Brain Tumor Debate: What Smartphone Fine Print Says

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Whether cell phones cause brain tumors is a question that falls into vogue every once in a while, and this is one of those times.

On Sept. 13, concerned doctors from all over the world will descend upon Washington for the Expert Conference on Cell Phones and Health. The conference is meant to coincide with a possible Senate hearing on the subject, according to event organizers. Last week a collection of industry watchdogs released a fairly compelling study on the topic, including the fact that many cell phone user manuals warn against carrying the devices directly against our bodies.

Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons For Concern concludes there's a big risk for brain tumors among cell phone users, especially children. The report also says there are major design flaws in a major multinational study called Interphone, which was launched more than 10 years ago but has yet to be released other than in piecemeal reports by individual countries. Design flaws aside, those initial Interphone reports indicate risks, too, especially among people who have been using cell phones for more than 10 years.

"We can expect an enormous pandemic of brain tumors," says Lloyd Morgan, lead author of the study, which is endorsed by more than 40 doctors and scientists. A retired electrical engineer, Morgan says his passion for the topic stemmed from finding out he had a brain tumor in 1998. A neurosurgeon told him exposure to electromagnetic fields was a possible cause. "I pray I'm wrong, but I don't believe I am."

If Morgan's right, we're in trouble.

Americans spent a total of 2.2 trillion minutes on their mobile phones in 2008, up from 1.5 trillion the previous year, according to the CTIA - The Wireless Association, an industry lobbying group in Washington. The percentage of adults in the U.S. who give up their landlines to use wireless phones exclusively continues to grow every year, from 14% in 2007 to 16% in the first half of 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The CDC tracks this data not because of the potential risks of cell phones, but because it wants to gauge the accuracy of its surveys, which historically have been conducted on calls to landline phone numbers.) For those of us who work out of home offices, that means hours of cell phone time every day.