Cell phone use and cancer risk - debate continues

What do brain surgeons know about cellphone safety that the rest of us don't? Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cellphones next to their ears.

"What we're seeing is suggestions in epidemiological studies that have looked at people using phones for 10 or more years," says Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, an industry publication that tracks the research. "There are some very disconcerting findings that suggest a problem, although it’s much too early to reach a conclusive view."

Some doctors say the real concern is not older cellphone users, who began using phones as adults, but children who are beginning to use phones today and face a lifetime of exposure.

The fear is that even if the individual risk of using a cellphone is low, with three billion users worldwide, even a minuscule risk would translate into a major public health concern.

"We cannot say with any certainty that cellphones are either safe or not safe," Dr. Black said on CNN. "My concern is that with the widespread use of cellphones, the worst scenario would be that we get the definitive study 10 years from now, and we find out there is a correlation."

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