Cell Phones Might Cause Brain Cancer- IARC Exper panel

Expert Panel: Cell Phones Might Cause Brain Cancer

Expert Panel: Cell Phones Might Cause Brain Cancer

'Limited Evidence' Suggests Cell Phones 'Possibly Carcinogenic'

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

May 31, 2011 -- The expert panel that evaluates cancer risks today said that cell phones might possibly cause brain cancer.

The announcement comes from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Like the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society relies on IARC for evaluation of cancer risks.

"After reviewing all the evidence available, the IARC working group classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans," panel chairman Jonathan Samet, MD, chair of preventive medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine, said at a news teleconference. "We reached this conclusion based on a review of human evidence showing increased risk of glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, in association with wireless phone use."

In finding cell phones to be "possibly carcinogenic," the IARC means that heavy cell phone use might -- or might not -- cause a specific form of brain cancer called glioma. The finding means that research is urgently needed to find out whether cell phones actually cause cancer, and how they might do it.

The IARC estimates that some 5 billion people worldwide have mobile phones. Lifetime exposure to the magnetic fields created by the phones -- particularly when they are held tightly against the head -- rapidly is increasing.

Children are at particular risk, not only because their skulls are thinner but also because their lifetime exposure to cell phones likely will be greater than the exposure of current adults.

Putting Possible Cancer Risk in Perspective

It's important to put the possible risk into context. Kurt Straif, MD, PhD, MPH, head of the IARC Monographs Program, notes that the IARC currently lists some 240 agents as "possibly carcinogenic," including dry cleaning fluid and some commonly used pesticides.

While the IARC doesn't make recommendations to consumers, Straif noted that there are precautions people can take.

"Some of the highest exposures come from using mobile phones for voice calls. If you text, or use hands-free devices, you lower exposure by at least [10-fold]," Straif said at the news conference. "So this is left to consumers to consider whether this level of evidence is enough for them to take such precautions."

Otis W. Brawley, MD, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, notes that the IARC is a highly credible group. But Brawley echoes Straif's advice: People who are worried can reduce their risk.

"On the other hand, if someone is of the opinion that the absence of strong scientific evidence on the harms of cell phone use is reassuring, they may take different actions, and it would be hard to criticize that," Brawley says in a news release.

John Walls, vice president for public affairs at CTIA, the trade group representing the wireless communications industry, notes that the IARC findings do not mean cell phones cause cancer -- and that the limited evidence on which the findings are based are far from conclusive.

"Based on previous assessments of the scientific evidence, the Federal Communications Commission has concluded that '[t]here’s no scientific evidence that proves that wireless phone usage can lead to cancer.' The Food and Drug Administration has also stated that '[t]he weight of scientific evidence has not linked cell phones with any health problems,'" Walls notes in a news release.

Samet and colleagues will publish a summary of their findings in the July 1 issue of The Lancet, which is still in press.

Cell phones linked to cancer - WHO

Cell phones linked to cancer   
Sunday, 05 June 2011 11:44


By Sound Living Reporter
That buzzing, clicking, hissing or popping sound during a mobile phone call may cause brain cancer.The World Health Organisation research institute says receiving calls on your mobile over a prolonged period could lead to a form of brain cancer known as glioma.

Lead researcher Dr Jonathan Samet of the University of Southern California said there was evidence linking radio frequency fields on phones and their base stations to brain cancer.

The research was based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant brain cancer associated with wireless phone use.“The conclusion means there could be some risk, and therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk,” said Dr Samet.

Sparking debate
Over the years, scientists have released new findings periodically, sparking debate for and against the gadgets, but the current research by WHO could affect the lifestyle of five billion subscribers globally.The global health body advised consumers to switch to text messaging and use of the hands-free option to reduce exposure.

Past studies that suggest a risk have indicated that tumours tend to occur on the same side of the head where the patient typically holds the phone.

