The director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute sent a memo yesterday to his employees saying that, despite many published studies saying otherwise, cellphone use could be hazardous.
Ronald B. Herberman, director of the institute and a tumor immunologist, advised staff members to keep conversations short, to hold phones away from their heads, and not to allow children to use mobile phones. He said that the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the phones could cause “possible adverse health effects including cancer.”
Dr. Herberman based his memo on the recommendations of an international panel of scientists, on which he served. The panel reviewed unpublished data.
The studies that have been published have produced conflicting results, but the largest studies found no link between cellphone use and cancer, the Associated Press reported.—Lila Guterman
