Over my dead battery

In late July, Dr. Ronald B. Herberman of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute released… In late July, Dr. Ronald B. Herberman of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute released an advisory report based on early, unpublished data that prolonged cell phone use can significantly increase the risk of brain tumors and cancer, especially in children and teens. In the advisory, Herberman states that he has become convinced that cell phones pose a significant health risk and that precautionary measures should be taken by cell phone users. If there’s one thing that’s nice about this story, it’s that at least someone is watching our backs. While some news sources and critics have accused Herberman of fear mongering or trying to draw attention to his research, he’s more than likely just motivated by nothing more than a desire to not have the brains of his fellow humans be slowly poisoned to death by cellular radiation. That said, it’s too bad that even though Herberman’s intentions seem good, very few people are likely to listen to him. Sure, there will be some people who are motivated to change their usage habits by either reducing the time they spend on their cell phones, using a headset or earphones or even going back to a good, old radiation-free landline. But for the most part, we simply can’t see people caring enough to change. In many respects, the advisory is similar to the Surgeon General’s warning on cigarette packages. Because cigarettes are more or less unequivocally bad for you, the government makes cigarette companies put large, obvious labels on cigarette boxes that tell you exactly how bad for you they are. And even though smoking rates have slowly gone down over the past several decades ‘mdash; according to a Gallup poll, from about 26 to 21 percent of Americans in the past 10 years ‘mdash; that still means that nearly a quarter of Americans stoically ignore the fact that they are substantially increasing their risk of cancer and other diseases by smoking, even when the warning sign is literally staring them in the face. And according to the Cellular Telephone Industries Association, about 250 million Americans subscribe to some form of cell phone plan. That’s about 82.4 percent, far more than the number of smokers in the country. And people are substantially more dependent on cell phones in many cases as well. Think about the last time your phone died or was lost, and how adversely it affected your life. Even when working on this editorial, one editor’s cell phone went off, and he answered it by putting it next to his ear. People are addicted to the convenience and freedom that cellular phones allow. It’s likely that the vast majority of people will keep using them even in the face of substantial personal harm. After all, there have already been numerous studies attempting to link cancer to cell phones, several of which turned up positive correlations between the two. But cell phone use has only gone up. In the end, Herberman’s advisory is just that ‘mdash; advice. And, regardless of how pure his intentions are or how reliable his data might be, people will likely not heed any warnings until they’re printed directly on their phones. And if the current short-sighted attitude is any indication, we might still be in trouble even then.