Easy steps to safer phones

Studies say risks slim

Go ahead and use your cellphone, but use it carefully, taking certain common-sense precautions. And be sure your kids have safe cellphone habits, too.

That’s the advice of one of the authors of two new preliminary US government studies by the National Toxicology Program (NTP).

The studies reviewed the longterm effects of exposure to cellphone radiation, which is a nonionizing form of radiation also found in microwave ovens.

“If there is a risk, it is small.” said Dr. John Bucher, the senior scientist with the NTP.

The studies, among many reviewing potential cellphone dangers, are important because the greatest human exposure to radio frequency radiation (RFR) comes from cellphones.

“There is currently no consistent evidence that non-ionizing radiation increases cancer risk,” according to “Cellphones and Cancer Risk,” a paper recently published by the National Cancer Institute that reviewed cellphone research.

The two NTP studies monitored the effects of RFR on rats and mice, some of which were exposed to RFR while others were not.

The studies found the health of both groups was similar.

Some of the animals exposed to high dosages lived longer than those that weren’t, Bucher said.

Still, Bucher added that there were also some findings “that were concerning to us — some evidence of carcinogen activity.” Bucher concluded there is some potential of cellphone radiation “under high exposure conditions.”

But Bucher, who added that he uses a cellphone, noted that “it is so easy to reduce your exposure. It is something that doesn’t concern me because I use it intelligently and I really don’t worry about it.”

For instance, he suggested, don’t jam the phone against your ear. Keeping it away “dramatically reduces your radiation exposure. Cellphone radiation diminishes dramatically with distance.” Sleeping at night with your phone placed a distance away from you has also been recommended.

Some people are taking his advice.

The National Cancer Institute said “the use of hands-free tech- nology, such as wired and wireless headsets, is increasing and may decrease radio frequency exposure to the head and the brain.”

The cellphone safety studies are ongoing because cellphones have become ubiquitous. There were about 417 million cellphone contracts in the United States in 2016, according to the most recent figures available from Statista.

Bucher emphasized that these new studies are not definitive. Years of cellphone research remain before all questions can be answered about the potential dangers of these gadgets that have become the third ear of millions.

For now, however, the link between cancer and cellphones is unproved, most researchers say.

The Food and Drug Administration, in reviewing the NTP reports, said that it believes “the current safety limits for cellphones are acceptable for protecting the public health.”

The draft reports by NTP, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, will be reviewed by experts, including regulators.

The SEC and the FDA oversee cellphone technologies.