Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Errs On Side Of Caution With New Public Safety Guidelines For Cellphones
KQED: California Issues Guidelines To Reduce Potential Harm From Cellphones
The California Department of Public Health Wednesday released a new set of guidelines concerning the use of cellphones and radiation risk. Some studies have suggested that long-term use could be linked to brain or salivary gland cancer, lower sperm count, and headaches, the department said. (Venton and Brooks, 12/15)
San Jose Mercury News: California Activists Applaud New Cell Phone Safety Advisory
California’s new cell-phone safety guidelines for adults and children are being welcomed by the public health, environmental and First Amendment advocates who successfully sued the state to release guidelines that had been languishing since 2009. In fact, the lawsuit’s plaintiff, Joel Moskowitz, said the new advisory goes “well beyond what any federal health agency has published on this issue.’’ (Seipel and Lochner, 12/15)
San Francisco Chronicle: Radiation Typical Of Cell Phones And Wi-Fi Linked To High Rate Of Miscarriages
A study of hundreds of pregnant women in the Bay Area found that those who were more exposed to the type of radiation produced by cell phones, wireless networks and power lines — radiation that grows more and more common — were nearly three times as likely to miscarry. The Kaiser Permanente study, published last week in the journal Scientific Reports, did not show definitively what was causing the higher rate of pregnancy loss, nor did it isolate the potential impact of cell phones or other producers of electromagnetic fields, or EMFs. (Haigney, 12/17)
