Cell phones pose cancer risk for children

I'm watching a congressional hearing on mobile phone use on C-Span. Some highlights of the testimony.

• David Carpenter, U Albany, is telling a Senate Committee that the government should put warnings on cell phones. Their use by children should be restricted. He says adolescents would also be at greater risk than adults.

• Ronald Herberman, Director U Pittsburgh, concurs with Carpenter. Children may be at risk from radiation, and advocates warning labels on cell phones.
  

• Latency period for cancer would likely longer than the 10 year maximum duration of most studies. "Maybe another 5 years or more before we see effects of almost ubiquitous use of cell phones."
  

• Dr. Robert Hoover, National Cancer Institute Epidemiology says he wants more information before supporting calls for warning labels about children and cell phones. Neglected to provide sub-committee with written testimony.
  

• Herberman: sperm counts lower in men who carry cell phones in pockets.

• Testimony from a citizen, apparently this woman whose husband has cancer attributed to phone use: she says 80-90% of children take cell phones to one elementary school. Many kids sleep with their cell phones. AT&T has a phone-message advertisement urging parents to restrict kids' cell phone use.

• David Carpenter says strongest evidence reason to be concerned is that there is association -- "really quite strong" -- between cell phone use and brain cancer use after 10 years of exposure. This evidence concerns me the most.
  

• Herberman: a number of studies animal and otherwise "several reports from credible scientists of damage to DNA which we know plays a role in tumor formation." Reactive oxygen species could be explanation.
  

• Rep. Denis Kucinich of Ohio: Current exposure limits assume 6 foot tall male. We just heard testimony that children at greater risk -- should allowable exposure be higher or lower?
  

• Fed Com Com Engin and Tech Dir. Julius Knapp responds to Kucinich: The FCC does not have the expertise to say whether standard is OK, need other agencies to tell us what to do.

• Herberman says having billing records from the cell phone companies could make more definitive studies possible. Sounds as if government's help might be required to force phone companies to provide these records for study participants. Wants the US government to press the cell phone industry to cooperate in studies.
  

• Carpenter: says FCC assumption no risk due to "heating" is flat-out wrong. These FCC people are engineers, not biologists. Government needs to take responsibility on this issue, can't be left to industry.
  

• Julius Knapp of FCC says applying standards based in part on other agencies' advice.
  

CNN did a story on this congressional testimony here.