Betreff: £250,000 project finds no cancer correlation; industry reports of the mobile study |
Von: Iris Atzmon |
Datum: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:26:53 +0200 |
AKROTIRI
RESIDENTS yesterday remained unconvinced that the British Bases antenna
‘Pluto’ was harmless, despite the results of a medical survey claiming
that it was.
The residents continue to believe the
gargantuan antenna that sits on their doorstep is to blame for what
they say are increased cancer incidence in their village.
The study found no such correlation, only that residents suffered
increased frequency of migraines, headaches, dizzy spells and
depression.
Health Minister Charis Charalambous along with senior ministry medical
officer Dr Andreas Georgiou presented the results of the Bristol
University study to residents on Thursday night.
The study, which looked at the communities of Akrotiri, Asomatos and
Kyvides, was completed in June 2005. Charalambous blamed “unacceptable
bureaucracy” for delays in informing residents of its content.
The minister said measurements of the electromagnetic fields would
continue so that a better picture of the antennas operation could be
achieved and that efforts would be made to conduct a second more
in-depth study.
The residents heard the village’s cancer incidence was unrelated to the
antennas presence.
Georgiou said the increased symptoms of headaches, migraines,
depression and dizzy spells could not be exclusively blamed on the
antennas and that other factors, such as the frequent airplane flights
over the village, could also be to blame.
The residents remained unconvinced regarding the study’s validity and
said in the past two years four people had died of cancer and five
others were suffering from it.
The also expressed concern that no one could guarantee that the British
had not reduced the antenna’s transmissions so that the results were
within the permissible limits.
During the discussion it emerged that the British Bases had not kept to
its agreement with the government regarding only using one antenna at a
time and that since the September 11 terrorist attacks due to greater
needs, both antennas sometimes worked simultaneously.
The Bases representative said it was the Bases’ administration’s
intention to cooperate with the government regarding implementing
specific recommendations made by the researchers, particular as far as
continuing with taking measurements.
Meanwhile Charalambous assured the residents he would be examining
their concerns closely and would return to discuss what further steps
needed to be taken.
Mobile phones & cancer: the headlines are wrong again |
By Stuart Corner | ||
Saturday, 27 January 2007 | ||
The topic of mobile phones
and cancer is highly emotive, and very important. The majority of
research to date has shown no links but there have been some disturbing
exceptions, always disputed and denigrated by the cellular industry.
Erroneous and emotive headlines do not help. The story was prompted by a study, to be published later this year in the International Journal of Cancer, undertaken by The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland. It compared the mobile phone use of 1521 people with gliomas with that of 3301 people without them. Gliomas are tumours that develop in a type of brain cell called glial cells, or sometimes glia, or neuralgia. So what did the research actually find? According to a published abstract of the study, "We found no evidence of increased risk of glioma related to regular mobile phone use. No significant association was found across categories with duration of use, years since first use, cumulative number of calls or cumulative hours of use. When the linear trend was examined, the odds ratio for cumulative hours of mobile phone use was 1.006...per 100 hrs, but no such relationship was found for the years of use or the number of calls. We found no increased risks when analogue and digital phones were analysed separately." So where did that headline come from? Well the researchers went on to say. "For more than 10 years of mobile phone use reported on the side of the head where the tumour was located, an increased odds ratio of borderline statistical significance (OR = 1.39) was found, whereas similar use on the opposite side of the head resulted in an odds ratio of 0.98. In other words, for people who had been using a cellphone for more than 10 years the incidence of Glioma on that side of the head was 40 percent greater, in the sample studied. Note that the abstract said
the finding was of "borderline statistical significance" and that
"Although our results overall do not indicate an increased risk of
glioma in relation to mobile phone use, the possible risk in the most
heavily exposed part of the brain with long-term use needs to be
explored further before firm conclusions can be drawn."
That hardly constitutes a case of 'far more likely'. Not even 'likely'. Such cautious statement as this, unfortunately do not make for good headlines. However while the majority of very many studies have yet to come up with any conclusive link, such findings as these - and there are others hinting that all may not be well and calling for further research - are especially disturbing when you consider that the great explosion of mobile phone usage is barely a decade old. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that, years in the future the world could suffer an epidemic of cancers induced by long-term cellphone usage. But so far there is very little indication of this. As iTWire reported recently, other types of electromagnetic radiation are far more hazardous. 'Mobiles are safe', operators claimBase stations do not damage DNA, operators say
|
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002