STATE HOUSE
Bill would require warnings on cell phones in Maine
By Ethan Wilensky-Lanford ewlanford@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
During lunch in late April 1995, Lloyd Morgan collapsed on the floor and had a 45-minute seizure. Doctors later found a tumor the size of a peach in his brain. They could not operate, he said, because his brain was so swollen that it might herniate.
"The only place that your brain can go if the pressure builds up enough is down into the brain stem," Morgan said. "But that kills you."
After eight days in critical condition, doctors successfully removed the tumor. Morgan's neurologist told him electromagnetic radiation may have caused it. Since then, he has become a champion for revealing the effects this radiation -- the sort that is emitted by cellphones -- on the brain.
Tuesday, he will testify before the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee when it hears L.D. 1706, which would make Maine the first state to put warnings on cellphones. They would say the electromagnetic radiation the phone emits could cause brain cancer and that users - particularly kids and pregnant women - should use caution.
It is estimated that, of Maine's 1.3 million people, 950,000 use cellphones.
"I'm not an anti-technology person," said Rep. Andrea Boland, D-Sanford, the bill's sponsor. "My concern is that we have enormously powerful industries that can scoot responsibilities because they do have so much power and they have products that we like so much."
Boland, whose husband died of cancer, said she began to ask questions about the safety of cell phones after a professional conference two and a half years ago. Since then, she has found "serious, independent, scientific studies that show danger."
The wireless industry's trade association, CTIA, says the government has regulated cell phones for safety.
"Congress has given the (Federal Communications Commission) the responsibility for setting the safe levels of radio frequency exposure," said John Walls, CTIA's vice president of public affairs. "The FCC has relied on the scientific expertise of agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration."
The relationship between these agencies on this issue, however, is unclear.
The FCC, on its Web site, includes this statement: "Working closely with federal health and safety agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the FCC has adopted limits for safe exposure to radiofrequency (RF) energy."
The FDA also has a statement on its Web site; it says the agency lacks the responsibility to review cell phone safety.
"Under the law, FDA does not review the safety of radiation-emitting consumer products such as cell phones and similar wireless devices before they can be sold, as it does with new drugs or medical devices. However, FDA does have the authority to take action if cell phones are shown to emit radiofrequency energy (RF) at a level that is hazardous to the user."
Supporters of L.D. 1706 said there is a difference between proving safety and not proving danger.
"The industry used to say that they met all applicable safety standards," said George Carlo, a lawyer and pathologist who taught at George Washington Medical School for 20 years. "Well, that's true. There are none."
Beginning in 1993, Carlo supervised a study sponsored by CTIA that came about, he said, after a Florida court case that attracted some national attention when David Reynard, who had sued several telecommunications companies, said on national television his wife died because of a brain tumor caused by a cell phone.
Carlo said he was asked to design and run a study that would be peer-reviewed and involve 200 doctors from around the world. It lasted for six years and cost the industry $28.5 million.
"We found genetic damage in human blood exposed to cell phone radiation," he said in an interview Friday. "We found an increased risk of tumors of the acoustic nerve. We found more than a doubling of the risk of neuroepithelial tumors."
This class of tumor affects a type of cell in the brain, and is the same kind that killed David Reynard's wife, said Carlo, the co-author of "Cell Phones, Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age."
"Finding genetic damage in human blood is enough to prevent any product from finding its way into commerce," he said. "I made the recommendation that a warning label be put on phones, to both the industry and the government, in 1999."
Walls said that the CTIA is confident cell phones are safe.
"What we relied on is the expertise of renowned health agencies around the world who have reviewed numerous studies that have been conducted over an extended period of time, and based on their review, those organizations and agencies have concluded that there are no adverse health affects," he said.
Carlo questioned that body of science, saying that industry paid for studies that supported its claims.
"Those studies that are independent of industry funding are six times more likely to find a problem than those that are funded by industry," Carlo said.
Morgan, the victim of a brain tumor who has become an advocate for cell phone caution, published a review of the research in the peer-reviewed journal Pathophysiology.
Studies of the effects cell phone use for a few years are inconclusive, he said, but "industry studies and independent studies, when combined for more than 10 years of use, show a doubling of brain tumors."
At this point, said Carlo, the government would not ban cell phones even if it was accepted that they were dangerous.
"From a political point of view, when you have almost 200 million people using something, it isn't a good idea to take it away," he said. "The only public health step that can be taken is a warning to consumers."
Ethan Wilensky-Lanford -- 620-7016
ewlanford@mainetoday.com
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37 COMMENTS
a2V2aQ%3D%3D said...
more arguments for the courts, and even criminal law, consider: entrapment is now physically dangerous. motion detectors, heat sensors, shifting magnetic fields (maybe ones that even run underground trains) illegal radio bands (stephen king gone wild) mutant created by being sucked througth a pnuematic mailing tube. And its like a computor library or high school reader, noone really digs in for the most part, and reads the whole thing, just the information I want thank you, and real quick, a law, and how to enforce it
February 28, 2010 at 12:44 AM Report abuse
BC said...
