A growing number of studies say cell phones are possibly linked to increases in brain cancer, salivary gland cancer, and other health problems.

While this has been a long debated issue - with other studies saying there's no health risk for the four billion plus cell phone users in the world - consumers are left without a clear picture of the whole issue.

Says SustainLane.com:

However, these claims are debated by studies and statements from the American Cancer Society, the Food and Drug Administration, and other institutions. They say there isn't any definitive evidence linking cell phones to health problems.

"The radio waves emitted by cell phones are more akin to the electromagnetic waves that your television emits than to ionizing radiations such as X-rays. They are not known to cause cancer in animals or transform cells in culture," said John D. Boice Jr., one of the world's top researchers on the issue and scientific director of the International Epidemiology Institute.

One study tracked over 420,000 Danish citizens who had cell phone subscriptions between 1982 through 2001. The study didn't find any link between phone use and cancer, though critics claim the study didn't look at enough people who had used cell phones for over eight years (when cancers may start to appear); and also noted the study was funded by cell phone companies.

So what exactly should consumers know? Many experts recommend us to:
- avoid excessive cell phone use;
- don't allow children to have cell phones;
- use a headset, to keep the body of the phone - the radiation culprit - away from the head;
- and buy cell phones with the lowest specific absorption rate, or SAR: a measurement of the radio frequency energy absorbed by the body. You can check your phone's SAR from its model number (usually underneath the battery), and The Federal Communications Commission requires a SAR level below 1.6 watts per kilogram.

[via SustainLane]