Even if cellphones cause cancer, who cares?

Dennis Morrison, Contributor

If radiation from cellphones is "possibly carcinogenic", as recently concluded by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Jamaicans may be among the most vulnerable.

One could base this simplistic observation on the fact of our extremely high cell-phone penetration rate of 116 per cent, one of the highest anywhere in the world, with 3.1 million phones (including many persons having several phones) to 2.7 million people, compared with the global penetration rate of 72 per cent with five billion phone subscribers worldwide for the world's 6.9 billion people.

The new classification is mostly based on recent epidemiological studies that suggested an association between cellphone use and glioma, a form of brain cancer. But despite the assessment of the IARC, the cancer arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO), other experts are insisting that it is not possible to conclude that cellphones are associated with long-term health risks because users have only been tracked in large enough samples for about a decade. Many cancerous tumours take decades to develop. Further, these experts consider that the electromagnetic radiation emitted by cellphones, which would be the source of the danger, is far too weak to have a biological effect.

Far from clear

While the WHO panel of experts is also stressing that the evidence of a link between cellphones and cancer risk remains far from clear and is calling for more research to further explore the possible risk, it has, nevertheless, categorised cellphones among the "possibly carcinogenic" group. This rating is, however, less serious than "carcinogenic" and "probably carcinogenic", which carry the high risks. Of note, the "possibly carcinogenic" group includes the pesticide DDT, gasolene engine exhaust, and talcum body powder, which has been linked with ovarian cancer.

The latest conclusion is a significant departure from the WHO's previous position, which was that there were no risks from cellphone use. Nonetheless, more health-conscious consumers still hold doubts and have adopted the use of headsets as a precautionary step. Safety information provided in manuals from cellphone suppliers also recommend that instruments be held at least 5/8ths of an inch from the body in the normal use position. Now, the new assessment by the panel of 31 scientists from 14 countries will be submitted to the WHO and national health agencies for possible guidance on cellphone use, which might include further precautionary steps that phone users could take.

So far, no quantification of the possible risks from cellphone use has been made, but groups like Cancer Research UK have recommended that children under 16, whose brains and central nervous systems are still developing, only use cellphones for essential calls. For Jamaicans, this would be a tough call, given the popularity of cellphones among the very young, from as early as primary-school age, and teenagers. Statistics on cellphones show a dramatic increase in the number of subscribers since the year 2000, after introduction on a restrictive basis for most of the 1990s.

At the end of the 1990s, the cellphone was still a luxury item, and the number of subscribers had reached only 118,000 on the system of then monopoly provider TOJ/Cable & Wireless, which had concentrated on a massive expansion of landlines during that decade. With the entry of Digicel in April 2001, the Jamaican telecommunications landscape was radically altered and the expansion of access to cellphones was such that by the end of that year, the number of phones climbed to 640,000.

Three years later, the number reached 1.85 million, almost triple, and the rapid rate of growth continued, driven by Digicel's aggressive marketing. It now controls more than two-thirds of the market, with the balance equally shared by Claro and LIME. In short order, the cellphone was no longer a luxury but a mass-consumption item and access was democratised.

Marked slowdown

Since 2008, however, there has, been a marked slowdown in the rate of increase of new subscribers in the cellphone market, even with the explosive entry and deep-pocketed investment by Claro. In the meantime, the number of landline subscribers has plummeted, moving from a high of more than 500,000 in 2001 to around 300,000, with no prospect of a revival as consumers get hooked to smartphones.

The use of the cellphone not only as a means of communication but as a multi-purpose device is now such an ingrained habit that even the categorisation as "possibly carcinogenic" is unlikely to break the addiction. Could the cellphone become the 'latter-day' cigarette?

Dennis Morrison is an economist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.