Morgan's neurologist told him electromagnetic radiation "may" have caused it. "May" have caused it?!? Do you mean to tell me that our elected officials are forcing this ridiculous law upon an estimated 900,000 something cell phone users in Maine just because of ONE incident who's cause is questionable? THAT is just totally nuts! Have they nothing better to do with their time than to come up with these ludicrous proposals? I'm waiting for the day when they force all manufacturers of barbecue grills to place stickers on them, informing the public that eating food cooked on them may induce carcinogens. What an absolute waste of taxpayers' money! It's high time to vote these bums and their pet "pork barrel" projects out of office, and elect someone who will address the REAL issues.
February 28, 2010 at 5:54 AM Report abuse
JoeSchmoe said...
Here is an idea.... Let's minimize potentially harmful cell phone radiation exposure by making it illegal to use the device while operating a motor vehicle. Doing so has been proven to cause death. Very traumatic death in many cases. So, shall we go with the known and proven, or the alleged and questionable?
February 28, 2010 at 6:06 AM Report abuse
Zedd said...
Maybe a regulation for cotton only underwear next?
February 28, 2010 at 6:12 AM Report abuse
firstcav said...
Let's make it illegal for these idiots to pass stupid bills like this!!
February 28, 2010 at 6:34 AM Report abuse
Notclueless said...
Why don't all you know-it-all internet heroes run for office so you can show everyone how it's done?
February 28, 2010 at 7:34 AM Report abuse
Ayuh23 said...
While notclueless makes a good point, the other comments are more valid. These sorts of bills are proposed by legislators who lack the experience to really get deep into the more serious issues facing the state. They feel as though they have to justify their time in Augusta, so they propose bills better suited to High School Model Legislatures. If the purpose of the bill is to educate others about the possible dangers of cell phone use, consider this article a worthy substitute and withdraw the bill. People who read the newspaper have now been warned. People who don't read the newspaper are unlikely to heed the warning on their cell phone- warnings have been on cigarettes for years and that hasn't done any good. Tell your friends and family to stop using the cell phones or they will get cancer. Consider yourself warned.
February 28, 2010 at 8:36 AM Report abuse
nikonwilly said...
If you were wise you would research all the data available and keep one thing in mind....NEVER trust the Industry that produces the product in question , but the INDEPENDENT labs and scientists testing it! The Industry will never report a negative testing.
February 28, 2010 at 8:38 AM Report abuse
JoeSchmoe said...
Notclueless.... You know, I've given it some thought. Seriously! Only problem is that I have little tolerance for ignorance. Once a politician began spewing whatever it was that his/her special interest folks were paying him/her to spew vs. what was the best thing to do for the citizens, I'd want to reach across the table. Know what I mean?
February 28, 2010 at 8:43 AM Report abuse
JoeSchmoe said...
nikonwilly, Are you referring to the same independent labs that gave us all the "global warming" hoax?
February 28, 2010 at 8:46 AM Report abuse
Govt2Big said...
Have the extreme liberals running Maine last all common sense? This bill is crazy and a waste of our tax dollars... and it illustrates how stupid they believe most Mainers are.
February 28, 2010 at 8:47 AM Report abuse
stopthismess said...
Maybe he got exposed by resting his head on the counter next to his microwave everyday as he reheated yesterdays' coffee. They're just going to drive thousands nore people out of business,thats all. I don't want the sticker on my cell phone, so I know I'll probably be going to NH or VT to get one if this passes. And before you mamsy-pamsy heroes start about lost revenue from the sales tax, I'm tax exempt so I already don't pay it here in Maine.
February 28, 2010 at 8:52 AM Report abuse
Hipupchuck said...
Because a doctor said.......It MAY....have been radiation from a phone????? We legislate on this superstition information????? Danger: the Evil VooDoo phone may invade your brain! How is that for a warning label? People don't know science from JUNK SCIENCE!
February 28, 2010 at 9:04 AM Report abuse
dude said...
i,ll take my chances and keep my cell phone . i,d better buy a new one this week if they pass this idiototic law prices will tripple.
February 28, 2010 at 9:05 AM Report abuse
a2V2aQ%3D%3D said...
maine legislature takes on cell phone companies/ move protested by high school drop outs who need them . Legislature gets tough. Must be 18 to have a cell phone. Womens lobbiests and drug dealers protest, how will they draw their clientelle away from families.
February 28, 2010 at 9:07 AM Report abuse
Bat said...
While their at it, how about putting warning labels on the CFL bulbs that contain mercury and the proper way on handling them when they break. Oh, wait, the State is promoting the use of CFLs and they would never promote something that may prove, (Mercury) harmful to a person.
February 28, 2010 at 9:44 AM Report abuse
PhyllisY said...
Keep buying cell phones for your kids!
February 28, 2010 at 9:52 AM Report abuse
dude said...
remember the warning posted on gas pumps that cell phone use during fueling can cause gas vapors to explode , guess what that was proven wrong , by the MYTH BUSTERS you know the two crazy guys on cable this sounds like another job for them , i think i,ll send them an e-mail.
