Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 3 November 2018

Cross talk: Federal agencies clash on cellphone cancer risk

By LAURAN NEERGAARD agency said it appeared
and SETH BORENSTEIN that the radiofrequency
Associated Press energy helped older rats’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two kidneys.
U.S. government agen- There’s a reason two differ-
cies are giving conflicting ent government agencies
interpretations of a safety are clashing — they’re ask-
study on cellphone radia- ing different questions, said
tion: One says it causes George Washington Uni-
cancer in rats. The other versity public health profes-
says there’s no reason for sor George Gray.
people to worry. A former science chief for
No new research was is- the Environmental Protec-
sued Thursday. Instead, tion Agency, Gray said the
the National Toxicology toxicology program exam-
Program dialed up its con- ined how cellphone radia-
cerns about a link to heart tion affected animals. By
and brain cancer from a looking at what it means for
study of male rats that was humans, the FDA “brings in
made public last winter. more sources of information
The Food and Drug Ad- and data than just these re-
ministration, which over- In this Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 file photo, a pedestrian talking on a cellphone is silhouetted in front cent tests in rats and mice,”
sees cellphone safety, dis- of a fountain in Philadelphia. he said in an email.
agreed with the upgraded Associated Press SO ARE CELLPHONES SAFE?
warning. And “these find- bombarded them with ra- dence” of brain tumors in While his agency said the “I’m calling you from my
ings should not be ap- diofrequency waves, like the male rats. risks to rats don’t directly cellphone,” noted the can-
plied to human cellphone those emitted by older 2G Thursday, the agency up- apply to people, the study cer society’s Brawley.
usage,” said Dr. Jeffrey and 3G phones, for nine graded its description of raises safety questions. He pointed out one well-
Shuren, FDA’s chief of ra- hours a day for up to two those findings. The heart THE DISAGREEMENT known risk from cellphones:
diological health. years, most of their natural tumor increase marked The FDA immediately dis- Car crashes when drivers
What’s most important is lives. “clear evidence” of cancer agreed, firing off a press are distracted by them.
what happens in humans, The levels the rodents ex- in male rats, it announced. release assuring Americans As for cancer, if people are
not rats, said Dr. Otis Braw- perienced were far higher There is “some evidence” that “decades of research concerned, they could use
ley, chief medical officer of than people are typically of brain cancer. and hundreds of stud- earphones or speakers, he
the American Cancer Soci- exposed to. The change came after ies” has made the health said. Those who study risk
ety. THE FINDINGS the agency asked outside agency confident that the aren’t hanging up.
“The incidence of brain Last February, the National experts to analyze the find- current safety limits for cell- “My family and I won’t
tumors in human beings Toxicology Program said ings. phone radiation protect change our mobile phone
has been flat for the last 40 there was a small increase “We believe that the link the public health. habits based on this news,”
years,” Brawley said. “That in an unusual type of heart between radiofrequency Plus, FDA pointed out con- said George Washing-
is the absolute most impor- tumor in male rats, but not radiation and tumors in fusing findings from the ro- ton’s Gray, co-author of
tant scientific fact.” in mice or female rats. The male rats is real, and the dent study — such as that the book “Risk: A Practical
THE ORIGINAL STUDY agency concluded there external experts agreed,” the radiated rats lived lon- Guide for Deciding What’s
In a $30 million study, sci- was “some evidence” of a said John Bucher, the toxi- ger than comparison rats Really Safe and What’s Re-
entists put rats and mice link. Also, the February re- cology agency’s senior sci- that weren’t exposed to ally Dangerous in the World
into special chambers and port cited “equivocal evi- entist. the rays. The toxicology Around You.”q

Palau to ban sunscreen as it

tries to save its coral reefs

By NICK PERRY The law defines reef-toxic sunscreen as
Associated Press containing any one of 10 chemicals, in-
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — In an cluding oxybenzone, and states that other
attempt to protect the coral reefs that div- chemicals may also be banned.
ers so admire they have dubbed them the The legislation also requires tour operators
In this June 13, 2009 file photo, children play at a resort beach in underwater Serengeti, the Pacific nation to start providing customers with reusable
Ngerkebesang, Palau. of Palau will soon ban many types of sun- cups, straws and food containers.
Associated Press
screen. Remengesau said a big impetus for the
President Tommy Remengesau Jr. last ban was a 2017 report which found that
week signed legislation that bans “reef- sunscreen products were widespread in
toxic” sunscreen from 2020. Banned sun- Palau’s famed Jellyfish Lake, which was
screens will be confiscated from tourists closed for more than a year due to declin-
who carry them into the country, and mer- ing jellyfish numbers before being recently
chants selling the banned products will be reopened.
fined up to $1,000. The president noted legislative findings
Remengesau said in a statement that the that “plastic waste, chemical pollution,
penalties find the right balance between resource overconsumption, and climate
“educating tourists and scaring them change all continue to threaten the health
away.” of our pristine paradise.”q