Over the years, WHO is on record for dismissing studies linking radio frequency to cancer, saying they are inconclusive and do not support the hypothesis that exposure causes or influences cancer.

However, it has acknowledged particular findings that have linked mobile phone use to altered brain and body activity, including risks like leukaemia and brain tumours and has outlined a number of safety measures.
The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radio frequency electromagnetic fields as possible cancer-causing agents and classified it as Group 2B.

A glioma is a type of tumour that starts in the brain or spine. A brain glioma can cause headaches, nausea and vomiting, seizures and cranial nerve disorders as a result of increased intracranial pressure.

The WHO research is corroborated by a survey early last month by the US National Institute of Health that found that less than an hour of cell phone use can speed up brain activity in the area closest to the phone antenna and this, they say, may cause health problems.

The study, published last month in The Journal of the American Medical Association, says the weak radio-frequency signals from cell phones have the potential to alter brain and body activity.

The researchers, led by Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, established considerable changes in brain activity among 47 individuals involved in the study through brain scan.

National Elephant Conservation Authority shot down

The Times of India on Mobile

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office has shot down a proposal to set up a National Elephant Conservation Authority along the lines of one existing for tigers.

The environment ministry had recommended an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act creating a powerful autonomous authority for the pachyderm. The authority was intended to create a network of elephant reserves which could be kept free of mining and other harmful industrial activities.

The move had been made based on recommendations of an expert Elephant Task Force set up by the environment ministry to study the threats to the animal and advise on how to conserve it.

But the proposal has been shot down at the highest level even before it could reach the cabinet.

The habitat of the animal that environment minister Jairam Ramesh has said is facing ‘a story of attrition' is especially threatened by mining in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. In the recent past, the ministry has had to contend with several controversial proposals that deal a body blow to elephant conservation. But it's been constrained by the lack of legal teeth to protect the animal or a single official authority that can steer conservation needs for the animal.

With mining proposals pouring in from the two states and the tussle between environment ministry and coal and power ministries on to open up more forest areas for mining the move to scrap the proposal for the elephant authority is bound to weigh in favour of the mining industry.

Elephant reserves exist even today but they are only a demarcation on the map to provide funds under Project Elephant, just as it happened earlier for tiger reserves. The reserves have no legal validity and this makes it difficult to protect the elephant-bearing forests and lands against changes that would harm the pachyderm. The existing networks of national parks and sanctuaries do not serve to protect the elephant as the animal migrates and travels over long distances cutting across inhabited areas as well as forests.

The authority was expected to demarcate areas – including forests – that are important for elephant conservation and become a single window for advising on changes on these land patches just as the National Tiger Conservation Authority does for tiger reserves at the moment.

On Jaitapur and Alphonso

Unrest in Alphonso land | GroundReport

Grown
mainly in the narrow strip of land between the Western Ghats and the
Arabian Sea in the scenic Konkan region of India, the Alphonso mangoes
are considered king among the several varieties that flood the market
during the mango season. Known for their delectable flavour, richness of
meaty texture and sweetness they are coveted all over the world. In
2007, the US traded off the restrictions for its imports against export
of Harley Davidsons to the burgeoning Indian market. It is this Alphonso
land that is seemingly is today in a state of war...........................

(http://www.groundreport.com/World/Unrest-in-Alphonso-land/2938894)

Air powered vehicles ??

Soon, pull fuel for your car out of thin air!

Powering your car with the air you
breathe may sound supernatural, but Joel Rosenthal, a chemist at the
University of Delaware, is actually working to transform carbon dioxide
(CO2), a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, into gas for your car and
clean-energy future fuels.

Such a feat could
help reduce the rising CO2 levels implicated in global warming and also
offer a new method of renewable energy production.

Rosenthal and his
team are designing electrocatalysts from metals such as nickel and
palladium that will freely give away electrons when they react with
carbon dioxide, thus chemically reducing this greenhouse gas into
energy-rich carbon monoxide or methanol.

