Valley expert on cancer testifies before Senate
By Kevin Huelsmann, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
September 18, 2009
Devra Davis, a valley resident who founded the Environmental Health Trust, helped bring together a host of experts to testify before the U.S. Senate this week about possible health risks from cell phones.
Davis helped organize the three-day conference, which wrapped up Tuesday, to brief members of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee on “one of the most important matters we have to deal with in public health,” she said.
“Most of the world today is using cell phones,” Davis said in her opening statements at the conference. “In many developed countries, almost all adults and growing numbers of children use them, and we do not know, because the cell phones have not been tested in advance, whether these phones pose a significant risk to public health or not.”
Along with Davis, the conference was organized by two other doctors from the University of Pittsburgh and a member of the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority.
Speakers, who came from as far as Denmark and Israel, touched on subjects ranging from the reliability of radiation calculations in current studies to how radiation from mobile phones is absorbed into a person’s brain.
“Everyone in this room uses a cell phone, and most of us don’t even give eight seconds of thought if it can harm us in any way,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, during opening statements of a hearing. “However, a growing number of experts think there is cause for concern that the amount of radiation emitted by cell phones, albeit small, can over many years, even at this low level of radiation, can cause cancer in the brain and central nervous system, as well as a range of other harmful effects.”
Harkin cautioned those in attendance that the committee was not there to cause alarm and simply called the hearing to explore how best to address the issue.
“This hearing is meant to see whether we need more research in this area and how that research should be directed,” Harkin said. “I’m reminded of this country’s experience with cigarettes. Decades passed before the first warnings about smoking tobacco and that cigarettes cause lung cancer.”
Short video clips taken from the conference and the Senate hearing are available at www.youtube.com/cellphonesandhealth.
