What To Make Of California's New Advice On Cellphones And Radiation

Anna Almendrala
Updated

People have long been concerned about radiation from cellphones, but none of the research has persuasively or credibly made the case that the low levels of radiation emitted from personal electronic devices pose a threat to human health.

Still, public health authorities made the decision to offer advice to those who are concerned about potential dangers.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a guide on the issue in 2014, saying that for now there is no scientific evidence to link health problems to cellphones. Connecticut did the same in 2015. The latest public health department to do so, the California Department of Public Health, released a document on Wednesday called, “How to Reduce Exposure to Radiofrequency Energy from Cell Phones.”

The problem: The California agency never meant for the document to be a public warning of any kind.

“This is not a warning. This isn’t an alert. This is a response to concerns that have been expressed to us, over and over again, by the general public,” said Dr. Karen Smith, director of the California Department of Public Health. “Our response is, if you have a concern, here are some very practical things you can do.”

In fact, a previous version of the document had been released after a court order ― not because California’s public health officials thought that people should be warned about risks.

Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to see the guidance on cellphone use that the state agency had been working on since 2009. Earlier this year, a judge ordered the state to release the document, as well as previous versions, to the public. This week’s guidance is an updated version of the documents the public health department released under pressure.

Smith told HuffPost that the agency had been working on a draft on cellphone use but decided to spike it when the CDC released its guidance in 2014, making their work “redundant.”

“At that point, we shelved the idea of needing to put out guidance while we continued to study the science and waiting to see if anything new evolved,” Smith said. “But the fact that we did not issue that guidance at that time was seen by other people as having some other motivation, like there was something we were trying to hide. That wasn’t the case.”

When people express worry about the radiation that cellphones give off, they’re mostly concerned about its possible link to tumors and cancer. So far, most population-based studies in thousands of people over several years don’t show that more cellphone use leads to more brain tumors, although a study in Sweden did find that people who had used a mobile phone for over 25 years had threefold higher odds of developing brain cancer. However, the American Cancer Society notes that this Swedish study is not definitive, as most other studies have not come to the same conclusions, and Sweden did not experience a rise in the rate of brain tumors over the course of the research.

The most alarming study to date, conducted by the National Institutes of Health’s National Toxicology Program, has found that rats exposed to low levels of radiation for nine hours a day, over the course of their two-year lifetimes, had a higher risk of brain and heart tumors. However, it’s unclear what, if any, application this may have for human beings. There are also several caveats to the study that should give people pause about its significance, like the fact that only male rats got the tumors or the fact that their entire bodies were exposed to radiation, not just their heads.

In light of the current research, California’s guidance document states that the research linking cellphones to health problems is still uncertain and that scientists disagree about how great the risk might be for users.

The document advises people worried about radiation to send text messages instead of talking on the phone and to store phones in purses and backpacks instead of in pockets or against the skin. It also advises people to avoid using their cellphone when the cell signal is weak or when they’re in a moving vehicle or train, because the cellphone emits higher levels of radiofrequency energy to make up for the weak signal strength. Finally, it says people who are worried about radiation should not sleep with their phone in the bed or near their head unless it is off or in airplane mode.

Cellphones and other devices, including televisions, radios and microwave ovens, emit a kind of energy called electromagnetic radiation, or radiofrequency energy. This type of radiation is weak and does not damage cells or DNA, but other kinds of radiation on the higher end of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as UV rays from the sun, can damage DNA in cells, leading to health problems including cancer.

A survey of most of the major public health bodies around the world actually do agree on a few things about cellphone radiation: namely, that no research has ever confirmed that low levels of radiation can harm people.

The CDC, the American Cancer Society and the World Health Organization all agree that there is no scientific evidence to date that definitively confirms that radiation from electronic devices poses a threat to human health. In fact, WHO states that there have been approximately 25,000 articles published over the last 30 years about the link between radiation from devices like cellphones and their effects on human health and that to date there has not been any data that confirms any health threat to people.

“Despite the feeling of some people that more research needs to be done, scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals,” WHO states. “Based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, the WHO concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that more research should be done on this issue but that the question of cellphones’ effect on health should be a good reminder for parents that these devices are not toys, especially not for infants or toddlers. The AAP also notes that limits to screen time may serve a dual purpose, to both enhance children’s cognitive development and prevent unnecessary exposure to low levels of radiation.

Based on a few limited studies that have found a possible link between cellphone use and brain tumors, WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency energy as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (group 2b) in 2011 ― a far-ranging category that includes a wide variety of everyday objects and professions, such as exposure to lead, gasoline or traditional Asian pickled vegetables, and being a carpenter or working in textile manufacturing. IARC uses the 2b category for research that finds a credible causal link between substances and health risks, but can’t reasonably rule out chance, bias or confounding factors in the results.

While studies have yet to find a causative link between cellphone use and health risks, what is obvious is our growing dependence on the device, Smith said.

“While the science of whether or not cell phones pose a threat to human health is still evolving and is not definitive, what has become apparent is that the pattern of use of cell phones is changing,” she said. “Many more people are using them, and they’re using them in ways that add hours to the amount of time [in use].”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated Dr. Karen Smith called the guidance an “alert.” In fact, she said it “isn’t an alert.”

