From Xrays to Cordless Phones: Radiation Causes Brain Tumors Lloyd Morgan

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From X-rays to Cordless PhonesRadiation
Causes Brain TumorsLloyd Morgan
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Ionizing Radiation

• Exposures are from X-rays, A-bombs, radioactivity
• Only known environmental cause of brain tumors
  (since 1974 or earlier)
• Energy sufficient to break molecular bonds
• For example, DNA
• Broken DNA creates free radicals
• Free radicals cause further DNA damage thought to
  cause cancer

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Ionizing Radiation

• Increased risk of brain tumors
• Age Children at greater risk than adults
• Dose measured in Gray (Gy) Risk increases
  linearly with dose
• Dose(Radiation power)/(weight of exposed tissue)
  x (time)
• Risk increases with power (Watts)
• Risk increases with time
• Excess risk, 30 or more years (all ages) 1
• Brain Cancer 200
• Meningioma 70

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Risk by Age, Brain CancerChildren cured of
ringworm of the scalp by X-rays 1
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Excess Risk Increases Every Year From Exposure 1
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Ionizing Radiation

• Latency time (from exposure to diagnosis)
• Brain Cancer 20 to 30 years
• Meningioma 30-40 years

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Small percentage of total tumors seen at 20 years
1
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Non-ionizing Radiation Wireless Phones

• Exposures from cellphones, cordless phones,
  walkie-talkies, baby monitors
• Risk of brain tumors
• Energy cannot break molecular bonds
• Creates free radicals increases lifetime of free
  radicals

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Non-ionizing Radiation Wireless Phones

• Increased risk of brain tumors
• Age Younger have higher risk 2
• Greater than 5 years of cellphone use
• 700 for 20-29 years olds (7 cases, 94.8
  confidence)
• 35 for all ages, 20-80 years (160 cases, 97
  confidence)
• Dose measured in Gray (Gy)
• Dose(Radiation power)/(weight of exposed tissue)
  x (time)
• Risk increases with power (Watts)
• Risk increases with time
• Tumor on same side of head as where digital
  cellphone was used 5
• 260 increased risk of brain cancer (97 cases,
  99.91 confidence)

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Wireless Phones Risk by Age 2
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Non-ionizing Radiation Wireless Phones

• Increased risk of brain tumors
• Power Increase risk with higher wattage (phone
  type or distance from cell tower)
• Rural cellphone users have 740 higher risk of
  brain cancer than urban users after 5 years of
  digital cellphone use (10 cases, 95.6
  confidence) 3
• Time Ten years after first use, increased risk
  of brain cancer with greater hours of use 5
• Cordless phone use (median hours of use243
  hours)
• 30 increased risk for less than median hours of
  use (5 cases, 35 confidence)
• 310 increased risk for more than median hours of
  use (25 cases, 99.996 confidence)

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Non-ionizing Radiation Digital Cellphones

• Latency time
• Much shorter latency time than ionizing radiation
  (1st tumor after X-ray for ringworm was 7 years)
• Brain cancer 5
• 60 increased risk, 1 to 5 years of digital
  cellphone use
• 100 cases, 98 confidence
• 120 increased risk, 5 to 10 years
• 79 cases, 99.96 confidence
• 260 increased risk, more than 10 years
• 19 cases, 99.94 confidence

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Non-ionizing Radiation Analog Cellphones

• Acoustic Neuroma 4
• 230 increased risk, 1 to 5 years of cellphone
  use
• 16 cases, 99.3 confidence
• 340 increased risk, gt5 to 10 years
• 33 cases, 99.99996 confidence
• 310 increased risk, gt10 years
• 19 cases, 99.98 confidence
• 380 increased risk, gt15 years
• 6 cases, 99.3 confidence

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Non-ionizing Radiation Analog Cellphones

• Meningioma 4
• 20 increased risk, 1-5 years of cellphone use
• 32 cases, 63 confidence
• 20 increased risk, 5 to 10 years
• 47 cases, 63 confidence
• 60 increased risk, more than 10 years
• 34 cases, 96 confidence

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Wireless PhonesYears of Exposure 4, 5
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Cellphone Industrys Studies of the Risk of Brain
Tumor from Cellphone Use

• Interphone studies rarely find a risk of brain
  tumors from cellphone use
• 13 participating countries
• Increased risk has been found
• 4 of 7 studies found increased risk for more than
  10 years of use 7, 8, 10, 12
• Major funding received from cellphone industry
• Funding was governed by agreements that
  guaranteed complete scientific independence
• The researchers knew where the funding had come
  from
• Dont bite the hand that feeds you, is the
  psychological reality
• Doesnt mean that the researchers are dishonest

