Davis, Balzano Critique Cell Phone Study in Journal of the American Medical Association

Professor Christopher Davis and Research Scientist Quirino Balzano co-wrote a letter to the Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that was published in the most recent issue of the journal, Vol. 35, No. 20, dated May 25, 2011.

In the letter, Davis and Balzano offered a critique of a paper by N.D. Volkow, D. Tomasi, and G.J. Wang, titled "Effects of cell phone radiofrequency signal exposure on brain glucose metabolism," that had been published in a previous issue of JAMA. Davis and Balzano pointed out that the highest temperature elevations that occur in the brain during cell phone use as a result of the radiofrequency fields from the cell phone are on the order of 0.1°C to 0.2°C, temperature elevations that are smaller than those resulting from physical activity. They also argued that the study did not evaluate the exposure of the brain to the fields from the cell phone correctly.

Last fall, Prof. Davis gave a talk on the absence of a link between cell phone radiation and brain cancer at a recent National Capitol Area Skeptics (NCAS). Video from the lecture can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJcC7arI7HY&feature=player_embedded

To see the complete letter to the Editor of JAMA submitted by Davis and Balzano, visit:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/20/2066.2.full

May 25, 2011