The Expert Roundtable event took place on December 9, 2013 at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. I was listed as one of the participants. However, because I was not able to participate in person, my participation was limited to a brief PowerPoint audio presentation.

1. Cell Phone Radiation
Health, Safety Standards,
Precaution
Dariusz Leszczynski,
PhD, DSc
Research Professor
STUK - Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Helsinki, Finland
&
Adjunct Professor
Disclaimer: all University of Helsinki, Finland my employer
opinions are my own and not of
The Commonwealth Club of California
Dariusz Leszczynski in Expert Roundtable:
Skeptical About Cell Phones and Health?

2. Who am I?
Was a member of the IARC Working Group that in
May 2011 classified cell phone radiation as a possible
human carcinogen
Full CV available on my science blog:
‘BRHP – Between a Rock and a Hard Place’
The Commonwealth Club of California
Dariusz Leszczynski in Expert Roundtable:
Skeptical About Cell Phones and Health?

3. Epidemiological evidence
• Epidemiological studies lack reliable dosimetric information
• Do not consider sufficiently cancer latency
• Studied cancer only; what about other ailments
Human volunteer studies
• Lack of biomarkers of response
• Too much relying on the subjective observations of volunteers
Animal studies
• Negative results do not mean no effect in humans
In vitro studies
• Needed for discovering the mechanisms
• Huge diversity in design causes problems with interpretation
The Commonwealth Club of California
Dariusz Leszczynski in Expert Roundtable:
Skeptical About Cell Phones and Health?

4. Evidence of biological effects remains
contradictory
• Effect on DNA
• Indirect DNA damage or inhibition of repair of spontaneously
occurring (radiation unrelated) damage of DNA?
•
Effect on gene & protein expression
• Observed in vitro (genes & proteins) and in human volunteers
(proteins; genes not studied yet)
•
Cellular stress response – candidate for the mechanism?
• Observed in different cell models and with different exposures
• Might affect expression of genes involved in cancer
•
Physiological and health impact , if any, of the above
biological effects remains undetermined
•
Effects are non-thermal
The Commonwealth Club of California
Dariusz Leszczynski in Expert Roundtable:
Skeptical About Cell Phones and Health?

5. Leszczynski et al. 2002
Caraglia et al. 2005
Friedman et al. 2007
Buttiglione et al. 2007
Yu et al. 2008
Possible mechanism
Cell phone radiation affects stress response
Lee et al. 2008

6. Invoking the Precautionary Principle
“Whether or not to invoke the Precautionary
Principle is a decision exercised where scientific
information is insufficient, inconclusive, or
uncertain and where there are indications that the
possible effects on environment, or human, animal
or plant health may be potentially dangerous and
inconsistent with the chosen level of protection.”
Commission of the European Communities
Brussels, 2.2.2000; COM(2000) 1 final
The Commonwealth Club of California
Dariusz Leszczynski in Expert Roundtable:
Skeptical About Cell Phones and Health?

7. Conclusions
IARC classification of the cell phone radiation as a possible
carcinogen is a sufficient reason for invoking Precautionary
Principle
Current safety standards are insufficient because use of an offthe-shelf cell phone (considered to be safe) was shown to
increase the risk of brain cancer
Users, especially children, should be encouraged to limit
exposures
Research should continue to find out how human body
reacts to cell phone radiation
The Commonwealth Club of California
Dariusz Leszczynski in Expert Roundtable:
Skeptical About Cell Phones and Health?