Are cell phones causing cancer? If you own a mobile phone, you must see this. For years, the experts have been arguing over them. Some say they're perfectly safe, others claim they fry your brains. Well, an international team of doctors, including two of Australia's finest surgeons, have just released their latest, comprehensive research. And, as the father of young children, it really made Liam Bartlett sit up and take notice. They say prolonged use of mobile phones could double the risk of malignant brain tumours. The deadliest of all cancers, the kind that leaves no survivors. With an entire generation now growing up hooked on their mobiles, that could be absolutely devastating. Cell Phone Use Linked to Cancer Dr. Sadetzki, a physician, epidemiologist and lecturer at Tel Aviv University, published the results of a study recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology, in which she and her colleagues found that heavy cell phone users were subject to a higher risk of benign and malignant tumors of the salivary gland. Those who used a cell phone heavily on the side of the head where the tumor developed were found to have an increased risk of about 50% for developing a tumor of the main salivary gland (parotid), compared to those who did not use cell phones. The fact that the study was done on an Israeli population is significant. Says Sadetzki, "Unlike people in other countries, Israelis were quick to adopt cell phone technology and have continued to be exceptionally heavy users. Therefore, the amount of exposure to radiofrequency radiation found in this study has been higher than in previous cell phone studies. "This unique population has given us an indication that cell phone use is associated with cancer," adds Sadetzki, whose study investigated... Cancer risks from cell phones confirmed Microwaves from wireless mobile phone transmitters may be more potent than lower frequency electromagnetic fields in promoting cancer. Evidence linking weak electromagnetic radiation (EMR) to leukaemia and other cancers has been fast accumulating in recent years [1-3] ( Electromagnetic Fields Double Leukemia Risks , Mobile Phones & Cancer , SiS 18; Electromagnetic Fields, Leukaemia and DNA Damage , SiS 24). Such on-thermal effects of EMR due to levels well below that sufficient to bring about any heating - have been observed even before World War II [4] ( Non-Thermal Effects , SiS 17). During the cold war period, a four-fold excess of cancer cases was diagnosed among the staff of the American Embassy in Moscow that had been secretly irradiated with microwaves at well below the threshold set in current guidelines. The US State Department study on this episode was described in a paper published in 1997 [5]. This was among the earliest evidence for non-thermal effects of microwaves, and many studies are now confirming the high cancer risks of people exposed to microwaves from mobile phone base stations and transmitters around the world. Microwaves are no different from EMRs in the lower frequency range in that respect; except that microwaves may be even more potent in promoting cancer and other illnesses [6] ( Drowning in a Sea of Microwaves, the Wi-Fi Revolution , SiS 34). Cell phones can cook eggs Recently, New Media has reported a study showing the radiation from cell phones is so full of energy they can be used to cook eggs. In the experiment, researchers placed one egg in a porcelain cup (because it is easy to conduct heat), and put one cell phone on one side and another cell phone on the other. The researchers then called from one cell phone to another and kept the cell phones on after connecting. During the first 15 minutes, nothing changed. After 25 minutes, however, the egg shell started to become hot and at 40 minutes, the surface of the egg became hard and bristled. Researchers found the protein in the egg had become solid although the egg yolk was still in liquid form. After 65 minutes, the whole egg was well cooked. The study shows how scary cell phone radiation is. People should try to avoid use of cell phones. Although so far no one has proved the radiation from cell phones can cause something clinically significant. By the same token, there has been no one who can disprove the existence of such a risk. Children should be forbidden from cell phone use because they still grow their brains and are particularly vulnerable to radiation.