By Kurt Soller
Recent headlines have reported new concerns about the links between cell-phone use and brain cancer. Last month the Toronto Department of Public Health advised teenagers and young children to limit their cell-phone use, and Dr. Ronald Herberman, the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, sent out a memo urging his colleagues and their children to do the same. “It’s not wise for us, at this point, to just assume this is a safe device,” says Dr. Keith Black, the head of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He does not let his kids use cell phones without a headset, and won’t until he sees the results of long-term studies exploring whether there is a connection between cell phones and tumor growth. The American Cancer Society says it does not yet have enough information to issue guidelines on the subject. What researchers do know is that the microwave radiation emitted from cell phones penetrates a child’s brain more deeply (younger skulls are thinner and less protective). The most detrimental effects come from long-term, frequent use: an hour a day of talk time over more than 10 years. Radiation rates vary by phone, each of which is assigned a number called the Specific Absorption Rate. Herberman suggests users choose a phone with a lower SAR rating, especially for kids. CNET.com has posted a list of phones with the lowest ratings; smartphones generally emit more microwaves as they search for a signal. With all phones, the threat of damage decreases as the device is moved away from the face, so consider buying your child a headset or wireless Bluetooth device (which emits less radiation than the phone itself). The Jabra BT3010, which comes with decorative covers, and the Samsung WEP310 both retail for less than $30, making them sensible options for teens, says Nicole Lee, a CNET cell-phone reviewer. And text messaging is among the safest ways kids can stay connected—unless, of course, they’re behind the wheel of a car. But it shouldn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that one out.
