Raise awareness of environmental health issues in order to better protect our children and future generations.

10 February 2021

Smartphones Increase the Risk of Breast Cancer

Smartphones increase the risk of breast cancer
Swedish Radiation Protection Foundation, 5 Jan. 2021 - translation

A new study shows women who use smartphones are at higher risk of breast cancer. Cell phone-addicted women who use their phones before bedtime have almost seven times the risk. Those who store smartphones near their chest or waist run four to five times higher risk of breast cancer than those who keep their phones under their waistline.

On January 2, 2021, researchers at the Medical University in Taipei, Taiwan, published the first study to date that examined the relationship between breast cancer and the use of so-called smartphones. The study is a case-control study that included 211 women who experienced breast cancer during 2017-2018 and 894 healthy checks and whose use of so-called smartphones has been compared.

The results show that the women who used the mobile phone a lot (defined in the study as “mobile phone addiction”) had a 1.43 times increased risk of breast cancer compared to women who were judged not to be mobile phone addicted. Those who usually kept the mobile phone close to the chest or waist had between 5.03 and 4.06 times increased risk, respectively. The researchers found a significant association between the distance to the breasts when using a mobile phone and the risk of breast cancer. Similarly, the risk was increased 5.27 times for the women who used the mobile phone more than 4.5 minutes before going to bed.

Women with high mobile phone use and who also used their mobile phone more than 4.5 minutes before bedtime had a 6.88 times higher risk of breast cancer compared with women who were neither mobile phone dependent nor used their mobile phone more than 4.5 minutes before bedtime. 

The result showed 1.59 times increased risk when using a smartphone near the chest compared to when the mobile is placed on a table and thus comes further away from the body and the exposure to the emitted microwave radiation is lower.

In-depth research shows cancer risk

Researchers behind the study say other researchers have previously shown that microwave radiation emitted by mobile phones, Wi-Fi, mobile base stations and other wireless technologies can damage cell DNA and form free radicals or oxidative stress. A total of 78 studies show DNA damage and 240 show radiation causes oxidative stress.

The latest analysis of all available research published at the end of 2020 on the connection between mobile phones and brain tumor risk shows that with mobile phone usage totaling over 1000 hours, corresponding to 17 minutes a day distributed over ten years, the risk of malignant brain tumors increases. Earlier, many other meta-analyses of overall research showed an increase in risk.

The results of a study were published in 2019 and 2018, the first one so far on the risk of thyroid cancer with mobile use, which also shows an increased risk.

The largest animal study to date, from the prestigious National Toxicology Program (NTP) on mobile phone radiation causes cancer, shows clear evidence of cancer and also that radiation causes an increased incidence of DNA damage in analyses of organs from the exposed animals. In addition, a large Italian animal study from the prestigious Ramazzini Institute reported in 2018 showed similar results as the NTP study at exposure levels (50 V / m) that are lower than those that the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority claims are set with a large safety margin to show harmful effects.

In 2020, research also showed that the use of mobile phones during pregnancy increases the incidence of DNA damage in the blood of the umbilical cord and placenta.

Screen use affects sleep and sleep hormones

In addition, researchers from the new study on the risk of breast cancer when using a mobile phone highlights that blue light emitted by smartphones can compromise sleep by inhibiting production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Research has shown that the use of smartphones or computers before bedtime increases the risk of sleep problems or alters the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. A previous study showed that the use of electronic equipment like iPads inhibits melatonin production and delays melatonin secretion. Melatonin is an important antioxidant and reduced levels of melatonin have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer in previous research.

In 2016, a study that analyzed all research to date on the relationship between tablet or smartphone use before bedtime and sleep problems showed ′′ a strong and unequivocal relationship ′′ between tablet and smartphone use before bedtime and insufficient sleep, quality of sleep and increased daytime sleepiness.
Both animal experiments and human studies exposed to microwave or radio frequency radiation show that radiation affects melatonin production (see page 23, etc.).

This association of blue light and / or microwave radiation and influenced melatonin production could explain the increased risk of breast cancer observed by researchers.

[Full text of study in English:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.