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Consumers are thus caught in a non-stop swirl of studies and alarms mixed with repeated assurances by the $100 billion cell-phone industry--led by such respected names as Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia--that there is nothing to worry about. Says Norman Sandler, Motorola's top safety spokesman: "This is not an issue that has suddenly come to the forefront. It has been vigorously discussed in open scientific meetings for years on end." (On one point virtually all sides agree: talking on a cell phone while driving can lead to accidents, which is why communities in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have recently banned the use of handheld phones.)
The industry's posture on radiation is shared by federal watchdogs like the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of electronic devices, and the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates cell-phone radiation standards. "There is no significant new evidence in the past year that there is need for greater concern than already exists," says Russell Owen, chief of the FDA's Radiation Biology Branch. Concurs Michael Thun, the head of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society: "If there's a risk [of cancer], it's an exceedingly small one."
Science will never be able to prove that cell phones are safe, and it may take decades to identify which users, if any, may be vulnerable to the radio waves. "Nobody knows the consequences of using cell phones from childhood and having radio waves reaching far into the brain," notes Dr. Leif Salford, a Swedish neurosurgeon who has found evidence that cell-phone radiation may weaken the brain's protection against potentially harmful substances in the bloodstream. Salford calls widespread cell-phone use "the world's largest biological experiment ever." He adds, "It would be sad if people found out 20 years from now that they have diseases."
Small wonder that consumers are flocking to low-emission cell phones and buying headsets to distance themselves from their phones. It's the same caution that compelled the Walt Disney Co., distressed by reports that phone radiation might be particularly harmful to children (see box), to vow to stop licensing its cartoon characters for use with cell phones "until there is reliable scientific evidence establishing the absence of any risk."
And with radiation data for individual phones already posted on the Internet www.sardata.com/sardata.htm) manufacturers are bowing to public pressure and beginning to include the ratings--measured in watts per kilogram and known as the specific absorption rate (SAR)--in the packaging with new phones. Says Hollywood talent agent Greg Hughart: "I'll certainly buy the lowest emissions I can find."
The fear of cell-phone radiation is creating fresh markets for entrepreneurs. Sevin Rosen, the venture-capital firm that launched Compaq Computer, recently pumped $2 million into a California start-up that plans to build low-radiation phones. At the same time, a cottage industry has sprung up to market shielding devices that block out radiation, although most have scant scientific evidence to support their claims of effectiveness.