Nicktendonick's Blog

Thanks for the responses everyone, and especially you Ms. Seika. I gutted a few chunks (like the tobacco connection. It appears nowhere else in the paper, thus should be removed), and I reworked my thesis to better suit my paper. I really didn't look over it too much from that initial version. I finished it, posted it here and went to bed. I've done a few readovers on the beginning, and I think I've changed it for the better. What do you think of it now?

This here is my newest version of my paper. And Ms. Seika, do I have the grammar right, and the parenthetic reference to the interphone study (that's the mr. Wild segment) . With time running out, this should be pretty close to the final version.


EDIT: Well, time's up and the paper has been submitted. Was a mad dash to the end I must say. I'll display the final version in a later blog post (granted, it's not much different then this one. I do wonder if the turn-it-in system will find this, and say I plagurized the paper (from myself. As long as it's me, I should be safe) Ahhh, the laughs I'd have.
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Do Cellphones cause cancer? Perspective and Analysis into a very important question.
(Rough Draft, version 4)
by Nicholas G.

Disclaimer: This is a college level paper. If you are doing a similar work, feel free to use the final version as a guide to help you and as an source if other college papers are accepted. The sources cited also are of great help as well. There are dire consequences for stealing another’s hard work including automatically failing your class and expulsion, none of which are worth stealing some words.
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Question: Do Cellphones cause cancer?

Thesis: Over the past decade, there have been many surveys and studies analyzing cellphones to see if they have any link to cancer, and while there is evidence to show that there is no connection more research must still be made to determine beyond a shadow of a doubt whether or not the radiation from cell phones cause cancer, prevent cancer, or have no relation to cancer at all.

Over many years mankind has done what it can to stay healthy and to stay safe from the toxins of our world. When something is shown to be dangerous or toxic we humans as a society go out of our way to avoid its use. For many years cellphones have been an intense subject of study with researchers going over this very useful device with great care to see if cellphone radiation has any connection at all with cancers such as Acoustic Neuroma that occur in the brain. Cellphone companies have denied this claim saying that the radiation (called Radiofrequency Energy, or RF energy for short) given off by their cellphones cannot cause cancer at all. Despite a public perception of risk this controversy this has not stopped the general population from making cellphone usage an ever growing part of everyday life. As cellphone usage expands like wildfire, the health concerns that surround them become all the more important. We must know if the very instrument that has revolutionized commerce and communication is also a threat to human health. Researchers have been pondering this question for a very long while. Over the past decade, there have been many surveys and studies analyzing cellphones to see if they have any link to cancer, and while there is evidence to show that there is no connection more research must still be made to determine beyond a shadow of a doubt whether or not the radiation from cell phones cause cancer, prevent cancer, or have no relation to cancer at all.

When one turns to the official response and opinion of the United States government, the United States government is quite clear when it comes to this question. It is an emphatic no, cellphones cannot cause cancer. On the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and the National Cancer Institute’s websites they explain this position clearly. The FCC states “[t]here is no scientific evidence that proves that wireless phone usage can lead to cancer or a variety of other problems, including headaches, dizziness or memory loss” and the National Cancer Institute says on their website that “[a]lthough there have been some concerns that radiofrequency energy from cell phones held closely to the head may affect the brain and other tissues, to date there is no evidence from studies of cells, animals, or humans that radiofrequency energy can cause cancer.” The National Cancer Institute goes more indepth then the FCC’s website, and gives a detailed reason as to why radiofrequency energy cannot cause cancer. In order for cancer to form inside a human being, the cells of one’s body must be afflicted and the DNA of a cell itself must be damaged, thus spurring the changes in the cell that can lead to cancerous mutations. The National Cancer Institute says that the waves given off by cellphones is that similar to a common microwave, that they cause and create heat when used but cannot damage genetic material. By the word of the National Cancer Institute RF Energy has been known to cause two effects, a increase in the brain’s glucose metabolism, and the creation of heat by RF Energy. Neither of these are capable of damaging the cells of the human body, meaning they are not able to cause cancer inside a person.

