Press trumpets cell-phone cancer study

Vox : A recent study linking cell-phone use to cancer set off alarms at several major news reporting agencies. Undertaken by the US National Toxicology Program, the study found that two types of cancerous tumor developed in rats exposed over a two-year period to the RF radiation emitted by cell phones. But several outside scientific experts, including one who deemed the study “interesting and well-designed,” and journalists such as Brad Plumer of Vox have urged the public to take a deep breath before buying into the hype the study has provoked. Plumer notes that it was just a single study, it was done on rats rather than on humans, and the rats were exposed to cell-phone radiation for far longer periods of time than any human would be. Moreover, cell phones have been in use for several decades already, yet cancer rates have not gone up. Plumer urges the press and the public to remain skeptical of any new study and to not jump to conclusions until more research has been done.