Cellular-phone radiation effects on cancer in genetically modified mice

A television interview, given by the authors of a paper reporting the results of an Australian study on the occasion of its publication (Utteridge et al. 2002) in the September, 2002, issue of the joumal Radiation Research, proclaimed that long-term exposure to microwave radiation (900 MHz) from Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) phones is safe. Moreover, the paper's authors asserted their findings as countering a previous Australian study (Repacholi et al. 1997), which reported an increased incidence of lymphomas in mice of the same transgenic strain and from the same supplier as those used in their experiment. The study has been widely reported by the popular media. A closer reading of the scientific paper reveals that it is fraught with inconsistencies, which make it very difficult to accept its results and conclusions as published with confidence, without further clarification and/or candid answers to some compelling questions. It appears that the study was conducted with care, but there was a lapse somewhere in the execution of the experiment, or in the sourcing of animals, or in the analysis of data, or in the environmental conditions under which the investigation was conducted. Thus, instead of shedding light on whether cell-phone radiation is safe, the latest report has abetted the controversy.