet and heat them and they turn white and are no longer liquid. This is a result of heat induced protein denaturation (change in the shape or folding of the protein). Obviously, in this case, it is not a bad or harmful thing.

One more thing to add here: Charred or burned meat, on the other hand, is considered to be carcinogenic (cancer causing). Charred meat results in the production of an amine (in case your interested: 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP)) that has been conclusively shown to cause prostate cancer in rats. It has also been linked to colon cancer in rats. This amine or short protein actually causes inflammation in certain organs of both rats and people. The chronic inflammation results in malignant transformation of the normal organ cells. These cells then begin to proliferate uncontrollably which = CANCER.

Disclaimer: Sorry if you lost interest before getting this far. The pathology of cancer in animals and people is my specialty. I can get a little carried away....

About your disclaimer...

What? You kidding me? Great stuff!

I have been told on more than one occasion that I have a talent for explaining technical concepts to the "technically challenged". That is IF they have the requisite interest.

Your skill in explaining complex biological concepts to the layman is outstanding. I'd love to attempt reading one of your professional publications aimed at your peers.

I had a scare from cell phone use a few years ago maybe 1993(edit - I'm still stuck in the 90's - I think it was 2003) or so. One day, I'm using my cell phone - small one - samsung I think.

Anyway, I'm jabbering away and all the sudden I get this awful, feeling, almost a combination of nausea and headache eminating from the ear where the cell phone is.

I pull the thing away from my head and it's hot! I mean hot to touch - I think somehow the lcd backlight got stuck on or something. I was scared to death for a few days after that - because it was about the time my neighbor's cancer came back - and we'd talked about cell phone usage.

I'd forgotten about that incident until I read the article. Anyway - if I croak soon, you'll know why...

Thanks for the great explanation WD. I suspected it was something along those lines but I would have thought plant life still had the ability to create new cells to some extent if they had access to water and light even without a root system. Guess I was wrong.

If there is any truth to it,



I'm toast.



Guess I'll just keep on eating those grilled steaks....mmmm mmmm good.

Most edible fruits and vegetables (not tubers like potatoes) do not retain the capacity for cell division, thus, irradiation does not cause a mutation. Roots and stems and some leaves have mitotically capable cells. Cell division and growth can occur if certain growth hormones and signals are present. Gene mutations in plants can either be harmful or beneficial to the plant, but less commonly to those consuming the plant - unless it confers some protective property to the plant. Think poison ivy in this case.

Still, though, the rare case of altered plant cells resulting from irradiation does not cause cancer in people or animals. That is not to say that plants do not cause cancer. Just as one example - there is a well-studied plant called Bracken Fern found in low lying, wet areas. Cattle that graze this plant develop malignant bladder tumors. So, just because its "all natural" doesn't mean its good for you, especially if you are a Holstein.

Burned toast probably isn't good for you either!

Misconceptions abound in our world today. The best way to protect our food supplies, is to irradiate them. But because of the Hollywood hype about mutations, and legal battles attempting to create victims out of little or nothing, we are scared of anything that uses certain words. Radiation and its related terms is one of those words. Anything that radiates must be evil. But we live because the sun radiates from nuclear energy. We stay warm because a heater radiates heat. A pebble tossed into water, radiates ripples. As far as I am concerned, when a professed intellectual starts making a big deal out of something like this, it is just showing how little we have grown since the Salem witch hunts.

Yes, I was also taught that as well when I was in the Air Force working on microwave transmitters. We were cautioned that cataracts and temporary sterility were the two primary issues from microwave radiation - albeit still non-ionizing. I still remember the old 10mW@cm^2 threshold caution.

And if you think of it a bit, if "cooking" of certain cells in your body kills them, and therefore makes you sterile, it then seems reasonable that new production of those cells would then return your status to normal.

I read an article once about the increase of cataracts during the Second World War and Korea, especially among aircrew. Radar, being a new technology was not understood that well, and apparently, they were getting good doses of radiation from the backside of the radar antenna, and developing cataracts. Unfortunately, and sadly, this phenomenon did not become apparent for quite some time since the longevity of aircrew were short during wartime.

Nice reading WW.

"It's not a tumor!"