WHO Links Cancer to Cell Phones

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A couple of days ago, the official party line from the World Health Organization on cell phones was this: "no adverse health effects have been established."  Not anymore...

After what is being described as an exhaustive peer review of cell phone safety studies, the WHO is now affirming what has been suspected for decades; cell phone usage is linked to an increased risk of brain tumors. The WHO is officially classifying cell phone usage as "possibly carcinogenic".

Cell phones emit a kind of radiation described as "non-ionizing", similar to that of a microwave oven. What does microwave radiation do to food? Uh huh! Well, guess what it may be doing to your brain? Neurologists warn that is in addition to the possible cancer risk. The cell phone when placed against the ear is also placed against the memory temporal lobes posing a risk of cognitive memory loss.

Here's a round-up of reactions:

1. The CTIA Wireless Association maintains that cell phones don't cause cancer and that these findings are based on old peer review studies and not new studies.

2. The European Environmental Agency wants more studies and warns cell phones could pose as much of a public health risk as lead, asbestos and smoking.

About those additional studies. What most scientists do agree on is that it will take decades to really understand the long term health effects of cell phone usage.

Er uh, and that's why they are called "long term" effects.

My advice: text more and get a Bluetooth. 

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio