Private Parts at Risk: Scientist on Cell Phones, Rectal Cancer, and Fertility

By B.N. Frank

Government, independent and industry funded research has determined that exposure to cell phone and other sources of wireless “WiFi” radiation can at least increase the risk of cancer (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) and other undesirable health issues (see 1, 2) including DNA breakage.

Thanks to Dr. Devra Davis from Environmental Health Trust for continuing to remind the public that carrying cell phones in pants’ pockets is a no-no.

From Medium:

Colorectal Cancer and The Great Sperm Decline, Could It Be Related To Cell Phone Radiation? By Devra Davis

The good news: Colo-rectal cancer is dramatically dropping in persons over age 60 in many industrial countries. The puzzling bad news: Rates of rectal cancer have quadrupled in young adults under age 24 in the past decade in the U.S. and Iran and risen rapidly in the U.K, Egypt and Brazil. Increased screening is believed to explain much of the welcome decline in the elderly. But why has this very rare cancer become four times less rare and much more lethal in young adults?

A recent study documents these baffling increases in generational risk of cancer and provides one important clue about what could underlie them. The 4-fold increase in rectal cancer over the last decade in American young adults could very well be from cell phone radiation.

Those now in their 20s are the first generation to have grown up with phones, laptops, videogames and other microwave wireless radiating devices clutched close to their bodies, sometimes day and night. With the advent of wireless headsets and earpieces, more and more children and young adults keep transmitting smartphones inside their tight clothing for hours a day.

Colo-rectal cancer cells are exquisitely sensitive to RF and research has found that the effect of exposure to nonionizing mobile phone radiation can lead to impacts on treated colon tissues of rats similar to effects from ionizing 3Gy gamma radiation.

In 2019, after a number of scientific studies in animals and humans showing that microwave radiation damages both male and female reproduction, and most phones they tested were found to exceed radiation limits, French government issued new regulations so that consumers are informed to “keep radio equipment away from the belly of pregnant women” and “away from the lower abdomen of adolescents.”

Mt. Sinai Medical Professor Shanna Swan has spent her distinguished career documenting the myriad ways that environmental chemicals affect the capacity of men and women to have healthy children when they choose to do so. In her important new book, “Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race,” co-authored with Stacey Colino, she projects that persisting declines in sperm quantity and quality and women’s reproductive health could result in an inability to reproduce by mid-century. Between 1964 and 2018 global fertility halved from more than 5 to 2.4 per woman. Now approximately half the world has fertility rates below replacement levels.

Ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemicals are a grave threat to human health, without doubt. But they may not be the entire explanation for recent precipitous declines in reproductive vitality. Is it possible that another common factor could account for both the unexplained increases in rectal cancer in young Americans and the growing problems of reproductive health for both young men and women? Imaging studies my colleagues at the University of Porto Alegre and I have produced clearly show that both the male and female reproductive systems and the rectum can receive quite high levels of microwave radiation whenever a cell phone is on and in the pocket or if a laptop is placed directly on the lap. Even when not being used for calls, smartphone antennas send an electronic “handshake” to the tower up to 900 times a minute, asking, “Where are you? Here I am.” Cell phones are transmitting all the time, whether you are talking on them or not.

Those handshakes keep us all connected, but they also send pulsed microwave radiation into the scrotum, ovaries, and rectum — precisely the parts of the body in which these growing health problems are occurring. Buried deep within operating systems manuals is seldom-read advice from manufacturers to keep phones away from the body.

Christopher Portier PhD, a longtime US government scientist now retired, submitted a comprehensive review of the scientific research in a major cell phone/brain cancer lawsuit where he concludes that the evidence on an association between cellular phone use and the risk of glioma brain cancer is “quite strong” and given the human, animal and experimental evidence, I assert that, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, the probability that RF exposure causes gliomas and neuromas is high.” His 176-page expert report with 443 references was prepared for a major product liability lawsuit, Murray et al. v Motorola, Inc. et al.,where a dozen people, most who have passed away, are suing the telecommunications industry for damages because they developed brain cancer after years of using a cell phone up to their head. His report echos what scientists have repeatedly concluded -that the current body of scientific evidence confirms that cell phone radiofrequency radiation is a human carcinogen.

If this pandemic teaches us anything it is the value of preparing to prevent future public health problems. These mysterious increases in serious health problems in the young should send us all a wake up call. Of course, we need to revitalize efforts to identify and reduce toxic chemicals that can damage reproductive health, as Swan proposes. But we also need to address our ever growing exposures to wireless radiation.

Major policy changes are needed. As we document in our lawsuit against the FCC, the current 1996 safety limits for cell phones, Wi-Fi and cell tower networks are non protective and must be updated to reflect the latest science showing that even seemingly “low levels” can cause serious harm. Radiation test systems must reflect the way we use cell phones and wireless devices today, touching the body.

As the New Hampshire Commission on 5G recommends, new laws must be passed to reduce exposures alongside a major multimedia campaign to educate the public on how to reduce cell phone and wireless radiation just as French, Israeli, Korean, Cypriot and over a dozen government authorities advise.

Learn How to Reduce Cell Phone Radiation

Make only short or essential calls on cell phones.
Use corded phones (with a curly cord from headset to base) instead of cell phones/ home cordless phones whenever possible, especially for your long voice calls.
Stop sleeping with your phone or wireless device
Use cell phones in speaker mode or with the use of airtube headset.
Keep cellphones at a distance from your head and body.
Avoid carrying your phone against the body in your pocket, pants or bra.
Turn notifications to OFF and stop Apps from continuously updating and running.

Learn When Cell Phone Radiation Exposure is Higher

A California Department of Health study found exposure can be 10,000 times increased when you are in a low service area- like in a basement, car or a rural area. Sharing videos, movies, music and pictures sends a lot more radiation out of the phone than other applications like a short text.

Watch movies and play music that is pre-downloaded rather than streaming.
Keep an eye on your signal strength (i.e. how many bars you have). The weaker your cell signal, the harder your phone has to work and the more radiation it gives off into your body.
Avoid making calls or streaming music and videos in cars, elevators, trains, and buses. The cell phone works harder to get a signal through metal, so the power level can increase.
Be aware that when you upload or download large files, the exposure increases so choose to transfer with corded and wired connections- rather than wirelessly.
Social media can be done at home on a wired computer, as the radiation exposures are high with all the images and scrolling videos. Added bonus is a break from the addiction.

Learn to Reduce Wireless Radiation at Home

Children should be given toys, not cell phones to play with.
Use a hardwired cabled (not wireless) mouse, speaker, printer and keyboard with your computer.
Do not use wireless speakers or virtual assistants as they radiate all the time.
Hard-wire devices in your home that connect to the internet whenever possible.
Ditch the DECT phone as they radiate like a small cell tower in your home. Use corded phones (with a curly cord from headset to base) instead of cell phones/ home cordless phones whenever possible, especially for your long voice calls.
Choose electronics, devices and appliances that are not “smart” but instead use cords to connect or do not connect at al.
Remove screens and electronics from the bedroom for a healthier sleep.

Action in Your Community and Elected Officials

Your elected officials at the local, state and federal level need to be informed and pass laws that reduce wireless exposures and protect the community.
Advocate for zoning ordinances that restrict 5G and cell towers near homes, schools and parks.
Your City or Town can pass a Cell Phone Radiation Wireless Proclamation like Jackson Hole Wyoming or Pembroke Pines Florida has already done. Details and Toolkit here.
Your City or Town can pass a Resolution to Halt 5G or an ordinance that helps protect your home from the proliferation of 5G cell towers. Learn more about 5G HERE.