Cellphone usage limits urged by Health Canada
Parents should encourage kids under 18 to limit the time they spend talking on cellphones, Health Canada said Tuesday in new advice on mobile phone usage.
The guidance is a nuanced change from previous advice, which suggested that people could limit their use of cellphones if they were concerned about an unproven suggestion the devices increase one’s risk of developing brain cancer.
“Really it’s more proactive in encouraging cellphone users to find ways to limit their exposure, and … to empower parents to make healthy choices to reduce their children’s exposure,” explained James McNamee,burberry outlet division chief for health effects and assessments in Health Canada’s bureau of consumer and clinical radiation protection.
The new advice, a response to a World Health Organization report issued in May, reminds people they can reduce their exposure to radiofrequency energy by limiting the length of their cellphone calls and substituting text messages or chats on hands-free devices in the place of phone-to-ear cellphone calls.
Radiofrequency energy is the type of radiation emitted by cellphones. It’s also given off by AM-FM radios and TV broadcast signals.
Canadians own and use an estimated 24 million cellphones. Worldwide it is estimated that five billion people owned cellphones in 2010.
There have long been questions as to whether the devices increase a user’s risk of developing brain cancer. Despite the fact that dozens of studies have looked at the question, there is no clear answer.
But a statement issued in late May by the International Agency for Research on Cancer — the cancer arm of the WHO —classified cellphones as a category 2B risk, meaning the agency acknowledged mobile phones are possibly carcinogenic to people. McNamee sat on the panel that took the decision.
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