As the National Cancer Institute said earlier, there have been a plethora of studies pondering this question. From as early as 2004 there have been many studies from places such as England, Israel, and Sweden to observe and try to determine whether or not cellphones can cause cancer. Each of these surveys however go across the spectrum and report different findings, despite using similar methods to study. For this research paper eight different surveys were used as research and information, four of the studies confirming that cellphones cause cancer, while four others do not, and most of them connected to the global cellphone study, INTERPHONE. The four that do are a 2004 Karolinska Institute study in Sweden, a 2006 study by the “Swedish National Institute for Working Life” group, Dr. Sadetzki’s 2008 study at Tel Aviv University in Israel, and the initial May 31st 2011 release of the global INTERPHONE study all say that cellphones cause cancer or have a link to cancer in some shape or form. The four that deny that cellphones are connected to cancer are the 2004 study by Copenhagen’s Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, a survey in 2006 by multiple British universities, A Danish study in 2011, and the final release of the global INTERPHONE study all say cellphones do not cause cancer. Most of these studies all used a similar tactic in collecting data, each going by surveying and comparing people who have cancer or do not have cancer and how much do said subjects use their cellphone. This is directly said in the final release of the 2012 INTERPHONE survey results, “The study questionnaire covered demographic factors, mobile phone use, use of other wireless communication devices, occupational exposures to EMF and other potential confounders or risk factors for the diseases of interest (including exposure to ionising radiation, smoking and the subject’s personal and familial medical history).” (Wild 3)

Despite using a similar method to collect data this worldwide research has produced conflicting results. This leads to the question of how accurate and useful this information actually is in the first place. As said earlier, the INTERPHONE study and the other studies listed all survey the case subjects by understanding the amount of the subject’s usage of cellphones and to see if they have cancer near where the person places the cellphone on their head. The researchers behind these studies was trying to see if there is an overwhelming amount of people who use their cellphones heavily also have cancer in the specific place where they put their cellphones on their head. This means the research of the INTERPHONE study is not aiming to identify causation of cancer by cellphones, but the INTERPHONE study observes the correlation between cellphones and cancer, showing that if X happens just as often as Y happens, then that means X and Y have a connection. As of this research the later and larger studies, especially the 2012 INTERPHONE report, show that there is not much correlation between the two. The same goes for causation between cellphones and most research and most governments such as the United States say that is no connection exists. A showing of this evidence is in the New York Times article “Do Cellphones cause Cancer?”, in which the article’s author, Assistant Professor Siddhartha Mukherjee tells the reader of another experiment that ran for 7 years to see if cellphone radiation could cause cancer in rats and mice, he says how “[t]he experiment revealed no increased incidence of brain tumors in rats. Nor was there any accelerated growth in previously established brain tumors. From 1997 to 2004, six independent experiments on mice and rats studied the effects of chronic radiation on brain cancer. No experiment revealed an increased risk of brain cancer.” Adding this all together, In lieu of scientific evidence to back up people's fears of cancer being caused by cellphones the INTERPHONE study group was trying to use correlation evidence to show that despite modern science not capable of detecting it, there was a correlation between heavy cellphone use and cancers, to suggest that RF energy does effect the human brain and modern science just isn’t able to detect this effect yet. Sofar, this possibility seems to not be the case, with the INTERPHONE study group determining that there is no correlation between cellphones and cancer but still suggests further study into the subject.

Overall in the opinion of this author there is very little evidence to show that cancer and cellphones have any connection at all, but at the same time the research on the subject must continue. The surveys in this author's opinion do not answer the question of can cellphones cause cancer, but instead try to determine it by a unreliable method, that of doing questionnaires. Recall bias is a stated problem in these types of studies, where a person incorrectly answers a question because they cannot accurately recall events in the past. A problem such as this may be responsible for the 2010 INTERPHONE study results saying that light cellphone usage actually prevents cancer, and heavy cellphone usage will actually cause cancer. The same radiation that shows almost no effects to the human body being responsible for preventing and causing the same exact thing, in this author's opinion, brings up a murkiness on the validity of the entire survey and method as a whole. Aside from this, correlation is not the same as causation, and the surveys do not prove either. Amy Norton in her Ruters article says it best. “The problem with all of these studies is that they can only show -- or fail to show -- a correlation between cell phone use and brain tumors. They do not prove cause and effect.”. It is this cause and effect that must be studied far more then any correlation should be. If the research continues to be on correlation any real connection between cellphones and cancer may not be found for a very long time instead of grasping at studies that say a bunch of people who live a certain way get a higher chance of cancer. Assistant Professor Mukherjee in his New York Times article sums it up very well. He says the truth of the manner is that there are some things that do cause cancer, but most do not, and we should search for these “bona fide” cancer causing agents, and not search for results that do not tell us if a substance causes cancer or not. We should have clear labels and direct answers on if something can or cannot cause cancer and then move on to the next potential carcinogen. This author agrees with that statement as well. While the INTERPHONE and its sister studies all have results that are worth taking a look at, there is not much else to build upon with these results. One must stop asking questions that do not answer the question at hand and instead must ask questions and search for what can answer our question, such as deeper research into radiofrequency energy and it's effects on organic material. In this author's opinion, cellphones are not connected to cancer whatsoever. There is little evidence to show that cellphones cause cancer in any way, shape or form; but just because research has not found a link does not mean one does not exist. Further research must continue on cellphones and it's radiofrequency energy until science is able to determine beyond a shadow of a doubt that radiofrequency energy is no threat to humans at all. Cellphones are a vital part of our society, and much of our modern day society is thanks to the ability to communicate to anyone anywhere with the press of 10 digits on a cellphone. With the amount of humans using cellphones over 5 billion and counting, we as a species must ensure this revolutionary device is safe to use for ourselves and generations to come, or else we will all see grave consequences for our ignorance in our future.