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Scatter Plots (following slides)

• Vertical axis is percentage confidence of a
  finding
• Horizontal axis is excess (or decrease) risk of a
  brain tumor of a finding
• Risk overview
• If no risk
• About half of all findings will show increased
  risk and
• About half of all findings will show decreased
  risk

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Scatter Plots (following slides)

• Scatter plot regions of importance
• Line of "Statistical Significance
• Indicates 95 confidence
• When confidence is 95 or more, it is said to be
  statistically significant (pale yellow region)
• Area of Little to No Statistical Meaning (reddish
  region)
• Zero percent confidence to 90 confidence
• Area of Marginal Statistical Meaning (orange
  region)
• 90 to 95 confidence
• Region where study bias may explain
  increased/decreased risk (bright yellow region)
• Increase risk and decreased risk between up to
  100
• Epidemiologists rule of thumb where bias or
  confounding problems may explain a finding

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Industry studies compared to independent studies
5, 9, 11
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Industry studies compared to independent studies
4, 8, 6, 7
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Industry studies compared to independent studies
4, 6, 7
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A Speculation What is the nexus between ionizing
radiation and non-ionizing radiation and
tumors? Many physicists argue that non-ionizing
radiation cannot cause tumors because
non-ionizing radiation cannot break the molecular
bonds of DNA. It is true that non-ionizing
radiation cannot break DNA bonds. But the
paradigm posited by many physicists assumes that
only the breaking of DNA bonds can cause
tumors. Both ionizing radiation and non-ionizing
radiation creates free radicals. Perhaps the
nexus is the creation of free radicals?
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Summation

• Ionizing Radiation
• Young at greater risk
• Latency time
• Brain cancer, 20-30 years
• Increased risk 55
• Meningioma, 30-40 yrs
• Increased risk 37
• Power
• Increasing risk with increasing power
• Dose measure in Gray

• Non-ionizing Radiation
• Young at greater risk
• Latency time
• Brain cancer, 1-5/gt 10 years
• Increased risk 60/260
• Meningioma, gt10 years
• 60
• Power
• Increasing risk with increasing power
• Dose measure in Gray

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Conclusion A Query

• Is the non-ionizing radiation exposure from
  wireless phone use a greater risk for brain
  tumors than ionizing radiation?

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• References
• 1. Sadetzki et al. Long-Term Follow-up for Brain
  Tumor Development after Childhood Exposure to
  Ionizing Radiation for Tinea Capitis RADIATION
  RESEARCH 163, 424432 (2005)
• 2. Hardell et al., Cellular and Cordless
  Telephone Use and the Association with Brain
  Tumors in Different Age Groups Arch Environ
  Health. 2004 Mar59(3)132-7
• 3. Hardell et al, Use of cellular telephones and
  brain tumour risk in urban
• and rural areas Occup Environ Med
  200562390394.
• Hardell et al., Pooled analysis of two
  case-control studies on the use of cellular and
  cordless telephones and the risk of benign brain
  tumours diagnosed during 1997-2003 INTERNATIONAL
  JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 28 509-518, 2006
• 5. Hardell et al., Casecontrol study of the
  association between the use of cellular and
  cordless telephones and malignant brain tumors
  diagnosed during 20002003 Environ Res. 2006
  Feb100(2)232-41

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Interphone Study References 6. Christensen et
al., Cellular Telephone Use and Risk of Acoustic
Neuroma Am J Epidemiol 2004159277283 7. Lönn
et al., Mobile Phone Use and the Risk of Acoustic
Neuroma Epidemiology Volume 15, Number 6,
November 2004 653-659 8. Schoemaker et al.,
Mobile phone use and risk of acoustic neuroma
results of the Interphone casecontrol study in
five North European countries British Journal of
Cancer (2005), 1 7 9. Christensen et al.,
Cellular telephones and risk for brain tumors, A
population-based, incident case-control study
NEUROLOGY 20056411891195 10. Hepworth et al.,
Mobile phone use and risk of glioma in adults
case-control study BMJ. 2006 Jan 20 11. Lönn
et al., Long-Term Mobile Phone Use and Brain
Tumor Risk Am J Epidemiol 2005161526535
12. Schüz et al., Cellular Phones, Cordless
Phones, and the Risks of Glioma and Meningioma
(Interphone Study Group, Germany) Am J
Epidemiol. 2006 Mar 15163(6)512-20 Study
found increased risk of brain tumor