Besides its use in
making plastics, solvents, carpet and other products, methanol fuels
race cars in the United States and currently is being researched as a
hydrogen carrier for fuel cell vehicles.

Carbon monoxide is an important
precursor to liquid hydrocarbons in the energy arena, in addition to its
applications as an industrial chemical for producing plastics to
detergents to the acetic acid used in food preservation, drug
manufacturing and other fields.

“The catalytic
reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide is an important
transformation that would allow for the mitigation of atmospheric CO2
levels, while producing an energy-rich substrate that forms a basis for
fuels production,” Rosenthal says.

“The chemistry we’re
doing is energetically uphill—it’s an energy-storing process rather
than a downhill, energy-liberating process.

“And our goal is to make liquid fuel renewably from wind and solar sources, not from typical fossil fuel bases,” he added.

Reform the PhD system or close it down

Reform the PhD system or close it down : Nature News
There are too many doctoral programmes, producing too
many PhDs for the job market. Shut some and change the rest, says Mark
C. Taylor.

Published online 20 April 2011 |

Nature
472,
261
(2011)
| doi:10.1038/472261a

Degraded coastal wetlands contribute to climate change

Degraded coastal wetlands contribute to climate change
11 April 2011 | News story

Drainage and degradation of coastal wetlands emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide directly to the atmosphere and lead to decreased carbon sequestration, a new World Bank report has found.

The report, written in partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and wetland specialists ESA PWA, calls for coastal wetlands to be protected and incentives for avoiding their degradation and improving their restoration to be included into carbon emission reduction strategies and in climate negotiations.

“For the first time we are getting a sense that greenhouse gas losses from drained and degraded coastal wetlands may be globally significant and that drained organic-rich soils continuously release carbon for decades,” says Stephen Crooks, Climate Change Services Director at ESA PWA - the consulting firm which looked at 15 coastal deltas worldwide for the report. “Emissions will increase with ongoing wetland losses.”

The report highlights the current rates of degradation and loss of coastal wetlands which are up to four times that of tropical forests. Destruction of about 20 percent of the worlds’ mangroves, an area of 35,000 square kilometres in the last 25 years or four times the New York City metropolitan area, has led to the release of centuries of accumulated carbon. This has also disturbed the natural protection against storm surges and other weather events.

“We must work with nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also restore the ability of nature to take carbon out of circulation,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of the IUCN Global Marine and Polar Programme. ”CO2 emissions from lost or degraded coastal wetlands are sufficiently large to warrant amendment of national and international climate change policy frameworks to promote restoration.“

Of the 15 coastal deltas studied for the report, seven were found to have released more than 500 million tons of CO2 each since the wetlands were drained, mostly in the past 100 years. By comparison, Mexico’s carbon dioxide emissions for 2007 were just over 470 million tonnes.

Mangroves, tidal marshes and sea-grass meadows remove carbon from the atmosphere and lock it into the soil, where it can stay for millennia. Unlike terrestrial forests, these marine ecosystems are continuously building carbon pools, storing huge amounts of “blue carbon” in the sediment below them. When these systems are degraded due to drainage or conversion for agriculture and aquaculture, they emit large and continuous amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere.

“Protecting these coastal ecosystems and the blue carbon they store can be a win-win for communities,”
says Marea Hatziolos, Senior Coastal and Marine Specialist at the World Bank. “Shore line protection and increased fisheries productivity are among the co-benefits provided by healthy coastal wetlands—contributing to community resilience while sequestering CO2. If wetlands conservation can be linked to carbon markets, communities have a way to pay for conservation which will generate local and global benefits.”

Managing coastal ecosystems for the range of services they provide can complement existing approaches to nature-based solutions to reduce the effects of climate change, according to the report. Such investments have the potential to link to REDD+ and other carbon financing mechanisms, provided that protocols on accounting, verification and reporting of net carbon uptake can be agreed.

For more information , please contact:
Borjana Pervan, IUCN Media Relations Officer, t +41 798574072, e borjana.pervan@iucn.or