Cell phones and health? A debate worth having

If you cover the wireless industry, you're never far from the ongoing debate over whether cell phones are harmful. And the debate usually goes something like this: the scientific community produces a study that explores the issue, and then the wireless industry rushes to interpret that study to its advantage.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that in healthy volunteer participants, cell phone exposure was associated with increased metabolism of glucose in the region of the brain closest to the antenna. So as CNET blogger Lance Whitney put it, the study suggested that cell phone use "excites" the brain.

Whether that increased brain activity is harmful, however, remains to be seen. The study's authors also concluded that their findings were of "unknown clinical significance" and that more research is needed. And, not surprisingly, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), the wireless industry's lobbying arm in Washington, D.C., highlighted the former point in a statement.

"The authors acknowledge that the results provide no information as to potential health effects of cell phones," the statement said. "As with any study, scientific organizations will review the results of this one in the context of the significant body of research and published literature on cell phone safety that has already been amassed"

Posted in: Technology