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Here are my sources...the National Cancer one, the FCC, and the New York Times seem to be my more used sources. I'll have to be turning this into a works cited page and notecard bibliography (in alphabetical order) and list all the notes I have in notecard format in the order of which I've used them. Which is what I need to get to work on right now actually...

1) National Cancer Institute
Cellphones and Cancer risk Title of website/periodical, or other larger work
Published by the National Cancer Institute, sponsored by the United States Government, date of release.
Last Reviewed on 06/18/2012. Found Oct. 30, 2012.
Help Article
Google Search
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cellphones
FAQ Webpage


2) Anthony J. Swerdlow, Maria Feychting, Adele C. Green, Leeka Kheifets, David A. Savitz
Mobile Phones, Brain Tumors, and the Interphone Study: Where Are We Now?
Title of website/periodical, or other larger work
Environ Health Perspect. 2011 November , Environ Health Perspect /National Institute of Health
Posted Online July 1, 2011. Found Oct. 30, 2012.
PDF Article.
Google Search
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=10.1289/ehp.1103693
Web article


3) FCC
FAQS- Wireless Phones
Federal Communications Commission
FCC / United States Government
Unknown when made. Found Oct. 30, 2012.
Frequently asked questions Answered format
Google Search
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/faqs-wireless-phones
FAQ webpage


4) International Agency for Research on Cancer, Nicolas Gaudin
IARC CLASSIFIES RADIOFREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS ASPOSSIBLY CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS
International Agency for Research on Cancer /World health organization, May 31^st 2011
Found Oct. 30, 2012.
PDF Webpage
Google Search
http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/pr208_e.pdf
Press Release to public


5) International Agency for Research on Cancer, Christopher Wild
InterPhone Study Final Report
The Interphone Study
International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization, date of release.
Published Oct. 3^rd, 2011. Found Oct. 30, 2012.
PDF Webpage
Google Search
http://interphone.iarc.fr/UICC_Report_Final_03102011.pdf / http://interphone.iarc.fr
Report


6) Siddhartha Mukherjee
Do Cellphones cause cancer?
New York Times
New York Times. Published Online on April 13, 2011, published in the New York Times on April 17, 2011. Found Oct. 30, 2012.
Newspaper article
Google Search
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17cellphones-t.html?pagewanted=all
Web News article


7) Daniel Cressey
No link found between mobile phones and cancer - Claims that mobile-phone use causes cancer are shown to be overblown
Nature – International weekly journal of science
Published Online May 17, 2010. Nature.
Found Oct. 30, 2012.
Web Page
Google Search
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100517/full/news.2010.246.html
News Brief


8) Anders Bylund
Epidemiological study finds no link between cell phones and brain tumor - The largest study of the link between cell phone usage and brain tumor
Ars Technica
Jan 20^th, 2006
Found Oct. 30, 2012.
News
Google Search
http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2006/01/6020-2
Web article


9) Federica Castellani
Moblie Phone Risk Revealed - Long-term phone use doubles occurrence of rare tumour.
Nature
Oct. 14, 2004
Found Oct. 30, 2012.
Web page
Google Search
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041011/full/news041011-11.html
Web article


10) Nate Anderson
Swedish researchers find link between cell phones and brain tumors - If you thought that a link between phone usage and brain tumors was an urban …
Ars Technica
Published online March 31^st, 2006.
Found Oct. 30, 2012.
http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2006/03/6502-2
Google Search
Complete URL
Web article


11) Norton, Amy
No link seen between cell phones, brain tumor
Reuters
Published online July 13^th 2011
Found Oct. 30, 2012.
Web page
Google Search
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...76C5SV20110713
Web article