February 28, 2010 at 9:58 AM Report abuse
Divinity said...
Philosophers, theologians, and science-fiction writers have long recognized that if humanity survives its warring tendencies, rooted in egocentrism and tribalism, the next evolutionary transformation for our species may be the emergence of telepathy. Worldwide wireless communications provide a rudimentary, technologically facilitated advance toward this next great leap in human evolution. In time, either our physiologies will adapt or our adjunctive technologies will be benign. God's master plan may weed out the weakest and most vulnerable brains in the course of this great transformation. A scourge of malignancies may favor selection of the most empathic. By encouraging early adoption and exposure to cell-phone emissions by youth prior to their reproductive years, we may be doing the Lord's work.
February 28, 2010 at 10:23 AM Report abuse
CommomSense said...
Divinity...how about cutting to the chase...this proposed Bill is a bunch of crap! Why don't we get rid of three old idiotic Bills, for every new idiotic Bill proposed. That won't work...what was I thinking. Then we'd have to shrink the House and Senate...we all know that'll never happen.
February 28, 2010 at 11:00 AM Report abuse
Hipupchuck said...
Run it by the Silly Committee. I'm sure it will be approved.
February 28, 2010 at 12:00 PM Report abuse
a2V2aQ%3D%3D said...
what ever did happen to the good old sci fi friday horror type monsters? And those Ace double paperbacks, Enigma From Tantalus or The Mars Monopoly, we cant scare ourselves enough, and who really understands most of this science anyway, who here can take one of those apart and know what they have there, technician, engineer, wierd or gilly?
February 28, 2010 at 12:07 PM Report abuse
Divinity said...
On the other hand, we may discover that the individual brains most susceptible to lethal damage are those with the greatest cognitive complexity and creativity. We may be driving our species back to a state more like that of first children of Mitochondrial Eve about 150 ka. This, too, may be God's intent. We are participants in the great struggle between the critical, dispassionate thought of science and the forces of corporate greed. Which is God and which is Satan is hotly contested.
February 28, 2010 at 12:12 PM Report abuse
Jazz11 said...
Any warning on cellphones should be about the user, not the phone. If you're going to do it, do it right.
February 28, 2010 at 12:22 PM Report abuse
Rap-ice said...
American Cancer Society reports that approximately 30 studies have looked at possible links between cell phone use and tumors (focusing on brain tumors). Many of these have been case-control studies, in which patients with brain tumors (cases) were compared to people free of brain tumors (controls), in terms of their past use of cell phones. They found that patients with brain tumors do not report more cell phone use overall than the controls. Most studies do not show a "dose-response relationship" -- a tendency for the risk of brain tumors to increase with increasing cell phone use, which would be expected if cell phone use caused tumors. Taken as a whole, there are no links.
February 28, 2010 at 12:27 PM Report abuse
a2V2aQ%3D%3D said...
We cant get the thing syncronized (ouch) Either we arrive too early or too late, or desire moves in , now Weird wants to, but not gilley, now gilly wants to but not weird, we may miss the train entirely, or even wreck the thing
February 28, 2010 at 12:27 PM Report abuse
Rap-ice said...
And the National Cancer Society posts similiar claims.... I wonder how come all the truckers aren't getting tumors from their CB radios. After all, the antennas are right next to the driver's window. MAybe that'll be the next bill from the statehouse.
February 28, 2010 at 12:52 PM Report abuse
a2V2aQ%3D%3D said...
every legislator should have a cell phone, and every teacher, both are always complaining they need more tools to work with, and a course lasers or radar at school, wow, instead we get alot of dumbing down to pass time, Hello? viagra, vitamin k , lsd, real out of body stuff for in your pocket, plug right into your head so the scanner satellites can zap you
February 28, 2010 at 1:16 PM Report abuse
Divinity said...
The trade-off between incidence of tenovaginitis and primary brain tumors since the demise of the rotary phone is assessed differently by NRA members and most academics. HumpandFlush may prefer the deficits associated with glioma to those involving a trigger finger.
February 28, 2010 at 1:25 PM Report abuse
Snooks said...
Fairpoint must be behind this bill....
February 28, 2010 at 2:16 PM Report abuse
boofaloo said...
Is Divinity SlyMe in a new persona?
February 28, 2010 at 2:53 PM Report abuse
Uvebenhad said...
Nanny Lyoyd, go away.
February 28, 2010 at 7:12 PM Report abuse
trollmunster said...
So that's what wrong with everyone. Stupid drivers/stupid people everywhere. Everywhere!
February 28, 2010 at 7:51 PM Report abuse
Zipty-DooDah said...
"State is Mother, State is Father, State is All." Nanny nanny na-nee!
March 1, 2010 at 12:03 AM Report abuse
Bill said...
oh sh%% they were serious?!
March 1, 2010 at 6:41 AM Report abuse
Hipupchuck said...
How about a label on school doors. Danger, entering may cause brain washing!
March 1, 2010 at 8:09 AM Report abuse
Hipupchuck said...
Don't hot dogs kill more people than cell phones?
March 1, 2010 at 9:57 AM Report abuse