Also on HuffPost

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

Sensory Superhighway

Just like the electrical wires in the national grid, the electrical connections between brain cells, as shown in this picture, have to be well insulated. If this insulation is lost, neurons lose their ability to communicate efficiently. This is what happens in several neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS).
Just like the electrical wires in the national grid, the electrical connections between brain cells, as shown in this picture, have to be well insulated. If this insulation is lost, neurons lose their ability to communicate efficiently. This is what happens in several neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS).

Navigating Axons: A Circuitous Route

This colorful picture shows the wiring in a developing brain. Axons (red) are the cables that neurons use to transmit their information, often over relatively long distances and taking highly circuitous routes. The other colors represent different areas of the brain.
This colorful picture shows the wiring in a developing brain. Axons (red) are the cables that neurons use to transmit their information, often over relatively long distances and taking highly circuitous routes. The other colors represent different areas of the brain.

Glial Grandeur

At first glance this may look like a spider’s web but this web measures just 1/20 of a millimeter. It is made up of two types of brain cells – astrocytes in green and a white oligodendrocyte. These cells were originally thought of as the support cells for neurons but it is now known they are essential for many brain functions.
At first glance this may look like a spider’s web but this web measures just 1/20 of a millimeter. It is made up of two types of brain cells – astrocytes in green and a white oligodendrocyte. These cells were originally thought of as the support cells for neurons but it is now known they are essential for many brain functions.

Female Mosaic

This picture of neurons from a female brain highlights those that have switched off the X chromosome inherited from the mother (in green), and those that have silenced the X chromosome inherited from the father (in red). In cases where an altered gene on one of the X chromosomes causes autism or intellectual disability, only around a half of the cells will be affected. This helps to explain why these conditions are less common in women than in men.

Breakdown In Communication

This image shows differences between a typical brain (left) and autism (right). The different colors identify different areas of the brain.
This image shows differences between a typical brain (left) and autism (right). The different colors identify different areas of the brain.

The Astrocyte

These star-shaped cells, or “astrocytes,” were once thought to be simple support cells for neurons. Now we know that they are much more important than this--they also help to create and maintain an environment in the brain that is optimized for electrical and chemical communication.
These star-shaped cells, or “astrocytes,” were once thought to be simple support cells for neurons. Now we know that they are much more important than this--they also help to create and maintain an environment in the brain that is optimized for electrical and chemical communication.

Neuron Networks

Scientists can use mathematics to model brain circuitry, as shown in this picture. They use this approach to predict how brain communication is altered in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and ADHD.
Scientists can use mathematics to model brain circuitry, as shown in this picture. They use this approach to predict how brain communication is altered in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and ADHD.

Wiring The Brain

This is a detailed map of the brain wiring in a sleeping newborn baby (left) and an adult in their seventies (right), visualized using MRI.
This is a detailed map of the brain wiring in a sleeping newborn baby (left) and an adult in their seventies (right), visualized using MRI.

An Electron’s View Of The Brain

Neurons talk to one another across a gap called the synaptic cleft, rather than being directly connected to one another. A trained eye can identify the wires that are transmitting messages and those that are receiving information in this picture.
Neurons talk to one another across a gap called the synaptic cleft, rather than being directly connected to one another. A trained eye can identify the wires that are transmitting messages and those that are receiving information in this picture.

Circuit Building Block

Neurons have branched projections that extend from their cell body called dendrites which give the cells a tree-like appearance. It’s through these dendrites that neurons receive information from hundreds to thousands of other cells.
Neurons have branched projections that extend from their cell body called dendrites which give the cells a tree-like appearance. It’s through these dendrites that neurons receive information from hundreds to thousands of other cells.

Encoding Space

Our brains hold specialized neurons called grid cells that help us to keep track of where we are. This heat map shows the regions in space where an individual grid cell becomes active during exploration of a circular room.
Our brains hold specialized neurons called grid cells that help us to keep track of where we are. This heat map shows the regions in space where an individual grid cell becomes active during exploration of a circular room.

The Egg: Mendel's Moment

This picture shows the egg or “oocyte” preparing the genes that will be passed on to its offspring, which are highlighted in red.
This picture shows the egg or “oocyte” preparing the genes that will be passed on to its offspring, which are highlighted in red.

Regenerating Spinal Cord

Images such as this one, which shows the spinal cord from a zebrafish repairing itself, are helping scientists to study biological mechanisms that could one day reveal treatments for people who are paralyzed due to spinal cord damage.
Images such as this one, which shows the spinal cord from a zebrafish repairing itself, are helping scientists to study biological mechanisms that could one day reveal treatments for people who are paralyzed due to spinal cord damage.

High Fidelity

This picture shows the difference in brain signals from a typical brain (left) and from a brain affected by a condition similar to Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited form of autism (right).
This picture shows the difference in brain signals from a typical brain (left) and from a brain affected by a condition similar to Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited form of autism (right).

The Seahorse

This is a close-up image of a particular area of the brain called the hippocampus, named from the Greek word for “seahorse” because of its shape.
This is a close-up image of a particular area of the brain called the hippocampus, named from the Greek word for “seahorse” because of its shape.

A Fragile Balance

This image shows a series of MRI pictures from the brain of an individual with Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited form of autism.
This image shows a series of MRI pictures from the brain of an individual with Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited form of autism.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.