Do cell phones cause cancer?

[uh_clem]

  I came across this story today...

Mobile phones more dangerous than smoking.

[jamesb]

this research is still on going and not all together conclusive at this time, besides his research says it doubles your risk of brain cancer, not that you will get brain cancer.

A study conducted by four British Universities in 2006 concluded that there was no cause-and-effect relation between the cell phone use and brain tumours. The study involved over 3000 participants using cell phone for the past 10 years.

The same year a Danish study looked at over four lakh cell phone subscribers using mobiles since 1982 and found no direct link between tumour risk and mobile phone usage.

a Japanese study this year compared phone use in 300 brain cancer patients with 700 healthy people and found that regular use did not significantly affect the likelihood of getting brain cancer.

James

[Roy]

Don't know about cancer, but they might cause popcorn (at least in Korea).

<a href="http://www.koreus.com/video/telephone-portable-mais-popcorn" target="_blank">http://www.koreus.com/video/telephone-portable-mais-popcorn</a>

[RichardM]

 
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/06/cellphones-cant.html
http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2008/06/10/cell-phone-popcorn.htm
http://www.snopes.com/science/cookegg.asp

[dkerr24]

Cell phones may/may not cause cancer, but they sure have a huge annoyance factor.  People in our office leave the damn things on their desk, then leave for meetings.  Of course, they ring while they're gone.  If I have to hear another rendition of Flo Rida's 'Elevator', I'm gonna drop that phone in a glass of water!

[Roy]

If I have to hear another rendition of Flo Rida's 'Elevator', I'm gonna drop that phone in a glass of water!

A hammer would probably be more satisfying.    We had a "thing" going around here where everyone had their ring tones set to animal sounds;  ducks, roosters, cows...

Thanks for the debunk, Richard;  I couldn't figure out how they did it;  guesss I need to spend more time on Snopes.

[jamesb]

Cell phones may/may not cause cancer, but they sure have a huge annoyance factor.  People in our office leave the damn things on their desk, then leave for meetings.  Of course, they ring while they're gone.  If I have to hear another rendition of Flo Rida's 'Elevator', I'm gonna drop that phone in a glass of water!

turn it off and put it in their desk drawer

i work for a wireless company so we all have phones (some have 2 or more) and its extremely annoying in my office. back in the old days if you left your phone laying around unattended, there was no telling what would happen to it or what phone # we would forward all calls to or from that phone. Nothing like seeing the expression on someones face when they go to call their wife and they get one of those steamy chat lines or the other way around

James

[Goldilocks]

I spend a lot of time in meetings and I have never understood why people can't put their phones on vibrate or silent.  There is no reason to disturb a meeting with a loud ring.  I am on call all the time so my phone is always with me but I don't let it ring when it might be disruptive and I still manage to get all my calls.  Go figure. 

[RichardM]

What bugs me is when my wife calls and I am unable to answer due to a meeting, etc. She then leaves a voice mail just to say "call me", even thought I've repeatedly told her it's not necessary, that I'll return any missed calls ASAP. Today she not only did that but called again a minute later. Thus I assumed it was really important and had to interrupt the meeting (which I was leading) to call her back. Only took me asking her three times if I could call her back before she admitted I could, as it wasn't anything time-critical. Then when I did call her back, she complained about me not being able to answer her first call.  And just to push the irony meter a bit farther off-scale, the reason she called in the first place was to let me know her mother had offered to babysit while we went to a movie this weekend. She said "I just wanted to call you with some good news for a change".
Oh wait, we were talking about cancer and cell phones, not clueless spouses. Sorry 'bout that. Carry on.

[homerboy2u]

Oh wait, we were talking about cancer and cell phones, not clueless spouses. Sorry 'bout that. Carry on.

 First time i have read an off topic line from the Moderator. Some time, you had to give in...

[Al]

What a bizarre event.  Are you really telling us that you have a wife who doesn't closely follow her husband's every instruction? 

UNBELIEVABLE! 

Does she have any Irish blood in her like my wife?

Al

[presidio]

I spend a lot of time in meetings and I have never understood why people can't put their phones on vibrate or silent. 

It is one of two things. A potential means of getting out of a meeting to take an 'important' call but, more likely, it is their pathetic way of letting everyone know how important and busy they are.

What it really says is they have no regard or respect for their associates. Same thing when someone automatically interrupts an in-person conversation to answer a ringing phone. That irritates the heck out of me.

However, people are so conditioned to answer the phone (Pavlov's response) that when I would let it ring and go to voice mail most folks would want to know if I needed to answer it. I always said it would go to voice mail or they would call back and that whoever was on the phone was less important than the face-to-face conversation we were having. Try that, you'll get a lot of blank stares while they process the implications. It helps to draw the analogy that if you weren't there it wouldn't get answered either. I have occasionally asked people who interrupt me for a call why they think the ringing phone is more important than the conversation we are having. That's one they really don't have an answer for (Pavlov again).

[RichardM]

I had only had my cell phone for a few days when I went to a meeting. I dutifully turned it to vibrate. Sure enough, it went off with a most jarring ring a few minutes later. Oops, forgot to check the incoming text message alert setting.  The AT&T/Nokia default tone for messages was incredibly obnoxious and has ever since been set to a single beep. And of course, the message was just SPAM. 

[SHANEA]

Yes, ATT has been spamming my cell phone wanting me to add services, etc.  Finally read enough of the message to find out if I replied a certain way they would remove me from marketing.  Then they send me another text message confirming that I was removed. Probably charged me for that too.  I can't believe they charge me for incoming text messages that I didn't request, etc.   

I can hardly wait until the US Airline industry and the FAA allow cell phones to  be used on airplanes at altitude.     It's going to be so fun jammed into a hot stinking airplane, sitting in the middle seat, listening to two clowns shouting into their phone on either side of me. 

Cell phones are annoying.  Last night trying to check out at Krogers, the lady in front of me was too busy talking on her phone to check out.  The checker was finished and the lady was yacking away.  I really like the checkers at "stop-and-rob" convience stores and gas stations that are yacking on the phone while checking out customers.    Sometimes when people are really loud and obnixoious on their phone, I'll open mine up and pretend to talk to someone - very loud and obnoxiously - and usually about crude things or pretend to be a stock broker and give out false tips, etc.  People yacking on the phone and won't drive.  I'd like a bumper sticker that says "hang up and fing drive".  I honked at a person not long ago wondering why they had not pulled out in traffic, nothing was coming.  Got the bird, you know, the universal sign. 

Got a huge laugh one time at IAH waiting for a plane.  Sitting next to a really cute girl that was yacking away about her "conquest" the night before - and also right before she left to the airport.  She was really loud about it and I just cracked up laughing as she was going into extensive detail about her sessions.  She looked at me, hung up, and told me it was very rude to listen to someone else's conversation as she walked away.  I was hoping we would have adjacent seating on the flight...    

If the government wants to regulate something, instead of 55mph, they should outlaw phones on the highways like Great Britain does.  Serious offense to be using a mobile phone in a moving car.  If you cause a wreck or injure/kill someone - you can go to jail - and people have. 

[Undertaker]

I don't use my phone much in the car, but if outlawed, then the police should not be allowed to use radio or computer in car, they are no better drivers than most others.